PITCHING LAB – OPEN CALL 2024
Project Submission (exclusively in the English language) until Thursday 25th of April 2024 +GR 12.00 by mail pitching@dramafilmfestival.gr
Registration is free of charge
Read more HERE
CALL FOR ENTRIES
DRAMA FESTIVAL AWAITS YOUR FILMS
Drama International Short Film Festival awaits your film for its 47th edition. You can claim a spot for the Oscar® qualified festival, by taking part in the DISFF National or International Competition Programmes.
Film submissions for the National Competition Programme, as well as for the other competition programmes, are now open. Drama Festival invites filmmakers from all over the world to apply for our five international competition programmes.
This year interested parties can apply and submit their films until May 15, for the National and National Student programme, and by May 8, for the International, International Student and KIDDO competition programmes, as well as, beginning this year, for the international Animation and Short & Green programmes.
Films are submitted online to the filmfreeway.com platform
Those interested can apply here:
https://filmfreeway.com/dramafilmfestival
We remind you that in order to submit films to the National Competition, a Greek premiere is required, while only fiction, documentary, experimental and animated films completed during 2023 or 2024 will be accepted.
Participation in the national programmes is free. There is a cost of participation in international programmes.
To participate in the International Competition, films must be produced in 2023 or 2024, and the cost of submission per film is 20-25 Euros, (depending on the date of submission), while the duration of the film must not exceed 40 minutes. For the International Student Competition (2023-2024 productions), the submission fee is 8-10 Euros and the duration of the film must not exceed 25 minutes.
In any case, a Greek premiere is required.
The terms of participation are detailed here:
National Competition, International Competition, International Student Competition.
https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/REGULATION-2024.pdf
SAVE THE DATE: this year’s 47th Drama International Short Film Festival will be held September 2-8. Screenings will begin on Monday, while the award ceremony will take place on Sunday. The National Short Film Festival is here to highlight new emerging talented filmmakers and to encourage the creation of short films as an autonomous category for creators of all ages. The Drama Festival, a hub for filmmakers and audiovisual professionals, is considered one of the most important of its kind in Europe, providing contestants with an opportunity to compete for an Oscar nomination. Last year, the films Bearcave (Krysianna Papadaki- Stergios Dinopoulos) and Aqueronte (Manuel Muñoz Rivas) earned a ticket to the Oscar® awards.
More information:
info@dramafilmfestival.gr (Drama Festival Secretariat)
Drama Offices: tel. 25210 47575
Athens offices: tel. 210 3300309
EFA Candidacy Award Correction
According to the European Film Academy regulations eligible films for nomination cannot exceed the duration of 30’. “Midnight Skin” exceeds this duration, thus we must take corrective action accordingly.
We deeply regret to announce a correction in connection with the recent EFA Candidacy Award presented to the film “Midnight Skin” during the 46th edition of the Drama International Short Film Festival.
The Drama International Short Film Festival has always been dedicated to showcasing and celebrating outstanding short films that push the boundaries of creativity and storytelling. We take our commitment to uphold industry standards and regulations seriously, and it is with great regret that we acknowledge the oversight in this instance.
We would like to express our sincerest apologies to the filmmakers, cast, and crew of “Midnight Skin” for any confusion or inconvenience this has caused and the International Competition jury that wasn’t informed of this regulation. We understand the time and dedication invested in the creation of each film. Therefore, we take full responsibility for the situation.
As an acknowledgement of Midnight’s Skins cinematic excellence the jury decided to award it with the GRAND AWARD OF THE JURY and you can read their statement below:
We give the GRAND AWARD OF THE JURY ‘We give the GRAND AWARD OF THE JURY to a film that astounds us with its masterful use of set design and photography direction. An ambitious and sophisticated film that depicts the tendency of dreams to progressively corrupt reality, exposing the desire hidden beneath the surface of habit.
Consequently, we are pleased to announce that the film “Aqueronte” by Manuel Muñoz Rivas has been selected as the rightful recipient of the EFA Candidacy originally presented to “Midnight Skin.” “Aqueronte” is a remarkable short film that captivated our judges.
Please read the jury statement below:
The power of the image and the importance of sound are perfectly aligned in a film that confidently observes with a spiritual eye. Time and space is blurred as we see a myriad of people in this mysterious landscape framed by a misty early morning and across day and night as they silently travel to an unknown destiny.
The EFA Nomination goes to the Spanish film Aqueronte, directed by Manuel Muñoz Rivas.
We are in direct communication with the filmmakers of “Aqueronte” to convey our congratulations and to arrange for the award delivery.
We are also reviewing our submission and selection processes to ensure strict adherence to the duration criteria set forth by EFA. Our commitment to promoting and celebrating the art of short filmmaking remains unchanged, and we will continue to provide a platform for filmmakers to showcase their talents within the established guidelines.
We thank you for your understanding and support as we take immediate steps to address this situation professionally in communication with all individuals involved.
DISFF is glad to announce the creation of Short Film Hub
Drama International Short Film Festival is glad to announce the creation of Short Film Hub, with head Yanna Sarri
Short Film Hub hopes to connect talented directors, screenwriters and producers with the international and national film industry. It will serve as a space of creation, continuous research, and freedom through which new creators will have the chance to get to know renowned film professionals and learn their endless art skills, learn how to promote a film, how to develop a script and how to create a network of contact.
Professional meetings, workshops, seminars, and non-ending discussions will turn Drama International Short Film Festival and its city into the ideal destination for every film professional that loves short films.
According to Yanna Sarri, «the presence of short films from Greece is very strong in the big film festivals all over the world every year. SFH hopes to join forces with the national film world and provide the needed tools for short films to grow even more and get the international attention that they deserve».
Yanna Sarri graduated from Coventry University in 1999 and has a BA in Communication Studies and in 2000 she completed her MA in Communication Management at City University in the UK.
In 2000 she began working for KINO SA. In 2003 she started working for Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Thessaloniki Documentary Festival as a programmer. In 2010 she became Head of Agora at TIFF and TDF, where she remained until September 2022. Since 2016 she has been the Head of Program at the Greek Film Festival in Berlin. In October 2022 she started working as an independent consultant and tutor for film markets.
Les jours les plus courts / The shortest days
Drama, Athens, Thessaloniki, Larisa, Patras
13- 16 December 2022
The Drama International Short Film festival and the French Institute of Greece present a programme of short French – speaking films for young audience (14-15 years old) during the shortest days of the year.
Free entrance
MOVIES
J’ai tant rêvé de toi – 3’
d’Emma Vakarelova
Issu de la collection de courts-métrages d’animation « En sortant de l’école » inspirés de Robert Desnos.
Une rencontre onirique et romantique au coeur de la nuit…
Le Piano que baise une main frêle – 3’
de Clarissa D’Orival
Issu de la collection de courts-métrages d’animation « En sortant de l’école » inspirés de Paul Verlaine.
La mémoire vacille, le passé s’embrume ; un vieux monsieur et son piano font revivre le souvenir de la femme aimée.
Ourse 27’
de Nicolas Birkenstock
Ourse devient somnambule et s’enfuit la nuit. Sa mère tente de la guérir de ce mal. Mais Ourse ne veut pas guérir, bien décidée à comprendre où son sommeil la porte. Veut-elle fuir le cours de sa propre vie ?
Trona Pinnacles 13’
de Mathilde Parquet
Gabrielle, une jeune fille de dix-neuf ans, se retrouve coincée près de la vallée de la Mort entre ses deux parents qui ne s’adressent plus la parole. Tous trois, se sentant pris au piège, essayent de fuir la tension ambiante, dans un décor immense qui leur paraît immuable. La situation semble sans issue, jusqu’à ce qu’un événement inattendu vienne tout désamorcer.
Le Grand Vert 18’
de Laurenzo Massoni
Le dernier chantier d’abattage d’arbres de l’entreprise de Jeanne a été attaqué par des activistes écologistes. Alors qu’elle essaie de récupérer le matériel qui peut être sauvé, elle se retrouve coincée sur la première branche dans un arbre centenaire à dix mètres de haut. Son seul espoir : grimper pour essayer de trouver du réseau.
Results of selecting projects for the Pitching LAB 2022
We are very pleased that the Pitching Lab received numerous projects (fiction, animation and doc) this year, and, as has been the case in recent years, the rapporteurs had a very difficult time choosing the final projects that will participate in the three-day Workshop and the Pitching Forum.
This year, the main features of all the projects from all corners of the world that has suffered after two years of pandemic, are the anxiety for survival, the spread of an implicit violence, identity and gender issues, the rights of excluded groups, living with an illness or disability, tolerance of diversity, and the coming of age, in a colourful and unpredictable planet.
From Peru and Nepal, to Kazakhstan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Portugal and Finland, our souls were filled with the images that young filmmakers want to narrate. All these unknown original subjects that we never realized that exist in different corners of the Earth, have made us richer. Unfortunately, among this explosion of colours and ideas, we could only choose 16 of the 117 proposals that were sent to us, yearning for communication and creation.
The Greek creators, with their plurality of projects, ambitious productions and a wide variety of themes, won a special place this year.
The Pitching Forum, in response to the Greek market needs, will try through the shortlisted projects to assist the selected Greek projects that will participate in the Lab this year to communicate with other festivals and forums abroad, contributing to the extroversion and the encouragement of co-producers.
For this reason, in addition to the projects that will come to Drama, the Forum will choose 5 more Greek projects that will be able to participate in a development workshop, which will take place within the framework of the two-day “Drama Festival in Athens” September 17-18 , in the Greek Film Archive. We will announce details soon as well as the schedule of our new workshop, which we hope will become a small institution- “landmark in Athens” for the Pitching Lab and Forum.
BARBARA DOUKA
DISFF Educational Program Manager
- War Hero by Perttu Inkilä, Scriptwriter & Director -FICTION, FINLAND
- #bagets rider FREE HD by Lester Cristal, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, THE PHILIPPINES
- The weight of Air by Carlos Ormeño Palma, Director & Producer –FICTION, PERU
- All Souls Day by Amanda Costa de Sousa, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, HUNGARY
- Aftermath by Dino Jacovides, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, UK
- ATHENS WILL BURN by Panos Kordas, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, GREECE
- Summer of Goodbyes by Minsho Limbu, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, NEPAL
- Back to Paternal Home by Thanasis Megalopoulos and Stratis Chatzielenoudas, Scriptwriters & Directors –ANIMATION, GREECE
- Tavern of Shadows by İlyas Soner Yıldırım, Scriptwriter, Director & Producer –FICTION, TURKEY
- Good Friday by Loukia Tzortzopoulou, Scriptwriter & Director –ANIMATION, GREECE
- One Wayby Antonis Boubas, Scriptwriter –FICTION, GREECE
- The Beast Who Walks Like a man by Marina Siotou and Zoe Sigalou, Scriptwriters & Nikos Kolioukos – Director –FICTION, GREECE
- Three Comma Fourteen by Joana Nogueira and Patrícia Rodrigues, Scriptwriters & Directors -ANIMATION, PORTUGAL
- Hag / Didimokorfo by Achilleas Gatsopoulos, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, GERMANY / GREECE
- Impromptu by Maya Vitkova-Kosev, Scriptwriter, Director & Producer -FICTION, BULGARIA
- Cleaning Day by Alexandros Romanos Lizardos, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, GREECE
- The Girl and the Well by Anngelica-Marie Eshesimua, Scriptwriter & Director –FICTION, U.S.A. (Out of competition). The winner of the Pitching LAB 2019 (Finos Film award) on the occasion of her coming to the screening in the DISFF tribute of Pitching LAB films, will participate as an audience out of competition.
Extension of the deadline for projects for the DISFF Pitching Lab
We announce the extension of the deadline for projects for the DISFF Pitching Lab until Tuesday, July 19, 2022 +GR 12:00 to the email: pitching@dramafilmfestival.gr. The submission must be made in a single pdf with the name of the project as the title and the full details of the candidate, exclusively in ENGLISH.
44TH INTERNATIONAL DRAMA SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
12-18 SEPTEMBER 2021
DISFF is awaiting your films
True to its annual, autumn rendezvous, this year, the 44th Drama International Short Film Festival, Greece’s big celebration of short film, will be held on
September 12-18 and is awaiting your work!
The application process for Drama International Short Film Festival’s National Competition has just opened. Those interested can apply by the 31st of May. The deadline for the International Competition Program is on May 31, while those who wish to apply for the International Student Competition Program have until June 15.
Films are submitted online through filmfreeway.com.
Filmmakers can register here:
https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/submission/ (Greek)
https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/en/submission/ (English)
We would like to remind you that a Greek premiere is required for the submission of films to all competitions at DISFF and that production must be completed after January 1, 2020. The festival accepts fiction, experimental, documentary and animated short films completed after January 1st, 2020.
For the National Competition, submission is free for Greek and Cypriot directors. For the International Competition the cost of submission is 10 euros per film, while the duration of the film should not exceed 45 minutes. For the International Student Competition submission is free and the duration of the film should not exceed 20 minutes.
Please read Rules & Terms of how to apply here:
National Competition: https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/en/festival/national-competition/
International Competition: https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/en/festival/international-competition/
International Student Competition: https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/en/festival/international-student-competition/
Art Director Giannis Sakaridis and Head Programmers of the International Competition and International Student Competition Programs, Yorgos Zois and Thanasis Neofotistos, are getting ready to welcome short filmmakers to the most lively celebration of cinema, that every September transforms the city of Drama to a cultural hub.
Drama International Short Film Festival is here to showcase the new cinematic talent in its infancy and to encourage the creation of short films as an independent art form that involves creators of all ages. A key meeting point for directors and audiovisual industry professionals, the Festival is regarded as one of the most important of its kind in Europe, providing the selected filmmakers with the opportunity to claim a spot in the European Film Awards (EFA).
CONTACT
Drama International Short Film Festival (DISFF)
Tel: +30 210 3300309
Tel: +30 25210 47575
E-mail: info@dramafilmfestival.gr
National Competition: national@dramafilmfestival.gr
International Competition: international@dramafilmfestival.gr
Student Int’l Competition: student@dramafilmfestival.gr
The Greek filmmaker Yorgos Zois is the Head Programmer of the Drama International Short Film Festival.
Α multi-awarded artist with a distinct and innovative outlook on cinema , Yorgos Zois had no qualms about returning to the short form with his film Third kind which premiered in Cannes and Touch me, commissioned by Onassis Stegi.
In his new capacity as head programmer, he is returning to the Drama Short Film Festival, where with his film Casus Belli in 2010 he won the top award of the festival, Golden Dionysos, thus marking the beginning of an outstanding carrier.
Yorgos Zois is a Greek director born in 1982 and based in Athens. His body of work, four shorts and one feature film, has been selected at A-festivals worldwide (Cannes, Venice, Rotterdam, Telluride, Palm Springs, Clermont Ferrand, etc) and has been acknowledged with numerous awards and distinctions worldwide, including BEST SHORT FILM and BEST NEWCOMER DIRECTOR from the Greek Film Academy and a European Film Academy nomination as best director. His films have also raised highly internationally acclaimed reviews about their meta-aesthetics and daring narration and have been broadcast by the most prestigious TV channels like ARTE, Canal plus, NBC and digital platforms like Criterion. Ηe was also a member of the official Jury “Lion of the Future” at the 74th Venice Film Festival and other film festival juries over the past few years. His latest short film Third Kind premiered in Semaine de La Critique in Cannes and he is now in the pre-production of his second feature film called Arcadia, whose script has been selected in Next Step Programme and the Berlinale Co- Production Forum.
In Greece he has been awarded with the 1st Prize for Short Film for Casus Belli by the Hellenic Film Academy and also 7 awards in the Drama Short Film Festival (Golden Dionysos, Direction, Screenplay etc)
We are more than happy and honored to welcome Yorgos in our festival team.
ONLINE FESTIVAL
https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/online-festival/
THE SCHEDULE
► Online Platform’s registration OPENS at: 20/09/2020 – 19:00pm (EEST)
► Online Voting for Audience Award ENDS at: 25/09/2020 – 22:00pm (EEST)
► Online Platform CLOSES at: 26/09/2020 – 23:59pm (EEST)
*The schedule is strict and there is NO possibility of exceptions.
*Because οf Geo-Blocking regulation, DISFF Online Platform works normally only in Greek Territory.
THE AUDIENCE AWARD
► NATIONAL COMPETITION: 34 Films
► INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION: 35 Film
► INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITION: 22 Film
– You can VOTE one (1) Short Film / per Competition Program.
– The vote is connected to the User & IP Address.
– The Winner of Audience Awards will be announced on the Awards Ceremony: 26 September.