Tag Archive for: DISFF

DISFF49 – OPEN CALL for BALKAN YOUNG TALENTS

DISFF49 - OPEN CALL for BALKAN YOUNG TALENTS

Beldocs and Drama International Short Film Festival Launch Joint Edition of Balkan Young Talents

Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival (Serbia) and Drama International Short Film Festival (Greece) are proud to announce a new partnership for the upcoming edition of Balkan Young Talents, expanding the program’s regional reach and strengthening collaboration between the Balkan film communities.

Through this collaboration, for the first time, the call is officially open to young filmmakers from Greece, alongside participants from the Western Balkans — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Slovenia, and Serbia.

Balkan Young Talents is dedicated to supporting emerging filmmakers aged 18–30 who wish to develop compelling and visually strong short creative documentary films. The program will select eight participants to take part in a structured development journey across Serbia and Greece.

The 2026 edition will unfold through four sessions:

– A physical opening session in May 2026 during Beldocs Industry Days in Belgrade

– Two online mentoring and development sessions during the summer months

– A concluding physical session in September 2026 at Drama International Short Film Festival in Greece, focused on intensive editing consultations

The program aims to foster creativity, knowledge exchange, and meaningful regional networking. Participants will benefit from lectures, panels, hands-on workshops, and one-on-one mentoring with experienced film professionals, supporting them in developing and refining their short documentary projects.

Completed films will premiere at Beldocs International Documentary Film Festival the following year.

Applications for Greek participants are open until March 31st, 2026.

TO APPLY CLICK HERE

(ONLY for Greek entries)

*All references to Kosovo, whether the territory, institutions or population, in this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.

DISFF Residency – Call for entries 2026

Writing Residency

The Drama International Short Film Festival announces the launch of a new Residency Programme for the development of short film screenplays, which will take place in April 2026, in Granitis, Drama.

With a long-standing commitment to supporting short-form cinema, the Drama Film Festival creates and offers a space for focus, research and creative exchange for screenwriters. This initiative is dedicated exclusively to the short film as an autonomous artistic form and is one of the very few international residencies focused specifically on short film scriptwriting.

The Programme promotes creative exchange through group discussions, collective activities, as well as individual mentoring sessions with experienced tutors, creating a safe and meaningful environment for the development of ideas and screenplays. For its first edition, the Residency will host up to six screenwriters from Greece or permanent residents of Greece, covering their accommodation and meal expenses. The seven-day Residency will take place from 14 to 20 April 2026, in the mountain village of Granitis, Drama.

Applicants must have at least one previous short film screened at an international film festival and in the process of developing a short film idea that has not yet secured funding. A very good command of the English language is also required.

The mentors

The Drama Intl Short Film Festival, a long-standing ally of the European Film Academy, was among the first festivals to join the EFA Short Film Network and is the only festival in Greece that participates in the pre-selection voting process for the EFA Short Film Awards. In addition, for more than twenty years it has consistently nominated a film for consideration at the EFA Awards. On the occasion of Greece hosting the European Film Academy Awards in 2027 for the first time, DISFF invites as mentors of the programme two distinguished filmmakers who have been honored with the prestigious European Film Academy Award for their work.

Writing ResidencyUna Gunjak is a writer, director and editor, born in Sarajevo and based in Paris. She studied in Italy and later in the UK at the National Film and Television School (NFTS). Her short film The Chicken premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2014, won the European Film Award for Best Short Film and screened at the Sundance Film Festival. Her debut feature film Excursion premiered at the Locarno Film Festival in 2023, where it received a Special Mention. The film went on to screen at more than 50 festivals worldwide and was released theatrically in 12 countries. She also works as an editing consultant and tutor at First Cut Lab, Dok Incubator and Jihlava Academy.

Writing ResidencyBogdan Mureșanu is a writer, director and producer. His short film The Christmas Present (2018) won the European Film Academy Award and received over 200 festival selections and 72 awards, including the Grand Prix at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival. His debut feature film The New Year That Never Came (2024) was nominated for the European Film Awards and has received 23 international awards, including Best Film in the Orizzonti section and the FIPRESCI Award at the Venice International Film Festival. He has also written screenplays for award-winning short films, such as the animated film Opinci (2019), which received the Youth Jury Award at Clermont-Ferrand.

The mentors team is supported by the Festival’s Artistic Director, Yorgos Angelopoulos and the Head of the Short Film Hub, Antigoni Papantoni, acting as project advisors.

Application Materials & Deadline

Applicants are invited to submit the following via the application form till March 15th:

  1. Short CV
  2. Project description (up to 500 words)
  3. Letter of motivation, including reasons for wishing to participate in the Programme, expectations, the current development stage of the project, and the intentions behind its creation
  4. Online link to a previous film

TO APPLY, CLICK HERE

For information, please contact the Drama Film Festival Secretariat:

info@dramafilmfestival.gr
Drama Office: +30 25210 47575
Athens Office: +30 210 3300309

DISFF49 – CALL FOR ENTRIES 2026

DISFF49 - CALL FOR ENTRIES 2026

Submissions are open for the 49th Drama International Short Film Festival

The Drama International Short Film Festival looks forward to receiving your film for its 49th edition. A place at an Oscar® and European Film Academy qualifying festival awaits you! Claim it by submitting your film to the National or International Competition Programme of DISFF.

The Drama International Short Film Festival announces the opening of submissions for the competition programmes of its 49th edition, continuing a long-standing journey dedicated to artistic expression and the promotion of short films in Greece and internationally.

Filmmakers from Greece and abroad are invited to submit their films to one of the Festival’s five competition programmes, which explore the full spectrum of cinematic forms: fiction, documentary, animation, experimental, films for children, among others.

Submissions are accepted only via the FilmFreeway platform and are free of charge for Greek and Cypriot directors. Please note that a Greek premiere is required for all submissions to the Festival, and only films completed in 2025 or 2026 are eligible.

The submission deadline for the National Competition and the National Student Competition is May 8, 2026, while for the International Competition and the International Student Competition the deadline is April 30, 2026.

INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY COMPETITION – New Programme

In this year’s edition, the Festival launches for the first time a new competition programme dedicated to Documentary films. With this initiative, DISFF aims to highlight this constantly evolving cinematic form and its inventive hybrid expressions. At the same time, it seeks to encourage the development and production of short-form documentaries.

The Festival’s goal is for the International Documentary Competition to become, in the coming years, one of the core pillars of its identity, further strengthening Drama’s role as a key reference point for documentary cinema as well.

DISFF49: September 6-12, 2026

The 49th Drama International Short Film Festival will take place from September 6 to September 12, 2026, presenting the finest selection of Greek and International short films, alongside a rich parallel programme of activities, including: the Short Film Hub, Pitching Lab, networking events, educational workshops, special tributes, fair literature afternoons, the KIDDO children’s films zone, as well as events and programmes of international scope to be announced in the coming months.

As it approaches the celebration of 50 years since its founding, the Drama Film Festival once again invites filmmakers and audiences to join us in celebrating the creators of tomorrow.

TO SUBMIT, CLICK HERE

It is essential that you carefully review the General Terms as well as the specific terms of each competition programme before submitting. You can find them HERE.

For further information, please contact the Drama Film Festival offices:

info@dramafilmfestival.gr
Drama office: +30 25210 47575
Athens office: +30 210 3300309

DISFF Brings Contemporary Greek Cinema to the Heart of Aguilar Film Fest

Aguilar Film Fest

Aguilar de Campoo (Spain), a town of just 7,000 inhabitants proudly known as “the cookie town” for hosting the largest biscuit factory in Europe, is one of the most passionate hubs for short cinema in Europe. From November 28 to December 7, 2025, the 37th edition of the AFF Aguilar Film Festival transformed its cinemas into a genuine cultural epicenter, where locals discuss short films with the same fervor others reserve for football, and where screenings are filled regardless of cold, rain, or snow.

This year, the festival turned its gaze toward the Aegean Sea with Focus Greece: DISFF, a special collaboration with the Drama International Short Film Festival (DISFF), Greece’s most important short film event. The programme brought contemporary Greek cinema to northern Spain through eight remarkable short films and the presence of Yorgos Angelopoulos, Artistic Director of DISFF, as an international guest of honor.

For Angelopoulos, the invitation to Aguilar de Campoo represented both an honor and an opportunity to strengthen the international circulation of Greek short films. “It was a great joy and an honour for the Drama Festival to be present in Aguilar this year, because we believe that the more Greek filmmakers’ works travel—especially to festivals far from our own—the more easily their message and talent can be shared,” he explained. According to him, festivals like Aguilar and Drama are united by a shared mission: discovering emerging voices and offering them platforms where their films can connect with new audiences.

Short Films in Focus Greece: DISFF

The DISFF section presented eight short films that capture the pulse of contemporary Greek filmmaking, spanning fiction, animation, and diverse narrative approaches:

  • Honeymoon – Alki Papastathopoulos
  • Kafka’s Collection of Porn – Aristotelis Maragkos
  • Light of Light – Neritan Zinxhiria
  • Nothing Holier than a Dolphin – Isabella Margara
  • Memoir of a Veering Storm – Sofia Georgovassili
  • What We Ask of a Statue is that it Doesn’t Move – Daphné Hérétakis
  • Plantasia – Aggelos Gourzis
  • Airhostess-737 – Thanasis Neofotistos

Together, these works formed one of the festival’s most heterogeneous and solid selections, blending mythology and politics, realism and spirituality, humor and tragedy. Angelopoulos acknowledged that selecting the programme was far from easy: “It was very difficult to choose the films, because in recent years Greek short filmmaking has produced works of great quality across very different genres and themes.”

Despite limited production resources, Greek short films have achieved remarkable international recognition. “Greek filmmakers, with very limited means, manage to create works that can compete with much larger productions,” Angelopoulos noted, pointing out that creativity and a strong personal vision have become defining traits of the contemporary Greek short film scene.

Festivals with a Shared Mission

During his stay in Aguilar, Angelopoulos drew a clear parallel between the Drama Festival and the Aguilar Film Festival, highlighting their closeness in goals and spirit. Both festivals, he emphasized, are dedicated to discovering new talent and supporting emerging creators at the beginning of their careers. Rejecting any sense of rivalry, he underlined collaboration between festivals as essential to the vitality of cinema, stressing that international exchange benefits filmmakers, festivals, and audiences alike.

Beyond screenings, the Drama Festival’s commitment to new creators extends through a strong educational framework, including the Short Film Hub, talks, activities, and masterclasses that provide young filmmakers with tools for their first professional steps. This philosophy resonated strongly in Aguilar, where the Greek programme was conceived not only as a showcase but also as an act of cultural outreach.

Aggelos Gourzis and Plantasia: Optimism as Resistance

One of the standout works was Plantasia by Aggelos Gourzis, an animated short that approaches the climate crisis from a perspective of hope rather than despair. “Our neglect of nature becomes our downfall, but I didn’t want to stop there,” Gourzis explained. Instead, the film proposes coexistence over conflict: “I wanted the audience to leave with more confidence in ourselves, in the possibility of walking alongside nature and not against it.”

Created as his graduation film at Western Attica University, Plantasia was shaped under intense time pressure. “I had less than three months to submit the film or risk being expelled,” he recalled. That urgency ultimately became liberating, pushing him to trust intuition over perfectionism. Its selection in Aguilar exceeded his expectations and reaffirmed the importance of short films in Greece as a space for experimentation and authorship.

Isabella Margara: When Myths Breathe Again

In Nothing Holier than a Dolphin, Isabella Margara reanimates mythology through cinema and physical theater. “In a small Mediterranean town, an ancient myth unexpectedly comes to life,” she explained. Drawing on myths from both the island of Samos and the Arctic Circle, Margara constructed what she described as “a modern vision combining different mythological traditions.”

The production faced serious obstacles, including the loss of initial funding and a sudden pregnancy shortly before shooting. “It was a disaster in many ways, but I knew I had to move forward,” she recalled. The decision paid off: the film won the Audience Award at Clermont-Ferrand and has screened more than 130 times worldwide. For Margara, this success confirmed the enduring power of storytelling: “Storytelling is a deeply human trait, no matter the country.”

Thanasis Neofotistos and Airhostess-737: Turbulence, Grief, and Humor

Thanasis Neofotistos contributed Airhostess-737, a tragicomic short combining grief, fantasy, and dark humor. Inspired by a dream during therapy, the film follows a flight attendant transporting her mother’s body while the plane encounters severe turbulence. “It’s a story about loss and understanding your mother,” Neofotistos explained.

Once again, limited resources fueled creativity. Unable to film inside a real aircraft, the team built a full-scale set, turning the plane itself into a living presence. Reflecting on Greek short cinema, Neofotistos observed: “We are very strong in this format. The challenge lies in building the bridge toward feature films.”

DISFF in Aguilar

Conceived as a window into the momentum of contemporary Greek cinema, Focus Greece: DISFF gave greater visibility to young Greek filmmakers while offering Aguilar’s audiences the opportunity to discover a cinematography they might not yet have encountered. As Angelopoulos summarized, the ultimate goal was inspiration and connection: “Communication between a film and its audience is the true purpose of the cinematic experience.”

In Aguilar, where the aroma of cookies mingles with a deep passion for cinema, Greece found a welcoming home—and viewers discovered some of the most compelling voices in contemporary short filmmaking.

DISFF travels to the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST)

To DISFF ταξιδεύει στο Εθνικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης (ΕΜΣΤ)

Drama International Short Film Festival “travelled” for the first time to the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST).

In collaboration with CineFIX, on Thursday, December 11 at 20:00, and within the framework of the exhibition “Why Look at Animals? A Case for the Rights of Non-Human Lives”, it presented a a special film evening featuring five new short films from Greece and abroad.

These works form a cinematic tribute to the relationship between humans and animals, challenging the dominant perception of non-human animals as commodities for human use and highlighting the intrinsic value of non-human life.

From documentaries capturing the realities of non-human existence in technological and urban environments to fictional works exploring lyrical, ethical, and emotional entanglements, each film opens up a shared space for reflection on the worth of life beyond the human.

Leila Fatima Keita, Felix Klee

Accidental Animals, 2024
10′

Film School: University of Television and Film Munich
While cartographing the world, the Google Street View car sometimes crosses paths with animals. The film examines these encounters between the machine of technical reproduction and creatures like spiders, donkeys, or dogs.

Neritan Zinxhiria

Noi, 2025
15′

Revenge whispers: at what temperature does blood boil upon snow? When the older brother is killed by his beloved horse, the younger must decide—through nightmares and visions—whether to take the creature’s life or grant it forgiveness.

Lena Dandanelle, Carolin Kubut, Lea Majer

We Used to Be Friends , 2024
6′

For a long time they were an integral part of our society, today they live neglected in our cities and are deemed a problem. The pigeon is a relic of the past that still affects us today

Carlo Galbiati

Should Virtual Petz Die?, 2025
12′

Film School: Nouvelle Bug
After a computer crash, a girl struggles with the loss of her long-time virtual pet, Bubba.

Simon Schneckenburger

Skin on Skin, 2025
29′

Two men displaced in the hell of the German meat industry. Something lies between them. Something makes them dream again.

DISFF travels to Athens at TRIANON cinema

trianon 2025

DISFF TRAVELS TO ATHENS – THE GREEK FILMS  OF THE 48th DISFF

AT TRIANON CINEMA
NOVEMBER 20-23, 2025
(21 Kodrigktonos Str.)

On November 20-23, the 48th International Short Film Festival of Drama, following its successful completion, travels to Athens and brings the Greek films from this year’s competition programs to the TRIANON cinema (21 Kodrigktonos Street).

The entire national competition program of DISFF48 will be screened, along with the Greek films and Greek co-productions that competed in the international sections: Kiddo, Short & Green, Animation, and International Competition.

Directors will be present.

Screening times:

Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
On Sunday at 5:00 p.m., there will be an extra screening for our younger friends, featuring films that competed in the Kiddo program.

Trailer:

#DISSF48 ΤΟ ΦΕΣΤΙΒΑΛ ΔΡΑΜΑΣ ΤΑΞΙΔΕΥΕΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΑΘΗΝΑ – ΤΡΙΑΝΟΝ 2025

DISFF IN ATHENS schedule:

SCHEDULE

Advance Ticket Sales:

more.com

WHAT SHALL WE WATCH ΙΝ TRIANON

Among the films we will watch is Noi by Neritan Zinxhiria, which won this year’s GOLDEN DIONYSUS award, as well as many films premiering in Athens, including Michalis Gigidis’ 100 Years Ahead, Alexandros Chantzis’ Fuit, and Myrto Apostolidou’s The Circles of Ro.

Dozens of well-known actors star in the films, including Maria Skoula, Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos, Andreas Konstantinou, Sofia Kokkali, Haris Fragoulis, Elena Topalidou,  Charis Tzortzakis, Makis Papadimitriou, Lena Kitsopoulou, Evelina Papoulia, Thanos Tokakis, Youla Boudali, Penelope Tsilika, Dimitra Vlagopoulou, and many other talented new faces.

We will also enjoy the amazing performances of Filia Papangelidi, who won the Best Female Performance Award ((Mitsi), and Aris Balis, who won the Best Male Performance Award (He Who Once Was).
Once more this year, social issues and relationships were the main focus; loss, mother-daughter relationships, pregnancy, first menstrual period, alienation. Animals and children play a leading role in several films, with children’s perspective and imagination coming to the fore and occupying a significant part of this year’s film themes.

The hot issues that trouble modern Greece continue to inspire short film makers one more time: the far right, bankruptcy, corruption, homophobia, immigration, the search for identity, drugs, prostitution, but also references to the recent political past. The lockdown continues to leave its mark on cinema, while we will also watch films inspired by the nightlife, as well as by cinemas that are closing down in the name of profit. The business of death in cemeteries, and the unconditional surrender to the tourism industry, have also served as raw material for some other creators.

However, the program is further enriched by a new distinct trend: films featuring mythical creatures such as vampires, mermaids, and zombies, but from an LGBTQ+ angle. At the same time, we also find hybrid films and mockumentaries (fiction films presented as documentaries) that can fool even the most experienced eye.

On the Festival website, you will find all the films participating in the Festival’s competition sections.

The complete list of awards for the 48th DISFF can be found here:

https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/en/48th-disff-awards/

Tickets: €5, €3 for young people under 25, €20 pass for all screenings.

The Drama International Short Film Festival is organized with the full support of the Municipality of Drama.

We Bid Farewell to Stavros Chassapis

Αποχαιρετάμε το Σταύρο Χασάπη

Just days before the start of the 48th Drama Festival, the loss of a significant filmmaker, the late Stavros Chassapis, brings back memories of the institution’s early years.

Stavros Chassapis was a key figure at the Drama Festival, responsible for screenings and a programmer of the International Section.
He served the Festival with unwavering dedication from 1993 for two decades – during its early years, he was a valuable partner to Antonis Papadopoulos in the Artistic Direction.

A passionate advocate for film, he taught cinematography at the Hatzikou and Papantonopoulos Schools, was a multi-award-winning Director of Photography, and an honorary member of the Greek Society of Cinematographers (GSC).Chassapis collaborated with Tonia Marketaki, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, Nikos Nikolaidis, Kostas Ferris, Antoinetta Angelidi, Tasos Psaras, Lambros Liaropoulos, Dimitris Stavrakas, and many other key figures of New Greek Cinema. His work on The Price of Love, among others, remains unforgettable.

The son of an astronomer, with a French education and a fiery temperament, Stavros Chassapis had a unique bond with the viewfinder and lenses, often repairing them himself. He was one of Greece’s leading cinematographers and a mentor to many.

We farewell him as a treasured figure of the Drama Festival, remembered always with nostalgia.

Focus on Angelos Frantzis and Helena Wittman

Αφιερώματα σε Άγγελο Φραντζή κσι Χελένα Βίτμαν

Visitors to the 48th Drama Short Film Festival will have the opportunity to watch retrospective tributes to the short films of two distinguished filmmakers, alongside the competition programs.

DISFF will have the pleasure of presenting six short films by Angelos Frantzis dating from 1992 to 2014, and eight short films shot by Helena Wittmann from 2004 to 2025, thus showing the evolution of their work over time.

For the first time in Greece, the entire body of short films by the two artists is being presented as part of a broader effort by DISFF to bring the public into contact with the early work of distinguished creators. These films are often hard to find, as in the case of Wittman, while for the complete presentation of Angelos Frantzis’ short films, the Festival proceeded to digitize them—a practice that is high on the agenda of DISFF’s new artistic director, Giorgos Angelopoulos, with the aim of preserving and promoting Greek short films.

The two artists will participate in this year’s jury committees: Angelos Frantzis as a member of the National Competition jury and Helena Wittmann as a member of the International Competition jury.

Angelos Frantzis

Αφιερώματα σε Άγγελο Φραντζή και Χελένα ΒίτμανAngelos Frantzis is a director and screenwriter. He was born in Athens and studied cinema at INSAS in Brussels. His films (Polaroid, A Dog’s Dream, In the Forest, Symptom, Still River, Eftihia, Murphy’s Law) have won awards and been screened at many international festivals. For several years, he worked as a film critic and was involved in mixed media projects that have been presented at the Venice Architecture Biennale, Athens Festival, and Onassis Cultural Center.

Angelos Frantzis was first introduced to Greek audiences at the 1992 Drama Festival with his short film Small Stories About People and Oranges. This was followed by Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? (1993) and Nineteen (1995).

When, in 1997, he and Stratis Vougioukas shot Hollow World, a short film in black and white Super 8, they wrote the following manifesto, which they brought with them to Drama:

MANIFESTO OF HOLLOW WORLD
(and not only)

We want a cinema defined by our walks, our encounters, our loves. Films written in parks, streets, and squares.

We want a cinema that does not dictate but teaches us to see reality from the beginning.

We want to have fun.

We want cinema that is cinematic, theatrical, literary, musical, pictorial, poetic, realistic, political, imaginative, and alive.

We want a cinema whose ethics define its style and whose style mirrors its ethics.

We want to make films the way we walk, breathe, think, talk, and dream.

We want to accustom the audience to the unusual.

We want to make cinema that depends as little as possible on money.

We want to make cinema that is playful and therefore serious.

We want to say that cinema has never been a window into the world. Cinema is a hole in the world, and “Hollow World” is the manifesto of our cinema.

Helena Wittmann

Αφιερώματα σε Άγγελο Φραντζή και Χελένα ΒίτμανHelena Wittmann is an artist and filmmaker based in Hamburg. Her films, including her most recent feature film Human Flowers of Flesh (2022) and her first feature film Drift (2017), have been screened internationally at major film festivals and exhibitions (including the Locarno and Venice Film Festivals, Tate Modern, MoMA, Toronto Film Festival, New York International Film Festival, Rotterdam, Mar del Plata, Oberhausen, Ann Arbor, Viennale, FID Marseille, and FICUNAM), winning numerous awards.

She was a teacher at the Hamburg Academy of Fine Arts from 2015 to 2018 and worked as a mentor at the Elias Querejeta Zine Eskola film school in San Sebastian, Spain. In addition to her directing work, she creates installations and works as a director of photography with other directors and artists.

According to Vasilis Bourikas, curator of the tribute, “Drama International Short Film Festival has always had as its main feature, the discovery and promotion of youth, elements that are reflected in all its competitive programs. Retrospectives, on the other hand, are by nature dedicated to creators and filmographies that have reached artistic maturity, often presenting their early short films as a prism through which to examine their creative beginnings. Helena Wittmann’s cinema offers us a rare opportunity to bridge these two realities. This is just one of the many bridges that Wittmann creates that characterize her work. Fortunately for us, she continues to build them with her short films, alongside her feature films. ”

The tribute will also feature her latest work A Thousand Waves Away (2025), which “combines many of the elements that make up the sensory cinematic experience she offers us, that activates all the senses, even touch.”

AND A FEW MORE

This year, the Drama Festival celebrates 30 years of internationalization by presenting a selection of films that have won the Grand Prix from 1995 to the present. One of the most important milestones in this exciting journey was the short film “Next Floor” by the now famous French-Canadian creator Denis Villeneuve, director of “Dune” and the new James Bond film, which won the Grand Prix for best short film at DISFF in 2008, confirming that every year Drama Short Film Festival introduces us to the filmmakers who will be leaving their mark in the future.

The 48th edition will present two more tributes: films created at the Drama Film Festival’s Short Film Workshop by residents of Drama, starring the city itself, and student films resulting from the “Film Writing, Practice and Research” program by the School of Applied Arts and Sustainable Design of the Hellenic Open University.

Presentation of the programme DISFF 48 – 2025

DISFF48

Presentation of the programme DISFF 48 – 2025

Tuesday , July 8

Last night, during a lovely evening with booze, music and cinema surprises on the packed terrace of the Lais Open Air Cinema, the new artistic director of the Drama International Short Film Festival George Angelopoulos presented this year’s Festival’s visual identity and its video spot, and announced the Greek entries in the competition programmes (NATIONAL, NATIONAL STUDENT, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION, INTERNATIONAL STUDENT, ANIMATION, SHORT & GREEN and KIDDO) of the 48th edition of the DISFF, which will take place on September 8-14.

This year, the Drama Film Festival will screen a total of 151 short films across all its competitive sections. Of these, 35 films will compete in the official Greek programme and 24 films in the Greek student programme, most of which will have their world premiere.

A total of 3714 films were submitted from all over the world.

The visual identity of this year’s Drama Film Festival draws its inspiration from geometry. At its centre is an eye – the gaze, literally, as a means of viewing but also metaphorically, as the filter through which we perceive the world and cinema stories. It acts as a call to the spectator, leading them to turn their gaze to cinema, to observe, to feel and to engage. The geometric forms, simple and with bright colours, make up a flexible visual system, which has the ability to rearrange and recompose. The design elements shift and change position. As do films, their heroes and their stories.

This year’s Festival’s visual identity is once again signed by the designer Konstantinos Pavlidis, based in Drama. Our video spot is a Normal Toast production, directed by Angelos Gourzis and with an original music by Grigoris Eleftheriou.

Watch the video spot of the 48th DISFF:

DISFF48 | OFFICIAL SPOT

The visual identity:

Visual Identity DISFF48

We remind you that from 2023 onwards, the films that receive the highest awards of the National and International Competition of the Festival every September, will automatically ensure the much coveted “ticket” to participate in the Oscar® procedure. The association with the Academy Awards® has given DISFF the extra stimulus needed to perform its role to the utmost.

*While welcoming the event’s audience, journalists and audiovisual professionals, George Angelopoulos said:

“Changes are often frightening. They keep us alert, vigilant and concerned, but they can also evoke excitement, hope or even impatience. Since its birth, cinema has always had an organic relationship with change. As if the medium itself, based on the alternation of images, were destined to constantly change and evolve.  From black and white to colour, from silent to sound, from movie theatres to mobile phones, films remain a part of our lives, not only in spite of change, but perhaps because of it. Similarly, a film festival must change, be challenged, question and explore ways to evolve and yet always remain relevant. Changing the artistic director marks a new chapter for the festival. Modernising a film festival is a great challenge, just as it is a great challenge to find the way to go one step further, one step up.”

Referring to this year’s 48th edition, George Angelopoulos said that “the Drama Film Festival is changing. But it remains firm at its core: promoting creativity, freedom, pluralism and the passion for short film. A passion that, despite the changes of persons and contexts, has never been erased.

Young filmmakers keep it alive with their talent, their enthusiasm and their thirst for creation.

This year’s event is a product of a collective effort. I’d like to express my sincere thanks to all those who supported, guided, worked and believed. It has been a difficult year, but then again, when isn’t it difficult for Greek cinema? Maybe our efforts will show results quickly, maybe it will take time. One thing is certain; the warmth of the films, the smiles, the emotion, the talks after the screenings will be there to remind us why we love this festival. They say the only thing we know about the future is that it will be different. So, I wish for an always different Drama Film Festival.”

*The Mayor of Drama and President of the Cultural Organization of the Drama Short Film Festival, George Papadopoulos sent his greeting:

“It is with great pleasure and pride that we welcome you to the heart of an institution that for 48 years now has been celebrating the power of short film creativity.

The Drama International Short Film Festival, taking place from 8 to 14 September 2025, is a cultural beacon for our city, Greece and the global film community.

We warmly welcome all the directors, artists and friends of cinema who will join us this year in this great celebration.

We invite you to experience the magic of cinema with us. To be part of this ‘reflection of life.’ To be moved, to think, to be inspired; in Drama, where short film finds its big screen.

And if, according to John Huston, Hollywood has always been a cage that imprisons dreams, we say to all young creators:

Drama is the place that gives you wings, so your dreams can fly away – all around the globe.

We thank the creators and the spectators for being with us.”

*Vasilis Terzopoulos, host of the evening, read the greeting of the Vice President of the Drama Film Festival, Petros Paraskevaidis:

“It is a great pleasure and honour to invite you to the 48th Drama International Short Film Festival. A Festival that, for almost half a century, has been a living laboratory of dreams and storytelling, a gateway to worlds of imagination and reflection.

Cinema, and especially short film, is a condensed narrative of emotions, experiences and dreams. Each creation shown on our screens is a small universe that may evoke strong emotions and engrave indelible moments in the memory of the viewers. We are proud that this year, once again, Drama will be the focus of interest for artists from every corner of the planet, who choose the Festival to promote their work.

With its long history, our Festival has established itself as one of the most important institutions in the field of cinema, both in Greece and internationally.  Its rising path is not a coincidence. It is the result of hard work, dedication, but also of a firm commitment to openness and transparent procedures that characterize every aspect of our operation. We firmly believe that art flourishes in an environment of trust and equal opportunity, and we strive to offer this to all our participants and viewers.

This year, we welcome with great pleasure and anticipation the new Artistic Director of the Festival, Mr. George Angelopoulos, who with his experience and vision will contribute decisively to the further development and evolution of the Festival. Along with him, and with our entire artistic team, we aim to remain a leading destination for emerging filmmakers, offering them an opportunity to present their talent on an international level, as our previous successes with Oscar and EFA nominations have demonstrated after all.

The Drama International Short Film Festival is not just a cultural event. It is a living organism that is constantly evolving, inspiring and creating memories that will accompany the viewers forever.

The curtain of the 48th Drama International Short Film Festival rises on Monday 8 September 2025 in our beloved Drama, and we invite all of you to a unique and unforgettable ‘cinematic journey’.”

THE NEW TEAM OF DISFF PROGRAMMERS:

New and old friends make up the new team of programmers of the Drama Festival:

*Vassilis Terzopoulos, Head Programmer of the International Competition
*Panagiotis Iossifelis, Head Programmer of the National Student Competition

*Kostis Charamountanis, Head Programmer of the International Student Section
*Spyros Siakas, Head Programmer of the International Animation Competition
*Maya Sfakianaki, Head Programmer of the Short & Green International Competition
*Antigoni Papantoni, Head of Short Film Hub
*Varvara Douka, Head of Pitching Lab
and
*George Angelopoulos, Head Programmer of the National Competition and Kiddo

NATIONAL COMPETITION: WHERE THE DRAMA FILM FESTIVAL’S HEART BEATS

George Angelopoulos, referring to this year’s Greek films selected for the National Competition, pointed out the following:

“If the Drama Film Festival had a heart, it would definitely beat from the National Competition. It is the section in which we first met now well-loved Greek creators; the section to which we would look back to get a good insight into what was happening in the country and across the world at the time when a film was made; into what engaged us, what scared us, what intrigued us, or what we were not yet ready to understand.

This year once again documents the marks of the era in which we live. Films offering escapism, journeys of the mind and the imagination, worlds designed differently from our own and unfamiliar characters that give a sense of reality and of the filmmakers’ anxiety to escape from it or to recreate it according to their own rules; a mirror of our society where family and social expectations generate inevitable disappointments.

Children’s characters are flourishing and the children’s film genre, almost non-existent in Greece, makes a dynamic appearance. As diversity has been at the spotlight in previous years, filmmakers are now finding creative ways to reinvent queer themes using supernatural and mythological beings as protagonists.

The filmmakers who consciously set their narrative in contemporary Greece mainly intend to criticize and demonstrate the country’s social ills, such as corruption, intolerance, subservience to capital and the violation of values. Combined with the also popular theme of ‘memory’ and its preservation or reinterpretation, as well as with the mourning motif that recurs from time to time, it gives the impression that the good days are behind us.

And yet, in most cases, the film characters do not choose to give up. Even when everything is against them, they head towards the light, persevere, try and demand. Just like the creators of these films do. Hopefully they will inspire us all to do the same.”

GREEK PARTICIPATIONS IN THE COMPETITION SECTIONS OF THE 48th DISFF

NATIONAL COMPETITION – 2025 DISFF48

Τhe Circles of Ro, Μyrto Apostolidou
Mermaids, Lida Vartzioti, Dimitris Tsakaleas
3 cm of Complexity, Anna Vasof
100 years ahead, Michael Gigintis
MITCH, Gevi Dimitrakopoulou
Roots, Konstantinos Doxiadis
Noi, Neritan Zinxhiria
Fouetté, Dimitris Zouras
He Who Once Was, Kostis Theodosopoulos
The Outsider, Eftychia Iosifidou
The patient 1789, Eirini Karagkiozidou
Cold?, Andreas Kontopoulos
Magdalena Hausen: Frozen Time, Yannis Karpouzis
Beware of the Southern stars, Christos Karteris
Hopepunk, Vasiliki Lazaridou
Performer, Yannis Beretsos
The wolves return, Stelios Moraitidis
Requiem in Salt, Sylvia Nicolaides, Nicolas Iordanou
A Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Natassa Xydi
PLANETS, Fili Olsefski
The day we became heroes, Selini Papageorgiou
Do what you must, Manos Papadakis
Dust to dust, Dimitris Papathanasis
Pirateland, Stavros Petropoulos
LUDYAS, Akis Polizos
GIVE ME 5 MINUTES, Marthilia Svarna
Carcass, Makis Sebos
ΝΙΚΗ, Savvas Stavrou
Mikro Soma, Jon Simvonis
AVANTAZ, Christos Tatsis
Last Tropics, Thanasis Trouboukis
Places Called Home, Dimitris Tsalapatis
Nothing and everything, Lia Tsalta
Fuit, Alexandros Chantzis
Things Hidden since the Foundation of the World, Kevin Walker, Irene Zahariadis 

31 fiction films and 4 documentaries participate in the National Competition Programme (Τhe Circles of Ro, 3 cm of Complexity, Beware of the Southern stars και Requiem in Salt).

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION -2025 DISFF 48

Noi, Neritan Zinxhiria
Magdalena Hausen: Frozen Time, Yannis Karpouzis
400 Cassettes, Thelyia Petraki
Pirateland, Stavros Petropoulos 

NATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITION  – 2025 DISFF48

The Life Cycle of Cicadas, Ines Perot
Prelude to a Supernova, Christos Artemiou
At the Market, Kostas Fountas Aloupogiannis
Fragments of Life from the Place I Call Home, Andreas Lazidis
Volta, Socrates Mousmoulidis
Sleep, Cos Mandis, Jay McNeil
Cosmic Egg, Nefeli Psykou, Christoforos Alamanis
Leuresthes, Ioanna Roumelioti
Transwalking, Efthymia Kotoula
Venus, Vidi, Vici, Roxani Varela
Or How to Disappear, Giorgos Aggelopoulos
My Father, Christina Sfakianaki
Leaving was what she did best, Vassilis Pantelidis
Metamorfosi, Thanos Karanikas, Dimitra Kosma
Rafaella, Elias Maroutsis
New Mexico, Antonis Goumas
The Drive, Alexandros Triantafyllidis
The Day you Left Spring, Dimitra Papaefthymiou
Lost Gardenias, Galatia Lagoutari
Wild Cherry, Panos Ziogas
My Green Garden, Eleni Tsekeri
The Quiet Weight of Things, Dimitra Petmeza
Only Connect, Betty Kostadinova
emery, marble and vine, Orestis Rouskas

As Panagiotis Iossifelis, screenwriter and professor of screenwriting (School of Film, School of Fine Arts, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) notes:

“This is the fourth year of the new National Student Programme of the Drama International Short Film Festival. It is still too early to draw conclusions about the new programme. We are obviously still at the beginning. On the other hand, the beginning is our natural state in this programme, our very own nature and position: excitement, mistakes, usually work with zero budgets, the enormous effort (that is totally unpaid), hope and its frustration, giving up and restarting, immaturity and talent, the urge to talk about everything and finally saying half of it or even nothing, the need to confess a short personal story and ending up touching the viewers’ souls at very big festivals around the globe -all of which is, for us, literally and figuratively, in a day’s work.

This year too, we had more applications than the previous year (they reached almost two hundred), film studies curriculum modifications so that the student films would not contradict the festival’s rule of a Greek premiere of the film, subsidies for student short films from funding centres and (in some cases) their schools, regional support for student short films, and the participation of experienced actors and actresses who show faith in the artistic vision of the young filmmakers.”

Twenty-four (24) films were selected this year. “From many different Schools, public and private, undergraduate and postgraduate, Greek and foreign (which, of course, are attended by Greek students). Schools known from previous years but also several new ones. Among them are the Department of Audio and Visual Arts of the Ionian University, the Department of Directing of the Hellenic Cinema and Television School Stavrakos, the School of Film within the Faculty of Fine Arts of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Postgraduate Studies Programme “Applied-Clinical Sociology and Art” of the Department of Sociology of the University of the Aegean, the programme Film Studies: Screenplay, Filmmaking, and Research (SKI) of the Hellenic Open University, the Department of Digital Arts and Cinema of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Department of Architecture of the University of Thessaly, the Postgraduate Studies Programme of the Department of Cultural Technology and Communication of the University of the Aegean, AKTO, Filmschool. gr, Queen Mary University of London.”

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT COMPETITION -2025 DISFF 48

The Life Cycle of Cicadas, Ines Perot
Simon at the Nightshop, Thanasis Tsimpinis

ΑΝΙΜΑΤΙΟΝ– 2025 DISFF48

The Synthetic Age, Dimitris Armenakis
Poplars, Alexandros Vounatsos
Holy shit, Taxiarchis Deligiannis, Vassilis Tsiouvaras
13m2, Antonis Dimitropoulos

SHORT AND GREEN– 2025 DISFF48

Don’t try this in the woods,  Emma Doxiadi
Green, Dimitris Iosifidis Hokmetidis

KIDDΟ – 2025 DISFF48

La Première Image, Olia Verriopoulou
Maternelle, Basile Doganis
Fall Christmas, Kostas Bakouris
Giati, Nikos Pavlineris
The Fight, Antony Petrou
Salty, Andreas Raptis
Atlantic, Alexander Stamatiadis
The T3st, Alexandros Tsilifonis

SHORT FILM LAB

The various activities of the Short Film Hub, supported by CREATIVE EUROPE, are spread throughout the festival. Every day there will be one-to-one meetings between directors, screenwriters, producers and industry professionals, as well as open discussions, panels and roundtables.

Last but not least, the well-established international Pitching Lab could not be missing, assembling the top 10 proposals (script drafts) from all over the world.

The Greek projects that were selected to participate are the following:

Windbag (script: Fivos Imellos)
Αs if Ι had you next to me (script: Despina Ladi)
Mom is alive (script: Isavella Aivalioti )
and the Greek co-production (UK/USA/Greece):
EO1 (script:  Ruby Mastrodimos)

TRIBUTE: 30 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION PROGRAMME / SURPRISE SCREENING

This year, the Drama Film Festival marks the 30th anniversary of its internationalization, with a tribute featuring a selection of the films that have won the Grand Prix of the International Competition Programme over the years.

One of the most important milestones in this creative process was the short film “Next Floor” (2008) by the now celebrated French-Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, director of “Dune” and the new James Bond film, which was presented yesterday on the terrace of the Greek Film Archive in the Lais Open Air Cinema as a surprise screening, and will be also screened as part of the Drama tribute.

In this exemplary short-form piece, during an opulent banquet, eleven pampered guests participate in what appears to be a ritualistic culinary carnage. In this absurd and grotesque universe, an unexpected sequence of events destabilizes the endless symphony of abundance…

Denis Villeneuve’s film won the Grand Prix for the best short film at DISFF in 2008, proving that every year the Drama Film Festival introduces us to the filmmakers that will engage us in the future.

————

Drama Film Festival would like to thank the Ministry of Culture, the Region of Eastern Macedonia & Thrace, the Municipality of Drama, the Hellenic Parliament, the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center (EKOMMED), RAYCAP, PPC (gold sponsor of the Festival), Cyclops, Finos Film, and all the bodies of the film industry (and not only them), of our country, for their support, love and excellent cooperation in the interest of the short film and its creators.

 

The detailed programme of the festival’s parallel programmes will be announced in August.

SNFCC Youth Council | The Drama Festival Travels to SNFCC

SNFCC Youth Council

SNFCC Youth Council | The Drama Festival Travels to SNFCC

The series of thematic screenings “The Drama Festival Travels to the SNFCC,” presented by the SNFCC Youth Council, in collaboration with the Drama International Short Film Festival, concludes with an event dedicated to the multiple dimensions of the queer experience.

This final round of screenings seeks to explore the journeys of identity discovery, the longing for true acceptance, and the fight to reclaim one’s self in a world that too often marginalizes difference.

In the films being shown, the protagonists face family conflicts, endure the pain of rejection, and navigate the delicate balances of coexistence and love. Through their stories, the need for societies that recognize and respect each person’s uniqueness becomes clear — societies that embrace individuals living and expressing themselves beyond traditional norms of gender identity and sexual orientation.

The screenings will be followed by brief discussions with the filmmakers.

The SNFCC Youth Council was created and has been organizing its activities thanks an exclusive grant by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).

Program of Screenings

Mauve, 2024, 17’, Dir. Tzo Kapralou
Two plants in the same pot are suffocating—their roots are tangled. In a house that feels like a jungle, a couple—Iris and Danae—prepares for a journey. We witness the last minutes of their relationship, their transformation into wild creatures, and their eventual separation. Like plants needing space to bloom, they too reach a moment of necessary transplanting.

Honeymoon, 2023, 24’, Dir. Alki Papastathopoulos
After a traumatic run-in with the police, Fay decides to leave Greece for good. Sandra accompanies her to the bus station for their farewell journey. As they travel across the country, a transphobic attack by two fellow passengers leaves them stranded, alone, on a highway in the middle of nowhere.

Pigeons are Dying When the City is on Fire, 2023, 21’, Dir. Stavros Markoulakis
One night, two boys meet. In the morning, a pigeon is trapped with them. On the hottest day of the summer, everyone dreams of escaping the burning city.

Driving Me Crazy, 2024, 18’, Dir. Meni Tsilianidou
Nina knows why her grandfather doesn’t like her—obviously, it’s because she’s a lesbian. It’s time for a reckoning. On the most unexpected journey of their lives, Nina and Stathis are forced to understand each other, whether they want to or not.