Greek films take off
Greece’s film industry fared well at this year’s 55th Cannes Film Festival, lining up foreign distribution deals and noting interest for the inclusion of Greek films at international festivals. Representatives of the Venice, Locarno, San Sebastian and Berlin film festivals showed interest in several Greek films: «Hard Farewells – My Dad» by Penny Panayiotopoulou, «You’ll Regret It» by Katerina Evangelakou, and «Lilly’s Story» by Roviros Manthoulis. Festival agents also appeared likely to include «Almost» by Stella Theodoraki, «Dreams of Metal» by Nikos Kornilios, and «Tuesday Night» by Dimitris Panayiotatos in special categories. Constantinos Giannaris’s film «A Day In August» was the only Greek one that secured foreign distribution deals for cinema screenings – in three countries: Denmark, Hungary, and the Netherlands. Numerous other films struck TV deals. «The Eternal Student» by Vangelis Seitanidis and «Earth and Water» by Panayiotis Karkanevatos will be screened in Canada. Belgian viewers will see Maria Iliou’s «Alexandria.» «Save Me» by Stratos Tzitzis, Panayiotatos’s «Tuesday Night,» «Beautiful People» by Nikos Panayiotopoulos and «Tomorrow Will Be Too Late» by Layia Giorgou will be screened in Bangkok. Indonesian TV bought «Bubble» by Nikos Perakis, «A Night to Remember» by Panayiotopoulos, «Peppermint» by Costas Kapakas, and «The Mating Game» by Olga Malea, while «Seventh Sun of Love» by Vangelis Serdaris will be seen by viewers in Taiwan. Iranian television made conditional offers for five Greek films, assuring that deals will proceed if scenes that may be subject to censorship are cut.
