The movie “How to have sex” by Molly Manning Walker won the Golden Athena for Best Fiction Film – the grand prize of the 29th Athens International Film Festival – Premiere Nights at the award ceremony held yesterday (7/10) at the Athens Concert Hall.

According to the jury, which consisted of: Guy Lodge (film critic), Poka-Yio (artist and curator of exhibitions), Anais Emery(director of the Geneva International Film Festival), Crystal Younes (co-founder of Bee On Set Productions), Siamak Etemadi (director and producer), it is “a confident, compassionate debut about the ways in which young people seek connection and consent with each other, with bold cinematic language, dynamic performances and strong social resonance.”

The City of Athens Directing Award was given to Estibalith Uresola Solagouren, director of the film “20,000 Species of Bees” for “the human and at the same time penetrating look at a sensitive and difficult subject, the true and measured performances of the entire cast, and for the masterful and unique pace of the story”. The Screenplay Award went to Luna Carmun’s Don’t Throw Anything away for its “boldly original treatment of childhood trauma.” Special mention was given to Anthony Simm’s Split Eyes for “the gentle and thoughtful bridging of two separate worlds” and Tim Kruger’s Theory of the Universe for “its scope and cinematic achievement in portraying Europe through a graphic and multi-collective past”.

The Fischer Audience Award was won by the film “Richelieu” by Pierre-Philippe Sévigny, which was also honored with the Award of the Panhellenic Film Critics Association (P.E.K.K.), as according to its reasoning, it is “a film that has a structured script and dramaturgical form”. “With contemporary realistic representation, it avoids melodrama and favors directorial cruelty and immediacy. It bravely and without discount studies the brutality of the extreme exploitation of workers, mainly immigrants, in a country of the Western world, where it is usually assumed that everything is going well. Unfortunately, this reality is present every day in our everyday life, very topical, as it penetrates and takes root within the ranks of the workers themselves in the absence of collective action. The film promotes the moral values ​​of solidarity and the individual and collective dignity of people in general, values ​​so necessary today, through an integrated aesthetic creation” noted the committee.

The Golden Athena Award for Best Documentary was given in the film “Mother of Lies” by Asme El Moudir. According to the jury, which consisted of: Karin Rivkind Segal (Artistic Director of Docaviv FF), Stefan Cantea (journalist), Apostolia Papaioannou (producer) Sofia Papaioannou (journalist), Jan Rofkamp (producer) it is a ” an outstandingly innovative and intelligent representation of a painful and forgotten period in the history of the director’s own family and her homeland, Morocco.” Special Mention was given to “Queendom” by Anya Galdanova and “20 days in Mariupol” by Mstislav Chernov.

“Greek Short Stories” – Awards

In the Competition Section of Greek Short Films “Greek Short Stories”, the Golden Athena for Best Film was won by Neritan Zinjiria’s “Light from Light”. “The film to which we chose to give the Golden Athens Award for Best Film moved us deeply in a way that only the art of cinema can do. It is this area of ​​speechlessness where speech is not so important to analyze a film because the sensations and feelings it has evoked in you cannot be put into words. A film that paradoxically and daringly mixes its materials to create a hybrid but entirely personal universe that connects metaphysical enlightenment with the light captured on film shouting out loud, yes, cinema is our church,” said the jury, which consisted of by: Angelos Frantzis (director and screenwriter), Orfeas Augustidis (actor), Marilena Karamolegou (publisher), Poly Lykourgou (film critic), Vicky Micha (producer). The award is accompanied by a cash prize of 2,000 euros with the kind support of the Hellenic Film Center.

The Special Award of the Silver Athena Committee was given in the film “Anorthodox” by Konstantinos Antonopoulos. “Can a film talk about the most serious things in this world – camouflaged as an unholy comedy? To make, underground but caustic, a playful comment about faith, religions, their political enforcement, hypocrisy? While at the same time clearly showing man, small, insignificant, suffering, captive of his constructions? Maybe he did – with a sacrilegious script, masterful direction and flawless handling of the cinematic tools – photography, editing, scenography, costumes, music and, of course, equally wonderful “sinful” performances” noted the jury.

The Best Director Award given to Manolis Mavris for the film “Midnight Skin”. A creator who according to the jury “creates a completely personal universe. Epic but also small. Cerebral but also emotional. A director who reminded us that Greek cinema can stretch its branches very high. And it won’t need to be uprooted to intervene.” The awards are accompanied by a cash prize of 1,500 euros each with the kind support of the Hellenic Film Center and a five-year free subscription as a Premium Member to the Crew United platform, the leading online platform for connecting professionals in the audiovisual industry in Europe, which has also opened in Greece.

The award for Best Screenplay won by Tom Floyd for the film “The pornographic collection of Kafka” by Aristotle Maragos. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of 1,500 euros with the support of the Ant1 Media Lab script department.

The Best Actor Award was given to Karafil Sena for the film “Crossing” by Aineia Tsamatis and Katerina Mavrogeorgis and the Best Actress Award to Sofia Simonis for the film “Days of a lilac summer” by Ariadni Aggeliki Thifronitou Letos. The awards come with a free five-year membership as a Premium Member on the Crew United platform.

Special reference was given in the movie “Angry Fish” by Konstantinos Haliasas. This year’s Onassis Award was awarded to the film “Kafka’s pornographic collection” by Aristotle Maragos, which, according to the jury, stood out for “its artistic courage and technical excellence, which dares to touch a legendary personality with humor, breaking its mold biography, using as a medium a single line’. The award is accompanied by a cash prize of 5,000 euros offered by Onassis Culture for the development of the director’s next film.