With the awarding of the audience and jury awards, today (29/3) the 23rd French-language Film Festival of Greece in the Danaos cinema. The closing ceremony, which was attended by the French ambassador to Greece, Patrick Mezonav, as well as personalities from the cultural field, was presented by Les Stamatwins.

In his greeting, the audio-visual assistant and artistic director of the Festival, Thodoris Koutsaitis, thanked the spectators for their massive attendance in the theaters, in Athens, Thessaloniki and this year for the first time in Patras, Larissa, Heraklion and Chania, a fact that raised tickets to pre-pandemic numbers. He referred to the observation he made, during the years he has been director of this festival, that French-language cinema is fortunate to have a cinephile, passionate and demanding audience in Greece. Finally, he thanked all partners and supporters for their support and trust.

The jury, made up of Yannis Economidis, Katia Goulioni, Anna Maria Papacharalambous, Phoivo Delivoria and Fotis Sergoulopoulosunanimously awarded its prize to Alice Diop’s Saint Omer.

The chairman of the Committee, Yiannis Economidis, gave the award to the representative of One From The Heart, the film’s distribution company in Greece, presenting the reasoning behind the committee’s decision: “We chose this film for Alice Diop’s original, consistent, rigorous directorial writing . For the stirring, visceral performance of Giuslazi Malanda, and the outstanding performance of the entire cast. Finally, for the deep, suggestive way it illuminates the social, political and spiritual ramifications of a tragic true human story.” The jury prize is an offer from Nova, which supports as a communication sponsor the promotion of the film when it is screened in Greek theaters.

The film that won the Fischer Audience Award is “La Syndicaliste” by Jean-Paul Salome. Fischer’s Brand Manager Ms. Andriani Alexopoulou announced the award and presented it to the representative of Cinobo, the film’s distribution company in Greece. The audience award is awarded following a vote of the audience upon exiting the screenings of the films participating in the competition section.

After the presentation of the awards, there was a world avant-première screening of the film “Les Trois Mousquetaires : D’Artanian” by Martin Bourdoulon.