The movie “Behind the Curtains” scan them Iris Awards of the Hellenic Film Academy (EAK), which were awarded yesterday, Tuesday, June 27, in the evening, in a ceremony presented by the actresses Natasha Exindaveloni and Lila Baklesi. A total of ten awards were won by the feature film debutant Asimina Proedros, who was honored, among other things, for the script and direction, as well as for the best film of the year.

“It is very difficult to make a movie in Greece. You fight gods and demons. It’s incredibly underfunded. Fortunately I had these wonderful partners by my side“, said Asimina Preedrou, thanking all the contributors of the film “Behind the Curtains”.

The film’s protagonist, Stathis Stamoulakatos, won the Best Actor Award, while Christos Kontogeorgis and Dina Michailidou did the same in the Second Actor and Second Actress categories, respectively. The Best Actress Award was given to Eleni Kokkidou for her participation in the film “Black Stone” by Spyros Iakovides. The Best Documentary Award was won by “The Wrestler” by Giorgos Gousis, while a total of four awards, all in technical categories, went to “Broadway” by Christos Massalas. The Short Fiction Film Award was won for “Airhostess-737” by Thanasis Neofotistos (along with Dimitris Tsakaleas and Ioanna Bolomytis). The director admitted that he cannot be particularly happy about the award, because of the rise of the Far Right in the recent elections. “As a gay person it worries me a lot and I hope to change some of those who voted for the Far Right with my films“, he said.

The Hellenic Film Academy awarded an honorary award to the actress Betty Livanou, who said: “This morning I remembered – because of this award – the communication I had with Giannis Dalianidis when he asked me to act in my first film. The first thing I asked him then was how much money I will get. About seven years later we would sell everything we had to make Giorgos Panousopoulos’ first film “Honeymoon”. Cinema is addictive. Either you pass by it shirtless or it becomes a raison d’être. Thank you very much for this honor.”

At the beginning of the evening, the president of the Hellenic Film Academy, Lefteris Charitos, spoke about another rich year of Greek cinema. “Something that in other years might have been considered an exception, today has become the norm. Greek films travel to the most important festivals in the world and win recognition and awards. Greek creators are rightly more ambitious, they have no seals, they are not afraid to try new forms and distribution platforms between cinema, television and online media. All this is the norm of Greek cinema. Unfortunately, however, there are exceptions. The main one is the state’s chronic deficit in funding Greek cinema, which remains scandalously lower even in comparison to countries poorer than Greece. Funding in cinema is not a favor to the creators but an investment in the modern culture of Greece, in a dynamic sector that has an impact on the domestic and international market“, noted Mr. Charitos, emphasizing that the new Board of Directors of the Academy began its term with the aim of highlighting the leap that Greek filmmakers have made in recent years.

“Fiction, documentary or animation, commercial, weird or arthouse in the theater, on TV or tablet, Greek cinema is here, current, ambitious and influential. To be involved in cinema requires sacrifice, persistence, endurance, investment in education but also investment in the younger generations. Our work is not the work of a single creator. We are a set of professions, institutions, companies and spaces with the end recipient being the general public, hence the recent mobilizations to save the Astor and Ideal cinemas, as well as the demand for the creation of a College of Performing Arts so that degrees are recognized of artists, are important. All of us in this room are a piece of a puzzle and we call on the state to see us as we really are. We are not a group or a family. We are an entire ecosystem, a dynamic part of the country’s culture, society and economy. That is exactly what we are celebrating today“, added Mr. Charitos.

The 2023 Iris Awards in detail:

  • Short Student Film Award: Tsoulakia – Despina Mavridou
  • Short Animation Award: A Night in the Cemetery – Stelios Polychronakis, Konstantinos Vassilaros
  • Short Documentary Award: Memory with a Tail – Dimitris Indares
  • Short Fiction Film Award: Airhostess-737 – Thanasis Neofotistos, Dimitris Tsakaleas, Ioanna Bolomytis
  • Special and Visual Effects Award: Dodo-Thomas Duval, Fabien Guiliani, Antonis Kotzias, Irini Vianelli, Michalis Neromyliotis
  • Makeup, Hair and Special Effects Design Award: Broadway – Ioanna Lygizou, Chronis Tzimos, Chara Vassiliadis
  • Costume Design Award: Broadway – Marli Aliferi
  • Set Design Award: Broadway – Anna Georgiadou
  • Sound Award: Behind the Curtains – Nikos Papadimitriou, Electra Venaki, Persephone Miliou, Costas Varybopiotis
  • Original Score Award: Broadway – Gabriel Yared
  • Editing Award: Behind the Shades – Electra Venaki
  • Photography Award: Behind the Shades – Simos Sarketzis
  • Best Supporting Actress Award: Behind the Curtains – Dina Michailidou
  • Best Supporting Actor Award: Behind the Curtains – Christos Kontogeorgis
  • Best Actress Award: Black Stone – Eleni Kokkidou
  • Best Actor Award: Behind the Shades – Stathis Stamoulakatos
  • Screenplay Award: Behind the Curtains – President’s Silver
  • Debut Director Award: Behind the Curtains – President’s Silver
  • Director’s Award: Behind the Curtains – President’s Silver Medal
  • Greek Minority Co-Production Award: Burning Days – Giorgos Tsourgiannis
  • Documentary Award: Armwrestler – Fotini Oikonomopoulou, Vasiliki Patroupa, Sofia Dimopoulou, Giorgos Goussis
  • Fiction Feature Film Award: Behind the Curtains – Ioanna Bolomytis, Markus Halberschmidt, Vladimir Anastasov, Angela Nestorovska