The 8th Hellenic Film Festival in Berlin closed on Sunday night, making an appointment with the audience and creators for March 2024. In the packed hall of the iconic Babylon cinema, in the “Rosa Luxemburg” Square, the prizes of the competition sections were awarded, while the closing of the Festival, which is organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture, was with the screening of the film “Dodo” by Panos Koutras. The Illuseum Museum hosted the party that followed five days of film screenings, artist meetings and special events.

In the “Emerging Greeks” category, the award, which is accompanied by a cash prize of 1000 euros – sponsored by the Hellenic Film Center -, was won by the film “Black Stone” by Spyros Iakovides. According to the jury, the film “offers a particularly light-hearted approach to some very important issues plaguing Greek society today: pushy Greek mothers, racism and immigration, among others. A family story told with love, harsh irony and humor.”

The Documentary Award, which comes with a cash prize of 500 euros – sponsored by Musou Music Group – was won by the film “Femicidio” by Nina Maria Paschalidou because, according to the jury, “with a courageous woman who survived the attack of her former her partner in the spotlight, sheds light on a real wound in today’s patriarchal society.”

This year’s event was perhaps the richest of the Festival, which is growing up, maturing and expanding, with the organizers already planning its “smaller” versions, on September 16-17 for the second time in Frankfurt and on September 24-25 for the first time in Cologne. The director and “soul” of the Festival, Sofia Stavrianidou, speaking to the Athenian Macedonian News Agency, expresses her satisfaction with the success of this year’s Greek Cinema Days in Berlin, which have now been integrated into the city’s artistic program. It is indicative of the interest of the German media, which now devote extensive reports to the event and recommend Greek films to their audience.

As a “highlight” of the event, Mrs. Stavrianidou highlights the presence of the actor, screenwriter and producer Vangelis Mourikis, who was also the honored person of this year’s Festival. Three of his most characteristic films were screened, “The King” by Nikos Grammatikos, “Norway” (by Yiannis Vesleme) and “The Jesuits” by Theodoros Maragos. After each screening, Vangelis Mourikis was in the hall to discuss with the audience, who responded with great interest.

In this year’s event, during which more than 2,500 tickets were sold, there were also other “firsts”: the documentary competition category was added, while the collaboration with the International Festival of Drama Short Films was inaugurated, which, on the sidelines of the screenings, organized “Cinematherapy” session, with synthetic psychotherapist Denise Nikolakou “marrying” psychotherapy with cinema. Also added is the partnership with Crew United, one of the largest platforms of film professionals in Europe. In the meeting with creators and actors that was organized, all sides were given the space and time to explore the prospects of future collaborations. “The Festival is becoming more and more open”, characteristically says Sofia Stavrianidou, not only referring to the increase in tickets, but mainly to its establishment in the consciousness of the Greeks of Berlin, but also of German cinephiles.