The curtain dropped on DigitalWave 04, TIFF’s competitive section dedicated to modern Greek digital productions, with the award ceremony that took place on Saturday, November 21 at the Tonia Marketaki Theater.
In his speech, Konstantinos Kontovrakis, head of TIFF’s Greek section, said: “Digital Wave represents -not so mush in terms of structure but definitely in terms of its people - the alternative cultural production of Greece. This is why TIFF is proud to have embraced it, providing a means of expression to filmmakers who are usually hard pressed to find a venue for their work”.
Commenting on the fact that half of the entries in this year’s DigitalWave were films from Thessaloniki, Crete and Trikala, TIFF president Georges Corraface underlined: “I am very happy that this year the Festival features films from many different parts of Greece. We want this trend to continue. Escaping the center, the metropolis, and making movies where one lives is a human right”.
The first prize of DigitalWave 04, which is established by the Greek Film Center and is accompanied by a cash prize of 15,000 euros, was awarded by the six – member jury to Vasilis Raisis’ film Elvis’ last song. According to the jury, his film was distinguished for its “charming and natural narration, the inclusion of improvisation elements, for its documentary style of observation, and also for representing a fresh and honest approach to the genre of romantic comedy”.
The filmmaker, after thanking the members of the jury, said: “I have been asked many times, why I did something so extraordinary, meaning a film without any cinema education, money or support. I have two answers to give: First, I did it because I had a story to tell, which would go untold if I didn’t do it, and second because I had students from the theatre workshops on my side, and I knew that with them we could do something worth while”. The award was presented to the director by the Greek Film Center vice-president, Demetris Stephanopoulos, who expressed his disagreement with the separation between digital and conventional movies: “We don’t believe there are serious and unserious, cheap and not cheap media. There are only serious and unserious filmmakers. It is high time to put an end to this demarcation and realize that we should be grateful that in our time it is much easier to make films compared to the past”.
Elvis’ Last Song also won this year’s Fischer audience award, presented to the director by Menas Mavrikakis, head of public relations and company communication t Athenian Brewery SA. This year, the award was accompanied by a cash prize of 3,000 euros, as opposed to 1,000 euros last year.
The second award of the jury, accompanied by a cash prize of 10,000 euros, was won by The Box, a film by Fotis and Apostolis Passos, for the “dynamic use of the low cost digital medium – particularly as regards the use of sound and editing – in narrating a dark story of fiction“.
In his acceptance speech, Fotis Passos stressed: “I wish to thank my friends and all those who helped both me and my brother make this film. I honestly never expected to win any prizes. It seems that cinema does give opportunities”.
The award ceremony closed with the screening of Ioulita is dreaming by Triantafyllia Demopoulou and At dusk by Katerina Grammatikopoulou. Both films were included in TIFF’s student movies’ section and were made by students of Aristotle University’s School of Film Studies.
