The German-language Film Festival in Patras is now tending to become an institution, since this year it is organized for the 5th time in the premises of the oldest winery in Greece, Achaia Clauss, in Patras. The festival took a small forced break due to the coronavirus, when it was presented online. This year, however, it will once again be presented from September 18 to 22 in the wonderfully preserved spaces of Castro Clauss. Speaking to Deutsche Welle, the director of the festival, Antonis Korkontzilas, says about its development and the audience’s response:

“Since we launched in 2019, we’ve had constant audience growth. Last year, in 2023, we reached around 1,800 spectators in Patras, over a four-day period for the festival. The screenings in Athens reached around 250 viewers in total for the two days. So in recent years, about 5,000 people have watched the films and the program of KinoFest.”

The audience, the days and the movies are getting bigger

Since last year, the festival wanted to spread its wings and be presented in other cities, starting from Athens. And this year it will be presented in November in Athens, but the program and venue have not yet been finalized. In Patras they added a day anyway, so that it could fit into the schedule. And as Antonis Korkontzilas says: “In addition to the growth and increase of the audience, every year we also have an increase in the program, where this year we will show around 37 feature and short films, fiction, documentaries and animation”. The films are from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg.

And that’s not all. For the first time, the festival has a competition section, in which 8 feature films will compete. The jury consists of Anna Routsi, columnist and lawyer, expert scientist at the Citizen’s Advocate, actor and director Prodromos Tsinikoris and actress Alexia Bezikis. All three have ties to Germany and know the country well.

As for whether the Antonis Korkontzilas could single out some of the films, he answers us that they are all very carefully chosen, however he mentions one: “I would single out the film Wonder Woman, because it basically satirizes the situation in Switzerland with the three official languages ​​in the state and how they affect the everyday life of the citizens and in general the adversities they go through. When someone, for example, is French-speaking in a country whose official language is German, it goes without saying.”

The selection criteria

The main selection criteria for the films to participate in the festival is that they are German-language films produced in the last two years and that they have something substantial to say to the audience. Last year, for the first time, they also introduced the audience award at the festival, while this year, as we mentioned above, the jury award was also established.

The German-language Film Festival in Patras this year also includes films for children as well as a special screening of the documentary “ANIMA – My Father’s Clothes” with the aim of raising public awareness of the queer community. Film lovers are still waiting for a tribute to the 100th anniversary of the death of Franz Kafka, while as we learn the film that will close the festival is the German film “No Younger than the Western Front” produced by Netflix, which is one of the most awarded non-English language films in Oscar history.