The Onassis Cinema Award – a new film prize at the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
As part of both its ongoing commitment to developing Greek independent film and its longstanding partnership with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Onassis Culture is honoring one of the Greek projects taking part in Agora Docs with the Onassis Cinema Award.
Onassis Culture is facilitating dialogue between the world we live in and the worlds in which we’d like to live. A series of documentaries produced by the Onassis Foundation are spotlighting issues that concern us all, directing our gaze onto individual and collective realities, onto personal stories worth telling, onto dreams and experiences and new narratives. Everyday heroes from every corner of the world – everywhere from Athens to Santiago and from New York to Istanbul – speak openly, taking a stand on issues relevant to the here and now. Through the power of the image and the authenticity of the documentary form, we are transported – we feel and doubt, and finally are brought close to our own realities, to the worlds in which we choose to live.
Three Onassis Culture productions are taking part in the 2022 Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. “Clean Cities”, directed by Marina Danezi, Kostas Mandilas, Constantinos Hadzinikolaou, and Christos Sarris, and “Dimitris Skyllas: AFTERPOP”, a documentary by Dimitris Zivopoulos, are both screening on the Festival’s online platform, while the documentary “#WithSofia” (working title), directed by Vania Turner, will be participating in the festival’s Agora Docs market, in the “Docs in Progress” section.
This year, Onassis Culture is launching a new award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s Agora Docs, giving the Onassis Cinema Award to one of the participating Greek projects in order to support the development of Greek independent film. The award constitutes a natural progression in the longstanding relationship between the Onassis Foundation and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. In 2019, it supported the “Meet the Future” initiative, where 15 directors were given the chance to present their work before audiences. Two of the participants – Konstantina Kotzamani and Jacqueline Lentzou – were made Onassis Fellows, and in 2022 they’ll be travelling to New York and Los Angeles, cities in which the Onassis Foundation has an active presence, in order to meet with members of the US film industry in person. Beyond its support for emerging filmmakers, the Onassis Foundation has also worked with the Disabled Artists Movement on the “Cinemability*” initiative, which ensures that every screening at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is accessible for all.
Onassis Culture has forged longstanding partnerships with major film festivals in Greece and around the world. In 2021, it launched two new film awards in collaboration with the Drama International Short Film Festival – the Onassis Film Development Grant, and the Queer Drama Award – in order to amplify new voices in film that deserve to be heard.
The Onassis Cinema Award 2022 goes to "λesvia: the Herstory of Eressos" by Tzeli Hadjidimitriou
"A community that claims its uniqueness, that comes out of the darkness into the Aegean light, and finally to the whole world, creating a new life, a new state of things. A deeply politic project, which asks for equal treatment, brings hope for an inclusive future, and stands out for its courage, versatility, and romanticism. This documentary about a well-known story with many unknown aspects, meets the Onassis Foundation’s vision for an open society. May this film, which we hope to see soon in theaters, be another step towards freedom and equality." -Onassis Jury
Orestis Andreadakis, the Artistic Director of the Documentary Festival, presented the award. The Director and Producer, Tzeli Hadjidimitriou was very moved to receive the award. “I never thought that a film like this could ever be awarded. I hope that this is just the beginning. That it won’t stay only in films. That our world will be more inclusive to diversity. All kinds of diversity,” she said.
“Dimitris Skyllas: AFTERPOP” by Dimitris Zivopoulos
From the Greek mountains to the iconic stages of the BBC, the 35-year-old composer and provocateur Dimitris Skyllas reveals the secrets of his current music making. The ritualistic music artist, the party animal, and all the life that lies between. A visionary venture that smashes through classical art stereotypes set inside a pop society.
“Clean Cities” by Marina Danezi, Kostas Mandilas, Constantinos Hadzinikolaou, and Christos Sarris
“Clean City” – an Onassis Stegi production that has traveled the world widely – has given rise to a hybrid film. Four different directors follow the work as it tours four cities: Skopje, Sarajevo, Montpellier, and Istanbul. Female immigrants and cleaners – the production’s lead performers, and other women too – tell their life stories.
“#WithSofia” (working title), directed by Vania Turner
Olympic gold-medalist Sofia Bekatorou spoke out, and in doing so sparked the Greek #MeToo movement and became a national figurehead. Her testimony encouraged a 21-year-old women’s sailing champion to bring charges against her coach for the systematic rape he subjected her to as a child, in what were the first court proceedings of the Greek #MeToo movement. These two women, inescapably bound to one another by their trauma, face down the realities of sexual abuse in Greece, and face up to the big question: can victims of rape find redemption in the end?
The project "#WithSofia" won the Greek Film Centre award of 3,000 euros. Athena Kalkopoulou, the director of Hellas Film presented the award. “This is really meaningful for us. When we started we didn’t know how society was going to react. We were hoping that our film would be able to to tell the story,“ director Vania Turner said. “It’s a film about social change. We are hoping that someday girls can be safe and free and exist like men,” creative producer and journalistic supervisor Maria Sidiropoulou commented. “We live in a country and a world which can be very reactionary. Sometimes I don’t feel proud to be Greek, especially when it comes to gender issues. Maybe we can help a little bit and make the world a little bit better,” associate producer Amanda Livanou said.
