For the fourth year, the Onassis Foundation brings to our screens ten award-winning Greek short films from International Short Drama Film Festival and Athens International Film Festival “Premiere Nights”.

The ten award-winning films invite us to dive into their big world from the October 16 to 23 at onassis.org and YouTube Channel of the Onassis Foundation. As mirrors of society, they project realistic, symbolic or lyrical social themes, where femininities, nature, heteronormative standards and stereotypes, youth, affection, racism, love are the protagonists.

The movies in detail:

  • “5pm Seaside” by Valentin Stejskal

On his 40th birthday, Nikos sits and waits in his van at the edge of a remote beach. Like every year, his mother calls him and tells him about his birth. The weather is wild. In the distance, Nikos finally sees Christos, his old friend from the army, approaching. It is the first time they meet again after many years. Today Christos will fulfill Nikos’ dangerous wish. Two people leave the safe space of their voluntary isolation to meet, consciously approaching a life and death conflict. Between violence and absolute tenderness, they live a moment of liberation that redefines everything.

Duration: 26′. “Golden Dionysus” Best Film Award & Best Actor Award (Antonis Tsotsiopoulos) at the Drama Festival.

“Golden Athena” Award for Best Film & Award for Best Actor (Antonis Tsotsiopoulos) at “Premiere Nights”.

  • “Daphne” by Tonia Misiali

Daphne changes one sexual partner after another, but doesn’t seem to be satisfied, at least not with what she thought she needed. Until he finds a wounded dog in the middle of the road. How far can she go to feel some affection?

Duration: 18′. Best Actress Award (Niovi Charalambous) at the Drama Festival.

  • “Cactus” by Dimitris Zouras

Stavros tries to connect with the environment and himself.

Duration: 20′. Onassis Drama Queer Award at the 45th International Drama Short Film Festival, 2022. Nominated for Best Short Film at the 14th LGBT+ Film Festival Poland, 2023 and at the 17th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF), 2023. Participation in the RojaL Film Festival , 2023 (Latvia) and at the Prague International Film Festival (Czech Republic).

  • “Kiddo” by Michalis Kimon

Four teenagers tell the story of the collapse of two middle-aged couples.

Duration: 12′. “Tonia Marketaki” Directing Award (Mihalis Kimonas), Set Design Award (Eva Goulakou), Makeup, Hair & Special Effects Award (Ioanna Lygizou, Panos Kondylis, Michalis Giokas) at the Drama Festival.

  • “Magma” by Lias Chalta

Mia is a scientist living alone on the pink planet. A strange Creature falls from the sky and is washed ashore by the wave. Mia finds it, brings it back to life, and tries to communicate with it, until she realizes it’s something completely different than she thought. The film “Magma” straddles the line between psychological thriller and science fiction, as its lonely heroine pits herself against an alien creature, who turns out to be more like her than she thought. Existential, bipolar, mysterious, with minimalist aesthetics and cinematography, and using the eerie and lunar landscapes of Milos as a weapon, the film creates a dark and threatening space-time, where nature and weather phenomena suddenly invade the reality of the protagonists.

Duration: 17′. Best Cinematography Award & Original Music Award at the 45th International Short Drama Film Festival, 2022. “Silver Athena” Award at the 28th Athens International Film Festival “Premiere Nights” (Short Stories), 2022. International Premiere at the 26th PÖFF | Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Late Night Sci-Fi), 2022 (Estonia). Participation in: 8th Berlin Greek Film Festival, 2023, 11th Les Intergalactics Sci-Fi Film Festival, 2023 (Lyon, France), 17th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF), 2023, Aegean International Short Film Festival « Thodoros Angelopoulos”, 12th Aegean International Festival, 4th Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival, 2023 (Australia), 27th BIFAN | Buncheon International Fantastic Film Festival, 2023 (South Korea).

  • “Pendulus” by Dimitris Gotsis

Arby, 24, grew up in Athens. After the events of the night of the Serbia-Albania football match, Arby must decide whether to attend his relatives’ wedding, whether to claim the girl he likes, whether he is Albanian or Greek.

Duration: 18′. Audience Award, Panhellenic Film Critics Association Award (PEKK), Technical Excellence Award of ETEKT (Film and Television Technicians Society) & Sound Award at the 45th International Drama Short Film Festival, 2022. Onassis Film Award at the 28th Athens International Film Festival “Premiere Nights” », 2022. Cinematic Achievement Award at the 16th Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival, 2022. Participation in the Oaxaca FilmFest 2022 (Mexico) and the 20th In The Palace Short Film Festival, 2023 (Bulgaria).

  • “On the throne of Xerxes” by Evi Kalogiropoulou

In the labor dystopia of the Perama shipyards, the chronic prohibition of physical contact has turned human interactions into eerie simulations of stifled sensuality, transcending heteronormative stereotypes of desire. At the top of Mount Aigaleo, in today’s Perama, it is believed that there was the position from which the Persian emperor Xerxes watched the crash of his fleet in the Battle of Salamis, in 480 BC. This peak is called by the inhabitants “Throne of Xerxes”.

The film had its world premiere at the 61st Critics’ Week (Semaine de la Critique) of the 75th Cannes Film Festival (2022), where it received the Canal+ Award. To date it has been screened in over 20 countries and 40 festivals, including: 45th International Short Drama Film Festival, 2022 (Special Jury Prize), 21st Concorto Film Festival, Italy, 2022 (Special Jury Prize) , Orvieto Cinema Fest, Italy, 2022 (Best Short Film), 18th Kinemastik International Short Film Festival, Malta, 2022 (Best Film), Dublin International Film Festival, 2022 (Special Mention), South East European Film Festival, Los ‘ Angeles, USA, 2022 (Honorable Mention), 28th Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2022, 28th Athens International Film Festival “Premiere Nights”, 2022, Queer Lisboa 26, Portugal, 2022, Encounters Short Film and Animation Festival, Bristol , England, 2022, AFI Fest (American Film Institute), Los Angeles, USA, 2022, Chéris-Chéris, 28th LGBTQI+ Film Festival, Paris, France, 2022 51st Festival du nouveau cinéma, Montreal, Canada, 2022 .

  • “Last Breath” by Haris Raftogiannis

A pair of marginals on their last outing.

Duration: 15′. Editing Award at the 45th International Short Drama Film Festival, 2022. Participation in the 28th Athens International Film Festival “Premiere Nights”, 2022.

  • “Tokakis Or What’s My Name” by Thanos Tokakis

Thanos Tokakis embarks on a stand-up comedy tour of the countryside in order to show the world how great an actor he is. There he comes face to face with the public, who cannot forget his television persona, but also with himself, who pushes him to achieve success. Until the final fall.

Duration: 21′. Best Screenplay Award (Thanos Tokakis), “Iulia Stavridou” Costume Design Award (Marli Aliferi) at the Drama Festival. Best Screenplay Award (Thanos Tokakis) at “Premiere Nights”.

  • “Toxic Magnus” by Nasos Gatzoulis

After a year of battling his father’s rage to mold him into a traditional male role model, a failed suicide attempt by Magnus leads him to become a life counselor. Duration: 10′. Best Documentary Award at the Drama Festival.