Skin: Why spend the moment in Greek cinema?

FIgo Mortensen White stone collapse of a dilapidated building. He limps, eyes darkening, past the imaginary ruins, toward the gleaming beach. With the water, he finally lifts his head to look at one of the defining images. crimes of the future – A massively sunken ship capsized on its side, wrecked with rust, floating a few hundred meters off shore.

crimes of the future The Canadian author highlights David ChronenbergThe long-awaited return to body horror and filmed the entire movie in Greece. This ship is the Mediterranean Sky, a 600-foot oil tanker that has been besieged in the Gulf of Eleusis since 2003, and the mystical, timeless city Mortensen was turning to see is Athens. crimes This year it is fighting for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, which makes it one of only five films in which there is strong Greek interest.

next to Ruben Ostlundcompetition bidder the pain triangle (Shot on the island of Evia), kutra clothsThe title of the skin primer. Geezer, emin alperTurkish-Greek co-production burned days (in a sense) and Evi Kalogiropuloit’s a short film On the throne of XerxesThis year, the Greek witness at Cannes is stronger than it has been for decades. Despite the collapse of COVID-19 and the financial crisis of the late 2000s, the Greek film industry has become a world-class force.

“Greece is a small country and not a rich country. “So the talent we want to support is always way beyond our budget.” Athena Kalkopoulou, Director of Hellas Film, Popularization and Distribution Group at the Greek Film Center. “But Greek cinema continues to grow.”

The Greek Film Center is a vital body in a vast network of public institutions, private companies, universities, film festivals, prudent and creative producers, contributing to the renaissance that is taking place in the country’s film industry. Founded in 1970 under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, GFC is a powerful organization that helps filmmakers with everything from product financing to localization, distribution and promotion. Of the roughly 900 films supported by the GFC since 1970, a total of 86 were shot in 2021 and 2022 alone.

Mark Holevas, chairman of the board of directors of the GFC, describes the mission of the GFC as “to create a new generation of filmmakers. Let’s help them create a new vision in cinema.” He asks, “Do you know the Greek weird wave?” It refers to the explosion of idiosyncratic films that emerged in Greece in the early 2010s, starting with Jorge Lantimo‘ dog teeth. Strange wave directors like Lantimos and Athena Rachel Tsangari (years 2010 attenberg2015 Knight) received films in Cannes, Venice and Berlin and was shown all over the world; it was not an easy task in the early tragic years of the financial crisis. The move helped put Greek film back on the map. As Holevas pointed out, “this was the result of the Centre’s policy, which was implemented 10 years ago”.

The current rise of Greek cinema is not the result of good luck. Years of careful planning and collaboration within the organization have led to this problem. But if you look at the production numbers, you’d be forgiven for coming to the conclusion that it all happened overnight in 2017. It was the year the Greek government passed a tougher tax exemption law that led to the establishment of the National Center. Audiovisual Media and Communication, known as EKOME.

EKOME is an exclusive public-private partnership between the Ministry of Digital Government and the private sector that provides filming incentives for audiovisual projects such as films, TV shows and video games. The 25% discount on eligible expenses offered in 2018 has increased to the industry-leading 40% just two years after the pandemic period began. “I remember sitting in a hotel room in Cannes last year and having meetings,” he recalls. Vasiliki Diaguma, Communications Manager EKOME. COVID abolished the 2020 edition of the festival and the 2021 market became hybrid and decentralized, where countries even bothered to send delegations that carried out operations outside the territory. “I remember sitting down and thinking, ‘We’re so lucky because business has never been better.’

Cash payments, 30% tax breaks and special programs such as the ability to charge high percentages of wages “have made Greece immune to the pandemic”. As of April 2018, EKOME has supported 221 projects that have created approximately 51,400 jobs and involved an investment of approximately €349 million. Two of these projects were films by Cronenberg and Ostlund.

There is no doubt that EKOME has changed the game. But it also “triggered a national debate,” he says. Giorgi TsurgianiDirector of Horsfly Films and producer of Alper’s burned days. Some fear the discount will only attract expensive international co-productions, which could “dry up the Greek team and drive up prices”. It’s already happening, take note. Christ KaramanisVeteran DP who wore glasses burned days. “Greek film services with Greek crews have become more difficult,” he said, with Diagum even saying that EKOME “knows more than ever about the need for technical training and expansion of university programs.”

But in general, everyone is optimistic about the situation in the Greek film industry. Karamanis calls the incredible skin display “a big moment”. Calcopulo describes it as “the fruit of all our labor”. And if a Greek film or co-production can win a competitive award, it will be another jewel in an already glorious crown.

Ryan Coleman is the first member of the Unifrance Critics Lab.