Greek film awards axed
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June Samaras
Nov 18, 2009, 6:40:30 PM11/18/09
to hellas-greece
Greek film awards axed
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011501.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&ref=bd_film
Industryites’ protest at outdated film law hits event
Greek industryites who pulled their pics from the Thessaloniki Film
Festival in a dispute over the country's outdated film funding laws
have forced the cancellation of next Monday's Greek State Film Awards.
More than 200 directors, producers and screenwriters withdrew 52 films
from the fest, undermining the state awards, which selects winners
from Greek films that unspool at the fest.
The current law, introduced more than 20 years ago, should provide
around $4.5 million in public funding from a levy on cinema ticket
sales and on public and commercial TV stations.
The Filmmakers of Greece (FoG) -- a group of younger industryites
formed in March -- claim the money is not being fully channeled to
them. They accuse the government of a lack of transparency and failing
to introduce production tax incentives of the sort common across the
European Union.
FoG's decision to pull 18 features, six documentaries and 28 shorts
from Thessaloniki, left the organizers of Greek's leading
international film showcase with a scant selection of the past year's
65 local productions in a year it was celebrating its 50th
anniversary.
Instead, FoG staged a week of screenings that drew audiences of more
than 5,000 at the Elli Cinema in Athens just before the Thessaloniki
fest opened on Friday.
A new national film law is "crucial for the survival and evolution of
the Greek film industry and its position in Europe and the rest of the
world," the group said.
Its action comes at a time when Greek cinema has received public
interest and international acclaim in Cannes, Berlin and Locarno this
year for films that include "Dogtooth" by Yorgos Lanthimos, "Strella"
by Panos Koutras and Filipos Tsitos' "Plato's Academy."
Political wrangling over updating and revising the film law began five
years ago but has failed to produce a consensus.
A new Ministry of Culture initiative set up last year and headed by
director Costa Gavras identified a need for reform of public film
funding and the introduction of tax incentives.
It foundered when early elections brought about a change of government
this year.
Speaking at the fest's opening, new culture and tourism minister
Pavlos Geroulanos pledged to work on a film law. But protestors are
unimpressed.
"There is a lack of a general cinema culture or understanding of its
importance as a cultural product and export in Greece," says FoG
member Alexis Alexiou, whose first film, "Tale 52," screened at the
Rotterdam and Toronto fests last year.
The attention has done little to give Alexiou's next project much of a
domestic boost. He has received around $300,000 from the Greek Film
Center for "Fade," a Danish co-production, but is struggling to find
enough money to begin shooting.
"We do not understand films, see films or show films in Greece," Alexiou said.
Part of the problem may be that the country seems intent on resting on
its historic cultural laurels, relying on ancient archaeology and what
Alexiou calls a "Parthenon complex" to project an international
cultural image.
What that means, Alexiou says, is that the modern issues of Greek
society and politics fail to find a film voice in a Europe where
countries, such as Romania, with much weaker economies than Greece,
have created their own film culture.
Konstantinos Kontovrakis, head of the Greek film program at
Thessaloniki, said it would have been "disastrous" had the State Film
Awards gone ahead based on the handful local films shown at the fest.
He is critical of FoG, which failed to send any official
representation to the fest although individual members like Alexiou
were present.
"It is very sad that the filmmakers who are protesting were not here
to support their cause. We have international press and television
reporters at the festival keen to cover Greek cinema and current
issues. Greek filmmakers cannot afford to close a window on the
outside world at this time."
The fest did make its own effort to highlight the issues that confront
Greek filmmakers. In a panel discussion hosted by the fest's Agora
market, French, German and British industryites outlined the public
funding systems in their own countries.
Yorgos Papalios, president of the Greek Film Center, said the wealth
of public funding for films in France and Germany left him feeling
"sick."
"Greece must have a film law that represents its culture," Papalios
said, noting that the country almost lost location filming of "Mamma
Mia!" to Malta when petty bureaucracy threatened to scupper shooting
on a Greek island.
==========================
June Samaras
KALAMOS BOOKS
(For Books about Greece)
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : kalamo...@gmail.com
(or) kalam...@aol.com
www.kalamosbooks.com
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118011501.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&ref=bd_film
Industryites’ protest at outdated film law hits event
Greek industryites who pulled their pics from the Thessaloniki Film
Festival in a dispute over the country's outdated film funding laws
have forced the cancellation of next Monday's Greek State Film Awards.
More than 200 directors, producers and screenwriters withdrew 52 films
from the fest, undermining the state awards, which selects winners
from Greek films that unspool at the fest.
The current law, introduced more than 20 years ago, should provide
around $4.5 million in public funding from a levy on cinema ticket
sales and on public and commercial TV stations.
The Filmmakers of Greece (FoG) -- a group of younger industryites
formed in March -- claim the money is not being fully channeled to
them. They accuse the government of a lack of transparency and failing
to introduce production tax incentives of the sort common across the
European Union.
FoG's decision to pull 18 features, six documentaries and 28 shorts
from Thessaloniki, left the organizers of Greek's leading
international film showcase with a scant selection of the past year's
65 local productions in a year it was celebrating its 50th
anniversary.
Instead, FoG staged a week of screenings that drew audiences of more
than 5,000 at the Elli Cinema in Athens just before the Thessaloniki
fest opened on Friday.
A new national film law is "crucial for the survival and evolution of
the Greek film industry and its position in Europe and the rest of the
world," the group said.
Its action comes at a time when Greek cinema has received public
interest and international acclaim in Cannes, Berlin and Locarno this
year for films that include "Dogtooth" by Yorgos Lanthimos, "Strella"
by Panos Koutras and Filipos Tsitos' "Plato's Academy."
Political wrangling over updating and revising the film law began five
years ago but has failed to produce a consensus.
A new Ministry of Culture initiative set up last year and headed by
director Costa Gavras identified a need for reform of public film
funding and the introduction of tax incentives.
It foundered when early elections brought about a change of government
this year.
Speaking at the fest's opening, new culture and tourism minister
Pavlos Geroulanos pledged to work on a film law. But protestors are
unimpressed.
"There is a lack of a general cinema culture or understanding of its
importance as a cultural product and export in Greece," says FoG
member Alexis Alexiou, whose first film, "Tale 52," screened at the
Rotterdam and Toronto fests last year.
The attention has done little to give Alexiou's next project much of a
domestic boost. He has received around $300,000 from the Greek Film
Center for "Fade," a Danish co-production, but is struggling to find
enough money to begin shooting.
"We do not understand films, see films or show films in Greece," Alexiou said.
Part of the problem may be that the country seems intent on resting on
its historic cultural laurels, relying on ancient archaeology and what
Alexiou calls a "Parthenon complex" to project an international
cultural image.
What that means, Alexiou says, is that the modern issues of Greek
society and politics fail to find a film voice in a Europe where
countries, such as Romania, with much weaker economies than Greece,
have created their own film culture.
Konstantinos Kontovrakis, head of the Greek film program at
Thessaloniki, said it would have been "disastrous" had the State Film
Awards gone ahead based on the handful local films shown at the fest.
He is critical of FoG, which failed to send any official
representation to the fest although individual members like Alexiou
were present.
"It is very sad that the filmmakers who are protesting were not here
to support their cause. We have international press and television
reporters at the festival keen to cover Greek cinema and current
issues. Greek filmmakers cannot afford to close a window on the
outside world at this time."
The fest did make its own effort to highlight the issues that confront
Greek filmmakers. In a panel discussion hosted by the fest's Agora
market, French, German and British industryites outlined the public
funding systems in their own countries.
Yorgos Papalios, president of the Greek Film Center, said the wealth
of public funding for films in France and Germany left him feeling
"sick."
"Greece must have a film law that represents its culture," Papalios
said, noting that the country almost lost location filming of "Mamma
Mia!" to Malta when petty bureaucracy threatened to scupper shooting
on a Greek island.
==========================
June Samaras
KALAMOS BOOKS
(For Books about Greece)
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : kalamo...@gmail.com
(or) kalam...@aol.com
www.kalamosbooks.com
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