International Kids’ Film Competition – KIDDO 2023
46th Drama International Short Film Festival
Kiddo is an international competition section addressed to directors of films on contemporary themes for kids and teens. This year’s entries include a plethora of fine shorts: proposals of creative authenticity and themes that trigger the children’s skill for empathy. It is a fine sampling of films made with humour and sensibility, touching upon racism, diversity, motivation in the life of young people, love for animals and the environment. Some of these films are made by children using simple handmade sets. Others are made for children by adults, putting to use contemporary screen storytelling tools. This Kiddo selection encompasses a variety of fiction, animation, documentaries, comedies and dramas.
This competition section enables young creatives to not only show their films but to also compete. Either with films made by grownups for children or with films made by children for children, the overarching objective is to engage the imagination of kids and urge them to cultivate their own aesthetic perception. The competitive nature of Kiddo is intended to train young cinephiles and future creators in the filmmaking craft.
This is precisely why the Kiddo jury consists of children from the city of Drama.
Our jury is made up of youth aged from 12 to 18. In a selection of 14 films from many different countries, two Greek shorts made by young people and children have stood out for their authenticity and made the cut. As the latest addition to Drama International Short Film Festival, Kiddo will hopefully flourish into a major programme for young contestants but also for young audiences in Drama.
Elena Mavridou
- Pirouette Ciara Borgards (Germany)
- ATIVIO, pieces of wood Juliette Boucheny (France, Togo)
- Shera Arun Fulara (India)
- Dreaming of Venice Elisabetta Giannini (Italy)
- Manity Hussen Ibraheem (Lebanon, France, Qatar)
- Astro gorilla Vassilis Kalemos (Greece)
- Bird’s nest Nadia Louis-Desmarchais (Canada)
- Santa, maybe? Donovan McCarty (USA)
- Crab day Ross Stringer (UK)
- I am Kanaka Genevieve Sulway (USA, UK, Australia)
- Shadows Oleksandra Vinnichuk (Ukraine)
- A whisper in the island of the heart Xiaowen Wang (USA, China)
- Little fan Sveta Yuferova (Germany)
- For Dziga The students of 2nd EPAL Giannitson & Zoi Dalaina (Greece)
Kiddo marks the new aspirational opening of the Drama Festival to films in which children and young people are in the foreground. The acclaimed Drama actress Elena Mavridou is the head of the programme, and explains the reasoning behind this new initiative of the Festival:
ELENA MAVRIDOU
Born in Drama; graduate of the National Theatre of Northern Greece; former student at the Theatre Department of the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; founding member of the “Horos” Theatre Company. She has collaborated with the National Theatre of Greece, the National Theatre of Northern Greece, the Onassis Cultural Center of Athens, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, and other institutions. She has participated in numerous theatre productions, such as: “The Frogs”, “Antigone”, “Golfo 2.3 beta”, “Golfo director’s cut”, “Apokopos”, “Melted Butter”, “Recycle”, “Erofili Synopsis”, “The End”, “Greek Freak”, “Don Quixote”, “Woyzeck”, etc. She has collaborated with numerous directors, such as: Simos Kakalas, Michail Marmarinos, Katerina Evangelatos, Dominik Moll, Mustafa Avkiran, Sotiris Hatzakis, Victor Ardittis, etc. As part of theatre productions, she has participated in various festivals, such as: Sibiu Festival (Romania), Tampere International Theatre Festival (Finland), Dialog Festival – Wrocław (Poland), International Street Artist Festival – Szczecin (Poland), Heidelberger Stückemarkt – Heidelberg (Germany), Blagoevgrad Festival (Bulgaria), Athens and Epidaurus Festival (Greece), etc. She has participated in both short and feature films, such as: – “Single String of Pearls” (2006), by Vasilis Kehagias – produced by N-Orasis Audiovisual and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation; – “Ultimate Substance” (2012), directed by Anja Kirschner and David Panos – presented as part of the “The Magic of the State” group show at the Lisson Gallery in London; – “Medea Melea” (2014), by Christos Karampelas – presented at the ‘Short Film Corner’ section of the Cannes Film Festival in 2014; – “Shores” (2015), by Panos Karkanevatos; – “Black Box” (2017), by Anthi Tsirouki – presented at the ‘Short Film Corner’ section of the Cannes Film Festival in 2018; – “Tracks” (2017), by Elina Fessa; – “Eden” (2019), by Dominik Moll – produced by Lupa Film, Atlantique Productions, and Port au Prince Arte; – “iDENTiTY” (2019), by Panos Pappas and Despina Charalampous. She has received the 2008 ‘Melina Mercouri Theatre Award’, and the 2008 “Karolos Koun” performance award of the Union of Greek Critics for Drama and Music. She was nominated for the “Karolos Koun” direction award of the Union of Greek Critics for Drama and Music for her play “O Lampros”. She has received the ‘Best Actress’ award at the 23rd Athens International Film Festival, for her performance in the short film “Tracks” (2017), by Elina Fessa. She stars in the television series “Sose me”, broadcasted by the Greek TV station ANT1+ . In 2018 she was a jury member at the Drama International Short Film Festival. She has worked on the adaptation and creation of theatrical plays for the following productions: – “Melted Butter”, by Sakis Serefas (a dramatic adaptation of the pre-existing play, as well as of the research material by the writer on the real story, the novel, and the script); – “Recycle” – a production by the National Theatre of Greece; – “The End” – a production by the Onassis Cultural Center of Athens (creation of plays through the process of playwriting and the techniques of devised theatre); – “Wuthering Heights” – a production by the Horos Theatre Company (an adaptation of the literary work for the stage – sponsored by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports); – “Erofili Synopsis” – an adaptation of the work by Georgios Chortatsis, performed at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival. She has directed plays such as “Waiting for Godot” (2018), by Samuel Beckett, “The Wing” (2020), “Little Red Riding Hood and the Wild Leaves” (2020), “Lampros” (2021), by Dionysios Solomos, “Alcestis” (2022), by Euripides, and “Romeo and Juliet Straight Outta Verona” (2022). She teaches acting and improvisation at the ‘Iakovos Kambanellis’ Drama School of Agia Varvara, as well as at Lakis Lazopoulos’s private drama school “Texnon 100”. She is currently preparing to direct the production of Euripides’s “The Bacchae”, which will be sponsored by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.