National Student Competition 2025

48th Drama International Short Film Festival

Ηead Programmer: Panagiotis Iosifelis

Screenwriter, Screenwriting Professor at Film School of AUTh (School of Fine Arts). He also teaches screenwriting at Hellenic Open University and at University of Peloponese (MA Program). His filmography includes five long film scripts, five hundred and ninety two minutes of Greek TV Series’ screentime, eight short films, two documentaries and one educational web series (fifty episodes). The films whose screenplays he signed have participated in and received distinctions at Greek and International festivals. He served on the evaluation and advisory committee responsible for the selection of screenplays at the Greek Film Centre. He is a member of the Hellenic Film Academy and Greek Screenwriters Guild. He served as Chair of the Department of Film Studies at the School of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and was a member of the University Senate (2018–2020).

Short films, from their inception, have been inextricably linked with the notion of perplexity—both in its most practical sense, as a lack of resources, and in its philosophical dimension: the state in which someone finds themselves unable to respond to a question that concerns them, having reached a contradiction or because two opposing propositions appear equally convincing.

The creators of student short films, I believe, engage in a constant dialogue with both interpretations of perplexity, and do so in a compelling and urgent manner. On the one hand, it is almost a given that they lack the necessary resources, especially filmmakers who are still in school. On the other hand, it is equally expected that they will be called upon to answer a series of questions regarding content, scope, form, and pace—parameters that, largely due to inexperience, lead them into contradictions and dilemmas whose opposing poles appear just as valid.

It seems almost impossible, yet, against all odds, they succeed – as demonstrated by the second National Student Competition Programme. They craft audiovisual narratives that engage with both their artistic intent and the audiences they seek to address. This year, the 4th newly established National Student Programme presents 24 films. Each one of them offers compelling evidence that young filmmakers, even with minimal means, can and do manage to find answers to questions that appear nearly impossible to resolve. And this is profoundly encouraging for the future of Greek cinema as a whole.

Panagiotis Iosifelis
Head Programmer, National Student Competition Section