International Student Competition 2023
46th Drama International Short Film Festival
International Student Competition 2022
45th Drama International Short Film Festival
In the International Students Program the selection involves 14 films, with the participation of two Greek female directors: Ariadni-Angeliki Thiphronitou-Litou with “Love you more than peanut butter” and Semeli Saphou with “All that Remains”.
The International Students Jury Committee:
Argiris Papadimitropoulos (President), Film Director
Themis Bazaka, Actress
Lena Divani, Writer
According to Thanassis Neophotistos, Head of the International Students Program: “In this year’s edition we’re going to watch films about the much-debated diversity, the human sexuality manifested in all sorts of ways, the most pressing political issues, the challenging human relations. In all those films, their themes are treated in an authentic, modern and bold in terms of artistic expression. We met new filmmakers, truly notable representatives of their era and their generation, which I really hope that they will keep telling their stories in cinema showing the same sensitivity and interest. All of the above are happening under the umbrella of the Festival’s new initiative: the Students Campus, with the aspiration to turn the city of Drama into a meeting point involving a cultural and ideas exchange of among the new filmmakers!”
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS PARTICIPANTS – 2022 DISFF45
- “On the Εdge”, Matteo Sanders (Austria)
- “Before Pandemic and War, There Were Βed Βugs and Love!”, Nuruzzaman Khan (Lithuania – Bangladesh)
- “Matapacos”, Karla Riebartsch -Lion Durst (Germany)
- “All that Remains”, Semeli Saphou (Greece)
- “I Should Feed my Cat”, Abram Cedra (Belgium)
- “An Extra Day in Prague”, Jacob Ramsay (Czech Republic)
- “Darker”, Frank Van Den Bogaart (Belgium)
- “The Dependent Variables”, Lorenzo Tardella (Italy)
- “Laika & Nemo”, Jan Gadermann – Sebastian Gadow (Germany)
- “Lonely Fans”, David Oesch (Switzerland)
- “Corrupted”, Juan Cifuentes Mera (Chile)
- “Any Place”, Minerva Rivera Bolaños (Mexico)
- “Love you More than Peanut Butter”, Ariadni-Angeliki Thiphronitou-Litou (Greece)
- “After a Room”, Naomi Pacifique (Netherlands)
The posters of the International Student Competition 2022
Τhe International Student Competition Jury
Argyris Papadimitropoulos
Themis Bazaca
Lena Divani
Argyris Papadimitropoulos (President)
His first two short films, “Pendulum” (2003) and “Tender” (2004), were screened and awarded in numerous festivals. His first feature, “Bank Bang” (2009), became a major commercial and critical hit in Greece and won the First Time Director Award from the Hellenic Film Academy. His next film, “Wasted Youth” (2011), opened the 40th Rotterdam International Film Festival and has since travelled to many festivals around the world (Toronto, Karlovy Vary, etc.). “Suntan” (2016), which also premiered in Rotterdam Film Festival and SXSW, received a number of awards internationally (such as the Best Film Award in Edinburgh Film Festival) and was nominated for the Lux Prize of the European Parliament. “Monday” (2020) would have premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, in a Covid-free world, but was eventually screened in the Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically in the US by IFC and was purchased by Paramount for international sales. He has directed more than 300 commercials and social campaigns. With his company, Oxymoron Films, he has produced important films of the New Greek Cinema.
Themis Bazaca
She was born in Thessaloniki. Graduated from the National Theatre of Northern Greece’s Drama School, and attended 4 years at the Actor’s Studio (New York). She has worked in cinema, theatre and television.
Awarded performances:
Best Supporting Actress at the Thessaloniki Film Festival for the film “Rembetiko” by Costas Ferris.
Best Actress at the Thessaloniki and Valencia Film Festivals, and Special Mention at the Venice Film Festival for the film “Stone Years”, by Pantelis Voulgaris.
Best Supporting Actress at the Thessaloniki Film Festival for the film “Akrovates tou Kipou”, by Christos Dimas.
Best Actress for the series “San Adelfes” by Nikos Koutelidakis, at the Television Awards.
Best Actress for the play “Augustos” directed by Constantine Markoulakis, at the Athinorama Awards.
She was also bestowed the Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters medal by the French government for her performance in Bernard-Marie Koltès’s “Quay West”, directed by Ludovic Lagarde. She has a daughter.
Lena Divani
Lena Divani has just resigned as professor from the Law School of the University of Athens, where she taught Foreign Policy History. She has published five historical studies and several articles on modern Greece and its relationship with the Great Powers and its Balkan neighbors, on minorities and nationalism in Southeast Europe. At the same time, she has published as an author twelve novels and short story collections, which have been translated into many languages, and have been adapted in TV shows, a volume with all her theatrical plays, and four children’s books. She has also authored the script of the documentary series “The Borders of Greece” that she presented on Cosmote History channel. She adapted her book “Couples who Went Down in Greek History” (Patakis, 2019) in a series of nine episodes that were also aired on Cosmote History channel in 2020. In 2020, her book “The Bitter Cup: Kapodistrias, Roxandra and Greece” has also been published by Patakis Publishers. She has been founding member of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights, and she served as vice president of the National Book Centre of Greece, and the Greek Collecting Society for Literary Works. In her leisure time, she likes walking around.
Thanasis Neofotistos
Head programmer in the International Student Competition of the 46th Drama International Short Film Festival. Film director. student@dramafilmfestival.gr
