Countdown to the ‘Greek Oscars’
Even though there is still no official name for the newly established Greek film awards (it will be announced April 26), many people in the field have already dubbed them the «Greek Oscars.» The candidates for the prizes were announced a few days ago and the award ceremony will take place at the Athens Concert Hall on May 3, hosted by actor Giorgos Kimoulis. This is the first public event for the Greek Film Academy, an initiative of the Filmmakers of Greece (FoG) which brings together a large number of Greek directors who want to pressure the government into doing more to support the country’s film industry. The comparison of the awards with the Oscars is no coincidence, since the procedure followed is in fact based on the same formula as the US Academy Awards. In the first stage of the procedure, films were submitted for candidacy. The producers were responsible for choosing the right category. Overall, there were 19 feature-length feature films, 13 feature-length documentaries and 22 shorts. At the end of March the nominations were put to the first vote. Of the 171 members, 168 had the right to vote. The second and final vote on the nominations is scheduled for April 26-29. All members of the Film Academy with a right to vote will choose among the short-listed nominees. Nominations The candidates were announced at a recent press conference by Tasos Boulmetis, president of the Film Academy, general secretary Markos Holevas and bursar Dimitris Athanitis. «Strella,» a film by Panos Koutras, will be competing in 11 categories, «Deep Soul» by Pantelis Voulgaris in nine and «Dogtooth» by Giorgos Lanthimos in eight. «Ricordi mi» by Stella Theodoraki, «Black Field» by Vardis Marinakis and «Akadimia Platonos» by Fillipos Tsitos are each competing in four categories. In the best film category the competition is expected to be fierce between the films «Plato’s Academy,» «Dogtooth,» «Strella,» «Deep Soul» and «Guilt.» Candidates for best male actor are Antonis Kafetzopoulos (in «Akadimia Platonos»), Christos Stergioglou (in «Dogtooth»), and Yiannis Kokiasmenos (in «Strella»). Candidates for best female actress are Aggeliki Papoulia (in «Dogtooth»), Theodora Tzimou (in «Ricordi mi») and Mina Orfanou (in «Strella»). According to Athanitis, the night of the ceremony is expected to be low-key and modest with none of the red-carpet glamour of other film ceremony awards. He added that the focus is on the actual films and their contributors. Athanitis also said that the ceremony will be attended by well-known Greek and foreign filmmakers, actors and scriptwriters as well as personalities in the field.
