The Onassis Cinema Award goes to the film “Bastards” by Nikos Pastras

The Onassis Foundation loves and supports Greek cinema and its artists, unleashing the potential and talent of established and emerging filmmakers, and embracing their creative processes, research approaches, and artistic development. Through a dedicated program, we are supporting artistic creation and screenplay development right from the outset. Yannis Economides, Syllas Tzoumerkas, Evi Kalogiropoulou, and Vasilis Kekatos are just some of the filmmakers writing their next projects with the support of Onassis Culture. And we want the Onassis Foundation’s cinematic family to just grow and grow.

As part of its longstanding and ongoing partnership with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Onassis Culture is launching a new award this year – the Onassis Cinema Award – given to a Greek project taking part in the 2021 Agora Film Market. This year’s award goes to the film “Bastards” by Nikos Pastras, which was selected for the Agora Works in Progress section. Here’s what the Onassis Foundation had to say about the reasoning behind its choice: “This film feels political, even though it makes no mention of politics. It talks about the truths of a new generation living without a safety net and does so with the dynamism of a fresh cinematic language. It also aligns with a long- and deeply-held value of the Onassis Foundation: the inalienable right to freedom. It is a film we want to see soon in theaters.”Onassis Culture has a longstanding partnership with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the largest festival of its kind in Greece. In 2019, it supported its “Meet the Future” initiative, which gave 15 directors the chance to present their work before audiences. Two of the participants – Konstantina Kotzamani and Jacqueline Lentzou – were made Onassis Fellows, and in early 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. This year, for the first time, it has 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.