Documentary – Discussion with the winners

June 2, 2021

Thursday, June 3, at 11:00 am PST | 21:00 Greece

Yorgos Avgeropoulos

Being Present, Orpheus Award for Best Documentary

Yorgos Avgeropoulos, born in Athens is a Greek documentary filmmaker and journalist. He worked as a war correspondent in Sarajevo, Croatia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2000 he created Exandas Documentary Series that was broadcast on Greek TV for 13 years. His documentaries screened in international TV networks and film festivals in various countries. Today, Avgeropoulos collaborates with international networks, and he has created more than 100 socio-political documentaries shot in about 50 countries. He has been honored with more than 40 international awards at film festivals around the world.

Eftychia Fragou

The Unlost Homeland, Audience Orpheus Award

Eftychia Fragou studied Communication, Media, and Culture at Panteion University; American Musical and Dramatic Academy New York; Postgraduate at the School of Fine Arts – Auth, Department of Theater. Eftychia has produced and presented a number of documentaries at major TV Greek channels, while also working as a journalist in magazines, online press and as a radio producer. She has worked in all the positions of the moving image industry.

Dimitra Kouzi

Passage to Europe, Special Jury Award

I look at the world with curiosity and joy, as if I discover it anew each day. Transformation of reality has always interested me, and my favourite courses were at the School of Cinema and Television in Munich. In the documentary industry, I have worked in all possible posts, with a focus on creative documentary development, festival audience development, and impact distribution. In 2016, I established KinderDocs International Documentary Festival for children and young audiences, in collaboration with the Benaki Museum in Athens and MOMus in Thessaloniki, as well as IDFA (Amsterdam) and Doxs! (Duisburg, Germany). I contribute articles to the Greek-and German-speaking press on topics inspired and related to documentary.

Animation – Discussion with the winners and more

June 2, 2021

Moderators: Aris Katopodis & Dimitra Kasdagli

Wednesday, June 2, at 11:00 am PST | 21:00 Greece

Michael Kalopaidis

Parrot Lady, Orpheus Award for Best Animation

Michalis Kalopaidis is an Animation Producer and the Founder of Zedem Media, Cyprus’largest and longest running Animation Studio. He is also a founding member of the CyprusAnimation Association and the President of the Larnaka Famagusta Cinema Society, anon-profit organization. Michalis, holds a BA in Media Management from Columbia CollegeChicago and an MA in Media & Cultural Studies from Middlesex University, London. ‘TheParrot Lady’ is his first personal film as Director

Fokion Xenos

Lazy Dragon, Special Jury Award

Fokion Xenos is a Director/Designer from Athens,Greece born in 1990. As an animation filmmaker he is interested inplayful and bold stories that focus on visual wit and emotional honesty. With a particular emphasis on colour and form he is very keen into combining practical and digital techniques to create unique emerging visuals. His MA graduation film “Heatwave” produced at the National Film and Television School has been awarded by multiple prestigious film festivals such as Edinburgh Int. Film Festival, Cinekid, Athens Int. Film Fest, Anima Syros and many others. In addition “Heatwave” has been officially selected in more than 70 film festivals all over the globe including Annecy, Anima Mundi, Encounters, LSSF, LIAF as well as it has been Shortlisted for the Student BAFTA LA. Recently it won best student short film award at the Royal Television Society.

Demetrios Tzamaras

Bucket Hat!, Audience Orpheus Award

Demetrios Tzamaras is a Greek-American story artist, animator, and director. He has been a coordinator on the Academy Award winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Illumination’s Despicable Me and The Secret Life of Pets franchises, and Sony Pictures Animation’s The Mitchells VS The Machines. As a filmmaker, Demetrios believes in telling stories with heart, humor, and visual spectacle.

Aliki Theofilopoulos

Executive Director, Dreamworks

Aliki Theofilopoulos’ work is easily identified by her strong stories, engaging characters, dollop of heart, and unique brand of humor. After receiving a Bachelor in Fine Arts from USC, Aliki launched her career animating on iconic Disney films including “Hercules” and “Tarzan” before moving into the world of television as a Story Artist, Writer, Director, and Executive Producer. Disney entrusted Aliki to transition its “Descendants” characters into animation as an Executive-Producer and Director on the hit series “Descendants Wicked World.” She also spent several years working at Disney TV as a Story Artist, Emmy-nominated Writer, and Emmy-nominated Songwriter on the highly-acclaimed show, “Phineas and Ferb.” Aliki received an Annie nomination for her work on the first Minnie Mouse driven short on Disney’s prestigious “Disney Mickey Mouse.” She received a second Annecy nomination for directing the short, “Doctor Lollipop” for Frederator. Most recently, Aliki worked at DreamWorks as an Executive Producer on the “Doug Unplugs” series for Apple TV+ as well as serving as the supervising producer on the “Harvey Girls Forever.” She currently has two original series in development at Disney and has previously developed original projects at both Disney and Amazon, while Executive Producing a new, unannounced series at DreamWorksTV. Passionate about giving back, she is a member of Women in Animation, a frequent speaker at local schools and universities, and even recently traveled to Greece to give a TEDx talk. Aliki lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her two children and three step-kids, her favorite characters of them all.

Vassilis Karamitsanis

President, Asifa Hellas

Born in Athens, 1976, he finished high school at the Athens College Lyceum. Holding a degree in Law from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR), he completed post-graduate studies in the Universities of Rotterdam (NL), Hamburg (D) and Aix-Marseille III (F). A lisenced attorney-at-Law by the Athens Bar Association since 2002, he has served as Counsel to the Greek Minister for Development during 2012-2014 and as a special advisor to the Greek Minister for Health during 2003-2004. He’s president to ASIFA HELLAS – Hellenic Animation Association and Animasyros International Animation Festival + Agora. He was recently elected member of Board of Directors of CIFEJ – International Centre of Films for Children & Young People.

Aristarchos Papadaniel

Asifa Hellas

ARISTARCHOS PAPADANIEL is author of the book “Greek Political Caricature. The Serious Side to a Funny Art”. Creator of the flipbook series “Pocket Cinema” and the poster book “A Comics Artist on TV”. In 2005 he co-founded the production company Syllipsis Ltd. Co-creator of the awarded educational animated TV series “A Letter-A Story” (Educational RadioTelevision, Greek Ministry of Education). Co-editor of the edition “70 Years of Greek Animation” (ASIFAHellas-Greekanimation.com). ASIFA Hellasfounding member. His animated short “The Song of the Fates” (2021) is funded by the Greek Ministry of Culture and the Greek Film Centre.

Aris Katopodis

Moderator

Dimitra Kasdagli

Moderator

PARI – Q&A with Dir. Siamak Etemadi and Melika Foroutan

June 2, 2021

Moderator: Aris Katopodis

Monday, May 31, at 11:00 am PST | 21:00 Greece
Event complete

Siamak Etemadi

Director

Melika Foroutan

Actress

Orpheus Awards 2021

May 28, 2021

Feature Film | Performance | Directing

Best Fiction Feature

Pari

by Siamak Etemadi

Best Performance

Nikolas Kisker

from Daniel ’16

Special Jury Award
for Best Performance

Melika Foroutan

from Pari

Best Director

Janis Rafa

from Kala Azar

Audience Awards

Man of God

by Yelena Popovic

Short Film

Best Short Film

Iskioma

by Kostas Gerampinis

Audience Award

Vouta

by Dimitris Zahos

Documentary

Best Documentary

Being Present

by Yorgos Avgeropoulos

Special Jury Award

Passage to Europe

by Dimitra Kouzi

Audience Award

The Unlost Homeland

by Eftyhia Frangou

Animation

Best Animation

Parrot Lady

Michalis Kalopaidis

Special Jury Award

Lazy Dragon

by Fokion Xenos, Joan Zhonga

Audience Award

Bucket Hat!

by Demetrios Tzamaras

2021 Jury

May 20, 2021

Eugene (Gino) Brancolini

Eugene (Gino) Brancolini serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor and the Graduate Director for Production in Loyola Marymount University’s (LMU) School of Film and Television (SFTV). Before joining the LMU faculty in 2007, for over twenty years Brancolini produced and directed public television documentary and studio programming for WTIU, PBS Channel 30, Bloomington, Indiana, the public television station owned and operated by Indiana University. During his last decade at Indiana University, Brancolini worked as WTIU’s Director of Production Services, managing a production unit that produced local, regional and national public television programming. His work has been awarded both regional Emmys and CINE Golden Eagles. Brancolini’s national public television producing and directing credits include Sugarplum Dreams: Staging the Nutcracker Ballet, Spanning Time: America’s Covered Bridges, Ten Steps to College with the Greenes, Paying for College with the Greenes, and more recently, Cuba: The Forgotten Revolution. He has served as a documentary juror for various regional Emmys, the Broadcast Education Association, and the Kentucky Humanities Council. Brancolini holds a B.S. in Secondary Education, English and an M.S. in Communication from Clarion State College (Pennsylvania) and has completed the coursework towards a Ph.D. in Mass Communication at Indiana University. In addition to serving as a Graduate Director for SFTV, he teaches courses in documentary pre-production, producing and directing short-form narrative fiction, directing fundamentals, and episodic television studio production. Born and raised near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Professor Brancolini holds both American and Italian citizenship. He and his wife Kristine reside in Redondo Beach, California.

Gérard Dessere

Gérard Dessere is a Filmmaker, Film Educator and Archivist. His film The Statue of Surprise received the Charles Boyer Foundation and Dorothy Arzner Awards. He worked on the documentary Sannicandro, a co-production between Arte, the French-German channel, and Pinto Film, London. As an assistant to Liliane de Kermadec, he oversaw the documentary project development for the Parisian based film company Film après Film, where several of the films received awards at festivals including the San Francisco Film Festival and Amsterdam Documentary Film Festival. He produced television programs on Media and Violence in Colorado, and, as a festival organizer, was instrumental to the foundation of the Five Rivers Film Festival in Montana, headlining Sydney Pollack, Agnès Varda, Ron Maxwell and Liliane de Kermadec. He has extensively lectured on Film History, Film Management and conducted workshops on Film production and Film Archiving in France, Germany, Italy, and the United States, including at UCLA, the University of Colorado, the University of Montana, the Versailles University, and the University of Grenoble. A Film Archivist and Programmer, he has been associated with the restoration and programming of UCLA Film Television and Radio Archives and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. His articles have been published in a variety of Journals and magazines in the US and France (Positif, Cinem’Action). A Fulbright laureate, Board member, and graduate of UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television and Advanced Technologies, Dessere has published two books, one on director Michael Gordon (UC Press, Los Angeles) and one on French B Movies/Le cinéma du Sam’di Soir (Télérama/Corlet). He presently works on a documentary for the Pinto Film Company, London and cataloguing the archives of filmmaker Liliane de Kermadec at Cinémathèque Française.

Ruah Edelstein

Ruah Edelstein is a contemporary artist and animation director involved in arthouse cinema productions. The artist is best known for series of conceptual work including films, paintings, and site-specific installations, merging classical legacy approach with modern day rhetoric. Born in Lithuania, while the country was a part of the USSR, early in life Edelstein went through a rigorous education in fine arts. In the 1990s the artist studied stage directing, touring Europe with a theater company. In 2012 Edelstein received an MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts. Ruah’s thesis film, “Died 100 Times,” premiered with screenings around the world, among recognitions it had a month-long show at the National Čiurlionis Museum of Fine Art, Lithuania. Edelstein was invited to teach film production at CalArts Character Animation program, where the artist teaches for the past 9 years. In 2012 Edelstein co-founded Lumen Animae, Amity of Creative Partnerships. Since then, Ruah directed more than 30 short animated films, screening at the Holocaust Museum LA, Museum of Jurassic Technology LA, National TV of China, Sundance, Tribeca, and US Open Tennis Championship that brought an Emmy Nomination. A pivotal period started in 2018 during travels in Tibet when the artist began to conceive new non-narrative work. “The soul remembers something that consciousness doesn’t know” – R.E.

Marlon Johnson

Marlon Johnson is a ten-time Emmy award-winning producer and director. He has worked on award-winning documentary films exploring music, social and cultural issues like Symphony in D (2017); Emmy-winning Sunday’s Best (2010) and Coconut Grove: A Sense of Place (2005). In 2006, The Ford Foundation commissioned Marlon to direct the documentary Breaking the Silence which chronicled the rise of HIV infection in the Black-American South. Marlon served as Head of Production and Senior Producer/ Editor for Plum TV. In 2014 he co-directed, Deep City: The Birth of the Miami Sound, which premiered at South By Southwest. In 2016, Marlon received the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship For Visual Media Artist award. This award is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and recognizes professional artist who are creating at the highest level of their craft. Marlon is currently co-directing a feature documentary, produced by Owsley Brown Presents. The film is a contemplative portrait of the leader of a Pan-African drumline in Louisville who has dedicated his life to mentoring youth in his neighborhood for the last three decades.

Andreas Manolikakis

Andreas Manolikakis is a Lifetime Member and a member of the Board of Directors of the Actors Studio. He is former Chair (2006 – June 2020) of the Actors Studio Drama School MFA Program at Pace University in New York City, where he is a Clinical Professor of Acting and Directing as well as Director of Directing Department. He has taught master classes and workshops in Acting, Directing, and Script Analysis and lectured on The Development of the System and the Method, at the Actors Studio, International Theater Festivals, Drama and Film Schools, Universities, Conservatories, in the U.S.A. and Europe. As a director and as an actor, he has worked in the United States and Europe. Among his highlights are acting On Broadway opposite Sir Derek Jacobi in Hugh Whitemore’s Breaking the Code; directing Porte Close, by N. Darmon, at the National Theatre of East Paris, and Elektra, by Sophocles, at the Actors Studio. He directed and acted in numerous plays for the New Hellenic Stage of New York, which he founded in 1983. He is the author of The Classmates, a 13-episode series produced by the National Greek Television. He holds a BA in acting from the Greek Art Theatre Drama School, and a MAITRISE DE THEATRE from the University of Paris VIII-Vincennes.
*Ellen Burstyn (President of the Actors Studio, Oscar, and Tony-winning actress): “Andreas Manolikakis understands the work of Stanislavsky and Vakhtangov better than any teacher or interpreter since Lee Strasberg was teaching at the Actors Studio.”
*Arthur Penn, former President of the Actors Studio, Tony-winning and three times Oscar award nominee: “Andreas Manolikakis is one of the most insightful and gifted members of the Actors Studio”.

Carla Marcantonio

Carla Marcantonio is an Associate Professor of Film, Television, and Media Studies at Loyola Marymount University. She is a scholar of transnational/global cinema. Her book, Global Melodrama: Nation, Body, and History in Contemporary Cinema (Palgrave, 2017), investigates how contemporary film melodrama maps new temporal, spatial, and embodied territories in response to globalization. Carla’s articles and essays have appeared in collected editions as well as in journals such as Social Text, Women and Performance and Cineaste. She is the book review editor at Film Quarterly. Carla is originally from Guadalajara, Mexico.

Adam Montgomery

As Senior Manager of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, Adam has overseen the selection process since 2005, with over 14,000 submissions received annually. In addition to programming feature films and documentaries, Adam also programs the Festival’s Midnight section and lends his past experience in television development to Sundance’s Indie Episodic program. Prior to joining the Institute, he spent five years at Imagine Entertainment, where he worked on acclaimed series such as Arrested Development and 24. From 2014-2017, he served as Director of Programming for CIMMfest, a film and music festival based in Chicago.

Mohamed Saïd Ouma

Mohamed Saïd Ouma is an experienced filmmaker, an avid cultural operator, and a seasoned festival manager, currently serving as the Executive Director of DocA-Documentary Africa, an initiative that aims to bolster the African documentary ecosystem through funding, building, and sharing knowledge. His latest film, Red Card, premiered at the 2020 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. Mohamed has cut his professional teeth as a festival manager for the International Film Festival of Africa and the Islands (FIFAI) from 2004 to 2015 where he managed to coordinate support for the festival from the Municipality of Le Port- Reunion Islands and the national film governing body (CNC). With his team, they focused on redefining the editorial line towards an author-driven agenda, adjusting it to be in sync with the support policy criteria. At the helm of DocA, Mohamed aims to foster and nourish strong pan-African ties, leveraging his invaluable professional network which in the recent past enabled him to bring together key Film Festival stakeholders for FIFAI, such as the Durban International Film Festival, Colours of the Nile in Ethiopia for the East and Southern Africa region, FESPACO in Burkina Faso, Rencontres de Saint Louis in Senegal for the West Africa region, and more. As a member of the Pan African Federation of filmmakers he can liaise with key industry and role players, to lobby for films and filmmakers. Mohamed is also involved in The African Heritage Project, a special program aiming to restore fifty African films of historic, cultural, and artistic significance – a first-of-its-kind project seeking to distribute these films to new generations of audiences and filmmakers from Africa and the world.

Brenna Sanchez

Brenna Sanchez is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who specializes in powerful, character-driven storytelling. She produced, directed and distributed the critically acclaimed documentary BURN, which won the audience award at Tribeca Film Festival, four-walled in 170 cities and is one of the highest-grossing self-distributed documentaries of all time. Prior to BURN, she produced a string of music and culture documentaries with director Morgan Neville (Tremolo Productions), including Search and Destroy: Iggy & The Stooges’ RAW POWER (Sony), Johnny Cash’s AMERICA (A&E/Sony; GRAMMY nominated) and The Cool School (PBS/Arthouse). She has produced and directed award-winning, doc-style impact content for General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Kimberly-Clarke and others. Brenna has led filmmaking, social media, crowdfunding, distribution panels for Sundance, FILM Independent, Tribeca Film Festival, International Documentary Association, Directors Guild of America and USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has been featured on NBC Nightly News, Bloomberg Business, MSNBC and more.

Aliki Theofilopoulos

Aliki Theofilopoulos’ work is easily identified by her strong stories, engaging characters, dollop of heart, and unique brand of humor. After receiving a Bachelor in Fine Arts from USC, Aliki launched her career animating on iconic Disney films including “Hercules” and “Tarzan” before moving into the world of television as a Story Artist, Writer, Director, and Executive Producer. Disney entrusted Aliki to transition its “Descendants” characters into animation as an Executive-Producer and Director on the hit series “Descendants Wicked World.” She also spent several years working at Disney TV as a Story Artist, Emmy-nominated Writer, and Emmy-nominated Songwriter on the highly-acclaimed show, “Phineas and Ferb.” Aliki received an Annie nomination for her work on the first Minnie Mouse driven short on Disney’s prestigious “Disney Mickey Mouse.” She received a second Annecy nomination for directing the short, “Doctor Lollipop” for Frederator. Most recently, Aliki worked at DreamWorks as an Executive Producer on the “Doug Unplugs” series for Apple TV+ as well as serving as the supervising producer on the “Harvey Girls Forever.” She currently has two original series in development at Disney and has previously developed original projects at both Disney and Amazon, while Executive Producing a new, unannounced series at DreamWorksTV. Passionate about giving back, she is a member of Women in Animation, a frequent speaker at local schools and universities, and even recently traveled to Greece to give a TEDx talk. Aliki lives in Los Angeles with her husband, her two children and three step-kids, her favorite characters of them all.

Geri Ulrey

Geri Ulrey is a filmmaker, writer and educator living in Los Angeles. Geri’s narrative films have screened at numerous film festivals worldwide, winning many awards along the way. She presently serves as the chair of the Film, Television & Media Arts Department at Glendale Community College where she teaches film and television production. She holds an MFA in film directing and production from the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television and a BA in drama from Vassar College. Geri also writes fiction and creative nonfiction; her stories and personal essays have appeared in Gulf Coast, The Carolina Quarterly and Cleaver. Her essay “13th & B” was selected as a notable in Best American Essays 2016 and “Swimming” was a finalist for the 2016 Gulf Coast Prize in Nonfiction. Also, several of her short stories were recently showcased and performed as part of The New Short Fiction Series 2019 season in Los Angeles. Geri is currently at work on her first novel.

Masha Vasilkovsky

Masha Vasilkovsky is an Experimental Animation Artist, internationally known for her animated films, made in direct techniques, ‘Fur and Feathers’ (2000) and ‘Eyes of the Azure’ (2016). Her films screened at Pompidou Museum, Annecy Animation Festival, and Museum of Modern Art New York, among other venues. Masha’s animation is featured in such productions as, “Il Doctor”, Suzan Pitt (2005) and “Lo Azul Del Cielo”, Juan Uribe (2012). In 2012 Masha co-founded Lumen Animae, an Amity of Creative Partnerships, presenting work at US Open, Sundance, and Tribeca Film Festivals, National TV of China, and other venues. Masha has directed and created over 25 productions, such as: ‘Mysterium Georgicus’, animated installation, permanent exhibit, Virginia (2017) and ‘Ashe ’68’, VR Sand animation, Emmy nomination (2019). Since 2014, at College of the Canyons, Masha brought together Holocaust survivors and students to create six animated documentaries based on stories of survival, such as: ‘My Angel of God’ (2019) and ‘The Promise’ (2018). Masha holds a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design (1995) and an MFA in Experimental Animation from CalArts (1998). Masha teaches animation production at CalArts since 2007.

HOW THE NEED FOR DIVERSITY IS CHANGING THE INDUSTRY: A live dialogue between African Greeks and African Americans in entertainment

May 12, 2021

Greece, like so many other countries, has undergone radical demographic changes in the last three decades due to waves of immigration and the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean basin. The African Greek community is part of the new composition of the social fabric. These changes are reflected on every stratum, including the rising local film & entertainment industry. In this panel, guest speakers – representatives of the African Greek and American communities – will share their experiences in the workspace as well as their perspectives on local and global social change while facing the nemesis of racial bias. Participants: actor Samuel Akinola, filmmaker/activist Keith Beauchamp, actress Ksenia Dania, screenwriter Grace Edwards, actor Ernest Harden Jr., filmmaker/performer Taj Jackson, actor/performer Jerome Kaluta, actress Aurora Marion, actor/performer Black Morris, actor Stefan Mwange, actress Deborah Odong, actress/activist Nahisha Pettit.

To be moderated by renowned Los Angeles film critic Elvis Mitchell.

The panel is produced and presented by Constantinos Isaias.

A free live online panel discussion – 90 minutes

Saturday, May 29, 11:30 am PST (9:30 pm/Greece)
Event complete

: Elvis Mitchell – moderator

: Aurora Marion

: Black Morris

: Deborah Odong

: Ernest Harden Jr

: Grace Edwards

: Jerome Kaluta

: Keith A. Beauchamp

: Ksenia Dania

: Nahisha Pettit

: Samuel Akinola

: Stefan Mwagne

: Taj Jackson

ELVIS MITCHELL

Moderator

Elvis Mitchell is an American film critic, host of the public radio show The Treatment, and visiting lecturer at Harvard University.He has served as a film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, LA Weekly, The Detroit Free Press, and The New York Times. In the summer of 2011, he was appointed as curator of LACMA’s new film series, Film Independent at LACMA. He is currently teaching at the American Film Institute.

Aurora Marion

Aurora Marion has acted in theater, feature films, as well as short films and international TV series such as “Doctor Who”, “Parliament”, “Before We Die”, “Professor T.” and more. Her career started with a leading role in cinema with Chantal Akerman’s “Almayer’s Folly” which premiered at the Venice Film Festival. She was nominated as a most promising actress by the Belgian academy for this first role. Regarding the Greek Theatrical and Cinema scene, she has performed for Konstantinos Markoulakis at the theatre of Dimitris Horn in Athens, for Brett Bailey at the Onassis Cultural Center, for Dimitris Lignadis at Megaro Mousikis and at the European Parliament, for Vana Pefani, Nikos Perakis, Nikos Cornilios, Athina Rachel Tsangari and the list goes on… She recently received an award by the Belgian Academy of Cinema for her role in “The Wedding” by Stephan Streker.

Instagram @aurora_marion

Black Morris

‘Black Morris’ known as “Negros Tou Moria” born by Ghanaian parents in the economically depressed Athenian district of Ambelokipi, and growing up in and around the neglected Kipseli neighborhood ‘Black Morris’ made his first tentative steps in the world of Greek rap next to the legendary MC ‘TakiTsan’ and has since gone on to flesh out his unique and intuitive voice amongst the new-breed in his hometown. Black Morris is the approximate translation of Negros Tou Moria which in its original Greek is an adroit play on words with Geros Tou Moria, a legendary general of the Greek revolution against the Turkish occupation – this twist on a symbol of classic ‘Greekness’ goes a great way to describing the artist’s ethos, creativity and cultural dichotomy; he is an artist that embodies 21st century inner city Athens, speaking of and to its affronted youth with his own tenacious swagger. Black Morris is best described as one of the most up and coming Greek rappers to have emerged in recent years, with unparalleled flow, prodigious beats and music that takes its cues from Europe and the US in equal measure, backed by a modern melting pot of intensely talented young producers and artists from a diversity of ethnic backgrounds. Marking himself out with an inimitable approach amongst this new generation of artists who share the ancient city as their influence and base, he has resonated with those in the know up North as the Thessaloniki Hip Hop Festival chose ‘Black Morris’ as their Best New Artist of the Year in 2014. Black Morris composed the soundtrack of the movie “Motorway 65” which was nominated for Palme d’Or and he appeared in the documentary “My Rembetika Blues” which is part of the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival 2021 Program.

Instagram @blackmorris37

Deborah Odong

Deborah Odong is an actress born and raised in Athens and in London. Before completing her acting training in Athens Drama School G. Theodosiadis, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the American College of Greece. For more than a decade, she’s been made essential to greek television viewers by being included in all the most prominent productions, the most loved series and having worked with Greece’ s most noted directors. Some of her works on TV is “Maria i ashimi”, “Ethinkini Ellados”, H Leksi pou den les”, “Dia tauta”, “Logo Timis”. She is a voracious theatre-goer and is waiting patiently till the time is right again to watch shows in Athens, London, Paris and New York. She’s always avoided interviews but as of last summer and the birth of the BLM movement, she knows that as a black greek woman, she doesn’t have the privilege to be silent. In a series of interviews in prominent greek newspapers and a Tedx talk, she’s started addressing the issue of an all white greek television, theatre and cinema.
She is currently rehearsing for the upcoming production of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, “National Fashion Show” which attempts to comment on the notions of identity and alterity, raising the following question: What type of communities could we invent nowadays, aiming at a more inclusive future?

Instagram @deborahodong

Ernest Harden Jr.

Ernest Harden Jr. started his career in New York working in films like “The Three Days of Condor”, “The Front”, and Taxi Driver”. Soon after arriving in Los Angeles, He was awarded the regular role of Marcus Henderson on the hit television show The Jeffersons. He has starred and guest starred in numerous TV shows and feature films including “Roots”, “White Men Can’t Jump”,”The Transporter 2” and “J. Edgar” directed by Clint Eastwood. Ernest is the only African American to ever star opposite Bette Davis in a film. The film was called “White Mama”. It was one of Mrs. Davis’s last films that she ever made. He can also be seen in the upcoming movies Bronx Bull and Compton’s Finest. He not long ago closed his one-man show as Kabin Thomas in “Beethoven Misfortune Cookies” at The Odyssey Theatre in Hollywood as well as a run at the Mark Taper in August Wilson’s, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”, directed by Phylicia Rashad. Ernest teamed up with actor/director Moe Irvin making their short film “Stanford and Son”. Ernest and Moe star in the film. He is also starring in “Bus Stop” another short film directed by Peachanda Dubose He is currently shooting on the Amazon Prime series “Them Covenant” produced by Lena Waithe and created by Little Marvin and just finished shooting the feature film “Velvet Jesus” that he is also starring in. Ernest is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio.

Instagram @ernesthardenjr – Twitter @ernestharden

Grace Edwards

Grace Edwards is a prolific writer/actor/producer. She is the creator/executive producer of “Jodie”, a spin-off of the iconic series Daria. Most recently she was a writer/producer for the Emmy-nominated HBO series Insecure. Her previous writing credits include multiple seasons of the Emmy-nominated “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”, Hulu’s “Dollface”, “Loosely Exactly Nicole” and “Inside Amy Schumer”. Her acting credits include “Our Cartoon President”, “Insecure” and “Inside Amy Schumer”. She has an MFA in Screenwriting from Columbia University and a BFA in Acting from the University of Michigan.

Instagram & Twitter @gracyact

Jerome Kaluta

Jerome Kaluta born and raised in Athens, is a unique performer and a songwriter who has combined his Afro European music influences, having been raised funk, soul, reggae & disco music, and emerged them to his music production and performance, the infamous Urban Soul experience. As a solo artist, Jerome has appeared in music halls and clubs, throughout Greece & Cyprus. Hosting a Busta Rhymes concert in Athens and starring in two music documentaries about Hip Hop “Rhythm & Rhymes” & “Open Mics”, which paved the way for his 2008 signing with music label Renegade Records, with whom Kaluta released his first Maxi EP “Get Up”. In 2011 he signed with Warner Music Greece and released the digital single “Den Pirazei” and currently, he is signed with EMI Universal Group where he released his digital single “Home”. From 2008 until present his collaboration with one of Greece’s best composers Stamatis Kraounakis stands out as one of the highlights of his career. As member of Speira- Speira, the 1st Greek music theatrical ensemble, Jerome has appeared all over Greece and Europe performing in pure musical plays. From the Ancient Herodion Theater to Athens music Hall Megaron up to the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidavros. This music project, dated from 2011, gathered great like minded players who wanted to mix Funk, Soul, Hip Hop, R’n’B, Reggae, Latin and Afro with Jerome’s soulful original songs and updated takes on sardars, in a single show. This gave birth to the musical genre “Urban Soul” and gained a loyal local audience in Athens and Cyprus.Influenced by icons like James Brown, Compay Segundo , Ella Fitzerald, The Blues Brothers, Bill Withers, Ray Charles and many more alongside with Jerome’s powerful and unique energy on stage!

Instagram @jeromethesource – Twitter @jerome_kaluta

Keith A. Beauchamp

Keith A. Beauchamp is an Award Winning Filmmaker. He attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, where he studied Criminal Justice, with the intention of becoming a Civil Rights Lawyer. Beauchamp found work in New York at Big Baby Films, where he honed his behind the camera skills while devoting himself to researching the Emmett Till case. In 1999, Beauchamp founded Till Freedom Come Productions, a company devoted to socially significant projects that can both teach and entertain. He has devoted the past twenty two years of his life telling the story of Emmett Till and has traveled extensively between New York, Chicago and Mississippi to investigate the historic murder. On May 10th, 2004, the United States Department of Justice re-opened this 50 year old murder case citing Beauchamp’s documentary “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till” as both a major factor in their decision and the starting point for their investigation. That same year, Beauchamp begin his collaboration with the FBI’s New Civil Rights “Cold Case” Initiative, producing documentaries on other unsolved civil rights murders in hopes of helping Federal agents with their investigations that could lead to bringing remaining perpetrators to justice. Beauchamp is a frequent lecturer at colleges and universities around the country. Beauchamp is the former Executive Producer and Host of Investigation Discovery’s Award-winning crime reality series, ‘The InjusticeFiles. His past works include, TV One’s ‘Murder in Black and White’ hosted by Rev. Al Sharpton and ‘Wanted Justice: Johnnie Mae Chappell’ for the History Channel and ‘BET’s Exceptional Black Women.’ Beauchamp is currently the producer of the upcoming feature film “Till,” which is being co-produced by Fred Zollo, Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Broccoli.

Instagram @keithabeauchamp – Twitter @KeithBeauchamp

Ksenia Dania

Ksenia Dania was born and raised in Athens, Greece. She is an actress and singer. She studied acting at the Athens Conservatoire Drama School. In 2016 she played the supporting role of Teresa in the movie “America Square” by Yiannis Sakaridis. In 2019 she starred in the short film “Motorway65” by Evi Kalogiropoulou which was nominated for the Palme d’Or- Short Film at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2020 she played the lead role in the short film “Antivirus” by Anastasia Sima. She has given numerous concerts in Athens, such as the Athens Concert Hall, the Stavros Cultural Foundation, the Kakogiannis Foundation, and more.

Instagram & Twitter @kseniadania

Nahisha Pettit

Nahisha Pettit is an actress, podcast host and social activist. Originally from Washington DC, Nahisha was raised in Baltimore, Maryland. She was born into a pioneering civil rights family. Her grandfather was a key integrator of Maryland schools, with the help of the legendary Thurgood Marshall as his attorney. Later, as her father graduated Law School, he would represent his dad, Nahisha’s grandfather, and make her grandfather the first Black man to successfully sue the United States military for racism. Growing up the child of a nationally respected civil rights attorney, Nahisha is no stranger to the issues of police brutality and wrongful executions. Her dad has been the recipient of many of these cases for as long as she can remember. Unfortunately, she has lost two of her closest friends, who were completely innocent and more importantly, unarmed, at the hands of corrupt cops. This history set Nahisha upon her journey to equalize the experience of Black people in America. Upon moving to Los Angeles, after attending Howard University, Nahisha launched her career as a music writer and working actress. She has appeared as a guest star on several well known television shows, and starred in multiple commercials. Nahisha has also toured multiple countries performing music. Nahisha has always possessed a strong passion for music. She has placed original songs on various film soundtracks and commercials. Nahisha’s podcast is her latest endeavor. She looks forward to continuing to make her voice heard, especially as it pertains to the very important issue of human rights, and the liberation of the oppressed. She believes one group’s suffrage and oppression, is the oppression of us all. And she will stop at almost nothing as she plays her part to create a fair, humane and equal world for us all.

Instagram @nahisha – Twitter @nahisha

Samuel Akinola

Samuel Akinola is an actor and performer. Born and raised in Greece, with roots from Kenya and Nigeria. He is an accredited stage, film and voiceover actor, with many Greek theater productions under his belt, some of his credits include, “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles and “Bacchae” by Euripides. He is the voice for Greek releases of animated movies such as, “Smallfoot” and “The Secret Life of Pets”. His on screen work includes roles in the films, “Do it Yourself”, “Holy Bloom” and “The Tailor” – a feature film in LAGFF 2021. In addition to acting, Akinola plays Djembe and has performed in several dance productions with the group ‘ANASA drummers’ and with the dance group of ‘Dafne Asimakopoulou’. Akinola devotes himself to several outreach and non-profit organizations who focus on diversity and interculturality. He has worked with “Diversity Volcano” with the organization Generation 2.0, that aims to help students understand and familiarize themselves with topics of diversity, interculturalism and human rights, within several schools around Greece. He has also combined his skills of acting and efforts of social justice, to normalize human relations based on diversity, performing “FO-RA STOP” (Fear-Racism STOP!), a school action inspired by the theatrical play “Third wave” by Ron Jones and Joseph Robinette, performed in the youth stage of the National Theatre (Chora Theatre).

Instagram @samuel_akinola_theo

Stefan Mwange

Stefan Mwange was born and raised in Athens, while his origins are from Uganda. He is an actor with many productions on stage and on screen. While a student of journalism, Mwange worked as an amateur actor in the theater, taking part in performances as a professional while also presenting radio shows. His first big break as an actor came in 2008, with the leading role of Abdel in the youth series “C4” for which he was nominated for the Nation TV Awards. This was followed by extraordinary appearances in series such as the comedy “The Apartment Building”, also as Simon Elenko on Mega Channel’s daily series, “Stolen Dreams”, and most recently as Mamandou in the comedy series “Throw The Fryer”. Mwange performed at the National Theater Of Greece in 2014 in the play “Mephisto” and in 2015 in the play “Piaf”. Also Mwange performed twice in the “Athens and Epidaurus Festival” with the plays “A Quiet Voice” and “Aida”. He made his cinematic debut in 2011 as a doctor in the comedy “Out of the Bones”. This was followed by the film “Vacant” in 2013 and the short productions “Not Medea” and “History Zero” in 2014 at Venice Biennale. In 2016, the film “America Square” followed, while in 2017 “Do It Yourself” & “Smac” and in the 2021 newly acclaimed film “Tailor”, a feature film in LAGFF 2021.
Instagram @stefanosmouagkie

Taj Jackson

Taj Jackson was literally born into fame, appearing on a JET magazine cover as a newborn. The son of the Jackson 5’s Tito Jackson and nephew of Michael Jackson, Taj was raised with a front row seat to the inner workings of the entertainment industry. At age twelve, he followed in his father and uncle’s footsteps by forming a musical group with his brothers Taryll and TJ called 3T. Soon after hearing their demo tape, Sony Music signed them to a record deal. Their first song, “Didn’t Mean To Hurt You” was featured on the soundtrack to the movie “Free Willy” which also featured a song by their uncle Michael to whom they were extremely close. Michael was very instrumental in developing Taj’s passion for music, photography, and film. Beyond helping Taj with his entertainment career, Michael was an emotional rock for Taj and his brothers, especially in helping them grieve for the death of their mother, Dee Dee Jackson, in 1994. With the support of Michael, Tito, and the rest of the Jackson family, 3T was able to finish their debut album, “Brotherhood”, later that year. The album went on to sell over three million units worldwide and forced Taj to make a difficult career decision: stay in college and pursue a film education, or focus solely on 3T and his music. Of course, Taj found a way to incorporate all his artistic interests, and began co-directing the group’s music videos and acted as creative advisor on the “Brotherhood World Tour” in 1997. Since then, he has continued his music and photography career as well as fulfilling his dream as an established director.

Instagram @tajjackson – Twitter @tajjackson3

Constantinos Isaias

Producer/Presenter - Diversity Panel

Trey Armstrong

Panel Content Assistant - LMU 2021 Intern

Maria Musoga

Panel Content Assistant

PROMOTING, SHOWCASING & FUNDING FILM PRODUCTION IN GREECE

May 12, 2021

President of the GFC Board of Directors Markos Holevas, Director of Development & Production Yorgos Angelopoulos, Director of Promotion (Hellas Film) Athena Kalkopoulou, and Director of the Hellenic Film Commission Venia Vergou will discuss the new film incentives offered by Greece to local and foreign filmmakers, new programs, and the process of funding films through the Greek Film Centre.

To be moderated by Steven Bernstein.

A live panel discussion – 60 minutes

Thursday, May 27, 11 am PST (9 pm/Greece)
Event Complete

ABOUT THE GREEK FILM CENTRE

Greek Film Centre (GFC), a public benefit non-profit legal entity supervised by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, is the main institution that applies cinematographic policy in Greece. The administrative organs of the GFC are the Board of Directors and the General Director. They are designated by the Minister of Culture, and their service is 3-year long, with an option of renewal.

The Greek Film Centre consists of:

Directorate of Development and Production: in charge of the development and production funding programs, as well as for monitoring the projects till their completion.
Directorate of Promotion (Hellas Film): in charge of the promotion and distribution of Greek cinema, domestically and internationally in film festivals, film markets and special events all around the world as well as of Greek Film Centre’s print and digital archive.
Hellenic Film Commission: in charge of promoting and developing Greece as a filming destination for international film and TV productions and facilitating international productions.

The Greek Film Centre designates the national representative in EURIMAGES and works with the European Commission in operating the promotion office of the Creative Europe Media Desk-Greece. It’s also a member and is of European Film Promotion network (EFP), European Film Agency Directors (EFADs) and SEE Cinema Network. More information about filming in Greece, here.

Yorgos Angelopoulos

Yorgos Angelopoulos studied Filmmaking in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki-School of Fine Arts, majoring in Directing. He was awarded a fellowship for a Master’s Degree in Screenwriting, at the University of The Arts in London. His first short film, GOLDFISH, won 14 awards and was part of an International Campaign for Human Rights & Equality, ran by the British Council. He co-wrote PATISION AVENUE, a short film which competed at Venice Int’l Film Festival and won 3 awards in Clermont- Ferrand Int’l Film Festival. He has worked in film education. Since 2017 he’s been a part of the Development & Production team at the Greek Film Centre. In 2020 Angelopoulos became the Director of Development & Production at the Greek Film Centre.

Markos Holevas

GFC President of the Board of Directors

Markos Holevas has had a long career in film administration as well as in directing. In 1980-1989 he was a Founding Member and President of the Super-8 Thessaloniki Film Festival. He went on to serve on the Board of Directors of the Greek Film Centre (GFC) (1991-1993), and as a GFC representative in Euro-Aim (Media ’95); in 1995, he served as the Vice President of the Greek Directors’ Guild, and in 1996-1998 he was the General Secretor of SADA (authors’ rights). In 2007-2010, he served as the Director of the Hellenic Film Commission, in 2010 as the Vice President of the GFC, and in 2010-2015 as the President of the Association of Directors/Producers of Greek Cinema. Since 2020, Holevas has been appointed as the President of the Board of Directors of the GFC. His filmography includes among others the features E-MAIL, EYEWITNESS, the documentary THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ANTIQUITY, the television films SWEET DREAMS and FORTUITOUS PASSION as well as the television series The Alexanders of the New World, and Infoland.

Athena Kalkopoulou

Director of Promotion

Athena Kalkopoulou is the Director of Promotion (Hellas Film) at the Greek Film Centre (GFC). She is a Greek-American creative producer and consultant with over twenty years of experience in the audiovisual industry. She has collaborated with the Sundance Documentary Fund, SXSW, Telluride Film Festival and the Catapult Film Fund. She produced A Growing Thing (US/German co-production) which broadcast on Deutche Welle and the PBS World Channel. She co-produced THESE ARE MY HOURS which had its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in 2018. Previously, Kalkopoulou oversaw the San Francisco Film Society’s (now SFFILM) documentary program and fiscal sponsorship program. She holds an MA in Film and TV Production from Bristol University and a BA in Media with Cultural Studies from the University of Sussex.

Venia Vergou

Venia Vergou has served as the Director of the Hellenic Film Commission of the Greek Film Centre (GFC) since 2017, and member of the Board of Directors of the European Film Commissions Network (EUFCN) since 2019. Originally a film critic and experienced travel editor, Venia produced Keimena, a weekly film program presented by the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) on behalf of the acclaimed art exhibition documenta 14. She has worked at the Greek Film Archive as the head of communication and film programmer (2013-2015) and her credits as a co-producer include three films: WILD DUCK (2013), GREAT EASTERN (2015), AMERICA SQUARE (2017). Vergou studied Communication and Mass Media at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR) and holds an M.A. in Film Studies and European Cinema from the University of the West of England (Bristol, UK).

Steven Bernstein (Moderator)

Steven Bernstein ASC, DGA, WGA’s new film LAST CALL which he wrote and directed stars John Malkovich and Rhys Ifans. Previously he directed the award-winning DECODING ANNIE PARKER , also from his script, which starred Samantha Morton and Helen Hunt. He has been commissioned to write a TV series which will be shot in Greece, another feature film in Spain which is to be shot next year. He has a new book coming out in the new year called The Filmmaker’s Creative Process to be published by Routledge. Before he directed he was a cinematographer, shooting the Oscar-winning MONSTER among many others. He received an American Society of Cinematographers award nomination for his work on MAGIC CITY and is a Sloane Award winner for his directing. He has worked in motion pictures and television for over 30 years and worked on over 50 feature films. He has spent a great deal of time in Greece where he has lectured about film.
Steven Bernstein DGA, ASC, WGA
Writer/director
Instagram: Stevenbernsteindirectorwriter

Shorts: The Film Festival Darlings Panel – Q&A

May 12, 2021

A discussion with the filmmakers from our “SHORTS: THE FILM FESTIVAL DARLINGS COLLECTION.” These films have recently screened to great acclaim around the world at festivals including Busan, Berlinale, Cannes, Venice, Locarno, Clermont-Ferrand, AFI, Thessaloniki IFF, Athens IFF, and Drama.

May 25, 2021
11:00 am PST, 21:00 Greece
EVENT COMPLETE

Christina Diamantara

Witchin'

Christina Diamantara is a Greek, Los-Angeles based writer and director. Her short film, Witchin’ had its world premiere in the LA Shorts International Film Festival in addition to screening at Cleveland International FF, Rhode Island International FF, Filmquest and on top of garnering awards and recognitions in more than 30 other festivals worldwide. Her first short, The Application won the Audience Award at the Thessaloniki Short Film Festival. Christina holds a BA honours in Philology/Linguistics and an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute. She currently works as a voice director for the Los Angeles-based, Horseless Cowboy Production Company, where she directs English dubs for foreign Netflix shows, while developing her feature projects.

Jacqueline Lentzou

The End of Suffering (A proposal)

Jacqueline (Athens, 1989) is an artist whose cinematic language involves discovering poetry in –seemingly- mundane premises. Her tools are word and image association, the dream-construct, intuition. She experiments with formats, durations and feelings.
Through her work she discusses non-traditional family systems, loneliness, duality and oneness, love, and most importantly, the lack of it.
A London Film School graduate (2013), Jacqueline has written and directed five short films up until now, all of them having a rather successful festival career having premiered at Locarno, Toronto, Berlin, Cannes. She is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Cine Leica Discovery Award by Semaine de La Critique for Hector Malot: The Last Day of the Year (2018).
Her debut film MOON, 66 QUESTIONS (2021) just premiered in Berlinale’s Encounters Section.

Stavros Markoulakis

Madonna F64.0

Born in Chania, Greece, March 1994, Stavros Markoulakis graduated from the School of Communication and Mass Media at the National Kapodistrian University of Greece. He studied simultaneously drama in Athens. In 2020 he completed his first short film entitled “Madonna f64.0” and he is currently developing his next short film, “Pigeons are dying, when the city is on fire”. Living and working in Amsterdam and Athens, he is in the postgraduate program “Preservation and Presentation of the Moving Image” at the University of Amsterdam, while working as Film Programmer at Leiden Shorts and Programming Coordinator & Shorts Programmer at Aegean Film Festival

Nikos Pastras

Melatonin

Nikos Pastras was born in Athens. He is a self-taught filmmaker and has been working in cinema since 2007. He has directed four short films, “Theremin” (2008), “Lost Girl” (2012), “Acrylic” (2016) and «Melatonin” (2020), tv-documentaries and commercials. He has edited multiple short films, documentaries, commercials, music videos, the two last films of Nikos Panayotopoulos (“The Limousine” (2014) and “Rembrandt’s Daughter” (2015)) and “Winona” (2019) by Alexandros-The Boy-Voulgaris, for which he received the Best Editing award from the Hellenic Film Academy. He also works as a graphic designer and illustrator, designing titles and posters for short and feature films as well as album covers. He is currently in editing of his first DIY feature film “Bastards” and in pre-production of the feature film titled “Acrylic” (based on his homonymous short film), which has received support from Creative Europe MEDIA, ERT SA and the Greek Film Center.

Thelyia Petraki

Bella

Thelyia Petraki is a film director, script writer and an anthropologist. She graduated from CALARTS (USA) with a BA in Film, and from UCL (UK) with an MA in Visual & Material Culture – dept. of Social Anthropology.
She has directed the short film “PRAY” 2012 – 18’ (Palm Springs, Austin Texas FF, Uppsala FF) distributed by Premium Films, the short film “HELGA ÄR I LUND” 2016 –20’(Clermont Ferrand FF, Busan FF) and the short film “BELLA” 2020 – 24’ which participated in the Berlinale Short Film Station Workshop 2019 (Visions du Reel 2020 – Special Mention, Oberhausen FF 2020 – E-Flux Prize, Busan International Short FF 2021 – Grand Prix). She is currently in pre-production of her debut feature film.

Anastasia Sima

Antivirus

Having earned a post-graduate degree in the School of Science-Geology and Geoenvironment Faculty at the University of Athens, Anastasia Sima later studied film directing.

Her first short film ATHINA-STOCKHOLM (2019) has already won five (5) awards in International Film Festivals and has also been selected in 33 different film festivals, up until now.

ANTIVIRUS, a short film (2020) that was entirely shot by a mobile phone, during the first quarantine in the spring of 2020, has been awarded with the Audience Award in the 43rd Drama International Film Festival. Moreover, its International Premiere was at the PÖFF Shorts Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn Estonia and is also nominated for the Jury Award at Pan African Film & Arts Festival (Academy Award Qualifying).

Her documentary which is in pre-production phase, refers to the sessions of a psychiatrist and a patient in the psychiatric department of the Attikon Public Hospital.

Thanassis Tsimpinis

Escaping the Fragile Planet

Thanasis Tsimpinis is an award-winning, self-taught film director, with a background in film editing. Before launching his career in filmmaking, he graduated in Social Administration and Political Science from the Democritus University of Thrace. He currently lives and works in Athens, Greece, where he writes and directs short films and TV commercials for well-known brands. His award-winning films DUST (2013) and FAWNS (2014) have been screened in various film festivals around the world, hosted in prestigious platforms (Vimeo Staff Pick, Nowness, Yatzer ao) and have been loved by audiences online. His latest film “Escaping the fragile planet” (2020) was awarded during the 43rd Drama International Short Film Festival. Notably, it has been selected out of 7,000 submissions for the International Competition of the 43rd Clermont-Ferrand Int. Short Film Festival, as it continues its extensive international journey across the world.

Constantine Venetopoulos

DRAW WITH ME

Born in Athens Greece in 1980 Constantine Venetopoulos graduated from London’s CASS Business School with a Master’s Degree in Marketing. In addition to publishing two novels, his films have premiered at Tribeca Film Festival among others. His most recent work ‘Draw with Me’ created in partnership with ‘The Trevor Project’ -the leading suicide prevention line for LGBTQ youth- made history at the United Nations, commemorating 50 years from the Stonewall riots. He has directed ABT’s prima ballerina Luciana Paris and actors Bill Skarsgård, Emma Hepburn Ferrer, and Ian Alexander among others. He is the founder of ‘Kuntaur Film Festival’, a children’s film festival in the remote village of Kuntaur in West Africa lacking access to electricity, sharing the cinema experience with the youth by deploying mobile generators Constantine Venetopoulos has been an author, filmmaker, and advocate for human rights since 2010.

Leda Galanou (Moderator)

Flix.gr / I Efimerida ton Syntakton

Born in Athens, Greece, Leda Galanou started watching films long before she realized that cinema could also be a profession. She studied English Literature at the University of Athens and History at the Deree followed by an MA in Film Critic from the City University of London. As an editor and film critic, she worked at the magazine Cinema, at Athens International Film Festival, at Thessaloniki International Film Festival. She also collaborated with a number of film distribution companies in marketing and publicity. She is currently the film critic at the “I Efimerida ton Syntakton”, Editors Newspaper and co-owner and editor of Flix.gr

2021

Thursday, June 3, at 11:00 am PST | 21:00 Greece

Yorgos Avgeropoulos

Being Present, Orpheus Award for Best Documentary

Eftychia Fragou

The Unlost Homeland, Audience Orpheus Award

Dimitra Kouzi

Passage to Europe, Special Jury Award

Wednesday, June 2, at 11:00 am PST | 21:00 Greece

Michael Kalopaidis

Parrot Lady, Orpheus Award for Best Animation

Fokion Xenos

Lazy Dragon, Special Jury Award

Demetrios Tzamaras

Bucket Hat!, Audience Orpheus Award

Aliki Theofilopoulos

Executive Director, Dreamworks

Vassilis Karamitsanis

President, Asifa Hellas

Aristarchos Papadaniel

Asifa Hellas

Aris Katopodis

Moderator

Dimitra Kasdagli

Moderator

Monday, May 31, at 11:00 am PST | 21:00 GreeceEvent complete

Siamak Etemadi

Director

Melika Foroutan

Actress

Feature Film | Performance | Directing

Best Fiction Feature

Pari

by Siamak Etemadi

Best Performance

Nikolas Kisker

from Daniel ’16

Special Jury Awardfor Best Performance

Melika Foroutan

from Pari

Best Director

Janis Rafa

from Kala Azar

Audience Awards

Man of God

by Yelena Popovic

Short Film

Best Short Film

Iskioma

by Kostas Gerampinis

Audience Award

Vouta

by Dimitris Zahos

Documentary

Best Documentary

Being Present

by Yorgos Avgeropoulos

Special Jury Award

Passage to Europe

by Dimitra Kouzi

Audience Award

The Unlost Homeland

by Eftyhia Frangou

Animation

Best Animation

Parrot Lady

Michalis Kalopaidis

Special Jury Award

Lazy Dragon

by Fokion Xenos, Joan Zhonga

Audience Award

Bucket Hat!

by Demetrios Tzamaras

Eugene (Gino) Brancolini

Gérard Dessere

Ruah Edelstein

Marlon Johnson

Andreas Manolikakis

Carla Marcantonio

Adam Montgomery

Monday, May 31, at 11:00 am PST | 21:00 Greece
Event complete

Special Jury Award
for Best Performance

Saturday, May 29, 11:30 am PST (9:30 pm/Greece)
Event complete

Thursday, May 27, 11 am PST (9 pm/Greece)
Event Complete

May 25, 2021
11:00 am PST, 21:00 Greece
EVENT COMPLETE

Flix.gr / I Efimerida ton Syntakton