Greek films left high and dry
The recently released film «Hostage» provides a good case study for the problems facing the Greek film industry. The film started off with the best predictions, sporting a good director, a plot of social interest and a majority of positive reviews. So what went wrong and why has the film only sold 5,000 tickets at the box office and had to be reduced from 13 to three cinemas in just a week? The case of «Hostage» threw Greek filmmakers and film distributors alike into a skeptical frame of mind. There are many possible causes, but also many consequences. Some Greek films are hastily withdrawn from the cinemas and distributors are worried: If the best completed Greek production in 2005 was so badly received by the public, what can they expect in the future? The well-known international practice «no production without distribution, no distribution without promotion» was carefully applied to «Hostage.» Both distribution and strong promotion were secured from the start. How could the distribution company have supported the film, at whatever cost, and made it stay in cinemas longer? Do distribution companies have any political power, or are they only commercial businesses? Do screening and promotion weigh exclusively upon the Greek Filmcenter’s Hellas Film? And what is the future of Filmcenter, which was formed in 2000 to support Greek productions but has failed to secure distribution? These and other questions were at the forefront at the recent day conference organized by the Greek Filmcenter and titled «Commercial Distribution of Greek Films.» We borrowed some facts from the speech of Voula Georgakou (from Hellas Film), one of the best-documented speeches. In Greece, an average of 250 films are distributed annually to the country’s 350 movie theaters. Out of the 250 productions, about 150 are American films, 50 are European, about five to six come from other countries and 13 are Greek. This is the picture we get after examining the facts of the last three years, regarding local production: In 2002, 19 feature-length films were produced, 14 of which were distributed by agencies and two by Filmcenter. Three of them had no distribution, and total ticket sales were 300,000. In 2003, 22 feature-length films were produced: 13 were distributed through agencies and only one by Filmcenter. Six films were without distribution. On the whole, 1,800,000 tickets were sold (1,500,000 of which were from box-office hit «A Touch of Spice»). In 2004, 22 feature-length films were produced, 11 of which were distributed by agencies and one by Filmcenter. Ten films were left without distribution. Based on a personal estimate, 1,100,000 tickets were sold, 80 percent of which for just one film, Pantelis Voulgaris’s «Brides.» One notices that during the last few years, the number of films left in cans has tripled. Facts from other EU countries are not encouraging either: Out of the 750 films produced, only 50 to 60 percent are commercially distributed, meaning that only 6 out of 10 films have an organized commercial distribution. The remainder are either screened in a small network of art house movie theaters, go straight to television, videos and DVDs, or are not screened at all. The comparison between Greece and Europe nonetheless ends here, because most other European countries have institutionalized motives, to give films more public appeal. Motives take the shape of financial support for distribution, funding of part of the distribution budget with an interest-free, long-term loan to the distributor, and ticket subsidies. In Greece the role of protection, boosting, screening and promoting local productions, both within the country and abroad, belongs exclusively to the Greek Filmcenter via Hellas Film. For its part, the Filmcenter has limited the Greek program to 20 percent, for financial reasons. Distributors – at least those who are interested in Greek films – would desire such a move, which would give Greek productions a longer lifespan in the cinemas by handling the cost. The initiative belongs to the state, meaning the inactive Ministry of Culture.
