From 15 to 20 September 2014, the 37th International Film Festival in Drama opens its gates to welcome once more films, participants and guests, from Greece’s emerging talents to tinernational filmmakers.

This year the festival will screen 204 films throughout its programmes (National and International Competition) and pre-festival events.

The festival will welcome its guests and participants with an opening night were three important Greek filmmakers, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, Yorgos Tsemberopoulos (President of the National Competition) and Tassos Psarras will have tributes to their films.

In the National Competition Section, 38 out of 165 films submitted were selected – 2 documentaries and 5 animation films, beside the fiction ones.

With themes varying from unemployment, poverty and homelessness, this year’s National Competition films focus on interpersonal relations, loneliness and many social topics happening -or not- in today’s Greece. According to Antonis Papadopoulos, Drama’s Artisitc Director, “short film has an ‘immediate return’ potential, it needs less time to be completed, capturing the reality out there. Thus, Drama’s screen becomes  the highly -or less- realistic mirror image of our society. […] In the recent years, we see a highly increasing synergy from the Greek filmmakers, multiplying the indie productions but replacing the professional team with volunteer work.

In the 37th International Film Festival in Drama’s movies we also find many Greek popular actors: Thanassis Papageorgiou, Errikos Litsis, Dimitra Hatoupi, Alkis Panagiotidis, Dimitris Piatas, Giorgos Kotanidis, along with filmmakers Syllas Tzoumerkas and Nikos Karathanos.

Drag Me: An Urban Music Tale by Nikos Kellis, 2013, 6’

4 films of the National also compete in the International section: The Noir Project by Gregory Vardarinos, Three Eggholders Almost Four by Konstantinos Samaras, Maasai by Harry Lagoussis and The Immortaliser by Marios Piperides from Cyprus. 

The Jury to award the films consists of great filmmakers and professionals from the Greek film industry: Director, producer and scriptwriter Yorgos Tsemberopoulos (President of the Jury), director Dimitris Athanitis, film critic Giannis Zouboulakis, DoP Katerina Maragoudaki and director Yannis Sakaridis. Writer and film critic Dimitris Haritos is going to be the Grand Temoin.

Beside National and International Competition, each year Drama Short Film Festival organises events and tributes – a Special Program with the films nominated for the European Film Academy Awards 2013, a tribute to Polish short films, workshops for kids and teachers, projections and other.

On the other hand, what makes Drama FF a big and famous short film festival, is it’s International Competition Section. 20 years after its first presentation of international short films the festival will screen 58 films from 47 countries around the world.

Among filmmakers participating, there are two distinguished names. James McTeigue, director of V for Vendetta, with his short Caserta Palace Dream, and Milcho Manchevski, screening the film Thursday. Also, Oscar short film winner Claude Rosec.

Lighthouse Woman by Ana Kitanova, Bulgaria, 2014, 20’

The professionals composing the the 20th International Competition Jury are the Dean of Norwegian Film School, Professor and producer Thomas Stenderup (President of the Jury) from Norway, Gerald Weber of Six Pack Films from Austria, Cypriot director and producer Ioakim Mylonas, director and Professor Tzortzina Kakoudaki and Sebian director Miroslav Momcilovic. In the Grand Temoin part, writer, film historian and scriptwriter from Romania Manuela Cernat.

As part of its training platform Drama Mini Talent Lab, Drama FF will hold a workshop of audiovisual projects with producers and financiers. In an open to the audience Pitching Forum on the 19th of September, the best projects will be presented to producers.

For those not attending the festival, the 37th International Film Festival in Drama will travel, again, to diferent cities across Greece, including Athens. From 22 to 29 October there will be screenings of the complete National Competition, the awarded films and selected sections (the awarded films of the European Film Academy among them).