The animated film “Flow” by Gintz Zilbalodis won the Golden Athena for Best Film and the audience award at the 30th Athens International Film Festival “Premiere Nights”, which ended yesterday (14/10) at the Pallas Theatre, with the presentation of the awards and the screening of Pedro Almodovar’s film “The Next Room”, which won the Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

‘Flow’, a touching and dialogue-free animation tells the adventures of a lovable black cat in a post-apocalyptic world inhabited by animals. The International Section Jury, which consisted of Sarig Peker (Producer), Jane Giles (Writer, Scala Developer), Miriam Allen (Co-Founder and CEO of Galway Film Fleadh), Alexis Grapsa (Musician, Soundtrack Composer), Blaine L. Reininger (musician) awarded the event’s grand prize to “Flow” for “the outstanding realization of an absolutely believable dream world, full of nuance, exquisite detail and humor.” “The multi-talented Gings Zilbalodis took on multiple roles to create a timely environmental story with broad appeal to audiences of all ages,” the committee members noted.

The City of Athens Directing Award went to Alessandra Lacoraza Samoudio for “Every Summer” and the screenplay award to Maura Delpero for “Vermiglio”, while special mentions were awarded to Lin Jianze’s “A Brief History of a Family” and “April”. of Dea Koulubegasvili. For its part, the Panhellenic Film Critics Association honored “Armand” by Halfdan Ullman Todel.

In the International Documentary Competition Section, the Golden Athena for Best Documentary was won by the Palestinian “No Other Earth” by Basel ‘Andra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Zor, while special mentions were awarded to “A Glimpse into Something Deep” by Mark Cousins ​​and “The Battle for Laikipia” by Dafni Matziarakis and Peter Murimi.

In the National Short-Length Competition Section “Greek Short Stories”, the Golden Athena was awarded to “MJ” by Giorgos Fourtounis, which satirizes the world of the trap scene, the Silver Athena to “Spiti” by Sofia Sfyri, the directing award to the film “The Pigeons They Get Sick, When the City Burns” by Stavros Markoulakis, the screenplay award and the Onassis Film Award for “Eggregores’ Theory” by Andreas Gatopoulos and the Special Committee Award for “Cypress Real Estate” by Andreas Kontopoulos.

The trans protagonists Mary Petrouliou and Nasia Synteta of the film “Honeymoon” won the prize for female performance in a row, while the prize for male performance was given to Nikos Georgakis, star of the film “Gekas” by Dimitris Moutsiakas. In fact, this short film was also honored for the cinematography of Giorgos Karvelas. Special mention was given to “The Greatest Day in the World” by Dimitris Charalambopoulos and “Roger” for the photography direction by Evangelos Polychronopoulos.

The 30 Premiere Nights 2024 Awards:

International competition section

Golden Athena: Flow (Gings Zilbalodis)

City of Athens Directing Award: Every Summer

Screenplay Award: Vermiglio (Maura Delpero)

Special Mention: A Brief History of a Family (Lin Jianze)

Special Mention: April (Dea Koulubegasvili)

Audience Award: Flow (Ginç Zilbalodis)

Panhellenic Film Critics Association Award: Armand (Halfdan Ullman Todel)

International competition documentary

Golden Athena for Best Documentary: No Other Earth (Bazel ‘Andra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Zohr)

Special Mention: A Glimpse of Something Deep (Mark Cousins)

Special mention: The Battle of Laikipia (Daphni Matziarakis & Peter Murimi)

Competition section “Greek Short Stories”

Golden Athena: MJ (Giorgos Fourtounis)

Silver Athena – Special Commission Award: House (Sofia Sfyri)

Director Award: The Pigeons Get Sick, When the City Burns (Stavros Markoulakis)

Special Committee Award: Kyparissi Property (Andreas Kontopoulos)

Screenplay Award: The Eggregores’ Story (Andreas Gatopoulos)

Best Female Performance: Mary Petrouliou & Nasia Synteta (“Honeymoon”)

Best Actor: Nikos Georgakis (“Gekas”)

Special mention: The Greatest Day in the World (Dimitris Charalambopoulos)

Onassis Film Award: The Eggregores’ Story (Andreas Gatopoulos)

GSC Award for Best Cinematography: Giorgos Karvelas (“Gekas”)

GSC Special Mention for Best Cinematography: Evangelos Polychronopoulos (“Roger”)