The cinema of Greece has a long and rich history. Though hampered at times by war or political instability, the Greek film industry dominates the domestic market and has experienced international success. Characteristics of Greek cinema include a dynamic plot, strong character development and erotic themes. Two Greek films, Missing (1982) and Eternity and a Day (1998), have won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Five Greek films have received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Darkon is a feature-length documentary film that follows the real-life adventures of the Darkon Wargaming Club in Baltimore, Maryland, a group of fantasy live-action role-playing (LARP) gamers. The film was directed by Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer.
Georgios "Yorgos" Lanthimos is a Greek film director, film producer, screenwriter, photographer, theatre director and former professional basketball player. Since 2015, Lanthimos has transitioned from making films in Greek to making higher-budget English-language films produced in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States. In his English-language career, he has received three Academy Award nominations for his work: Best Original Screenplay for The Lobster (2015) and Best Director and Best Picture for The Favourite (2018).
Attenberg is a 2010 Greek drama film, written and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari. The film was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 67th Venice International Film Festival and Ariane Labed won the Coppa Volpi for the Best Actress. It was filmed in the town of Aspra Spitia, in the Greek region of Boeotia. The film was selected as the Greek entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th Academy Awards, but it did not make the final shortlist.
Ariane Labed is a Greek-French actress and film director. She is known for her feature film debut in Attenberg, for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and appearing in Helen Edmundson's film Mary Magdalene in 2018.
Alps is a 2011 Greek psychological drama film produced by Athina Rachel Tsangari and Yorgos Lanthimos and directed by Lanthimos. It stars Angeliki Papoulia, Ariane Labed and Aris Servetalis, and was co-written by Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou. It premiered in competition at the 68th Venice International Film Festival where it won Osella for Best Screenplay, and also won the Official Competition Prize for New Directions in Cinema at the Sydney Film Festival in 2012.
The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was presented with the Glory to the Film-maker award on 4 September, prior to the premiere of his upcoming film Wilde Salomé. Marco Bellocchio was awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in September. The festival opened with the American film The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney, and closed with Damsels in Distress by Whit Stillman.
Athina Rachel Tsangari is a Greek filmmaker. Some of her most notable works include her feature films, The Slow Business of Going (2000), Attenberg (2010) and Chevalier (2015) as well as the co-production of Yorgos Lanthimos' films Kinetta (2005), Dogtooth (2009), and Alps (2011). In her versatile work for cinema, she has also founded and been director of the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival. In 2014-2015, she was invited to Harvard University’s Visual and Environmental Studies department as a visiting lecturer on art, film, and visual studies.
Kannalife Sciences Inc., a subsidiary of Neuropathix, Inc., is a bio-pharmaceutical and phyto-medical company based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania founded by Dean Petkanas and Thoma Kikis. Kannalife was formed in 2010 and is involved in the research and development of novel new therapeutic agents designed to reduce oxidative stress, and act as immuno-modulators and neuroprotectants.
Signe Byrge Sørensen is a Danish film producer. She is the head of and co-founder of the film production company Final Cut for Real in Copenhagen, Denmark. Sørensen and film director Joshua Oppenheimer were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for the 2013 film The Act of Killing. She was also the producer to the critically acclaimed documentary The Look of Silence. Signe Byrge Sørensen a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Danish Film Academy. In 2022, she produced the animated documentary film Flee and was nominated in Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and Best Animated Feature categories.
The Lobster is a 2015 absurdist black comedy drama film directed and co-produced by Yorgos Lanthimos, from a screenplay by Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou. It stars Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman, Ashley Jensen, Ariane Labed, Angeliki Papoulia, John C. Reilly, Léa Seydoux, Michael Smiley, and Ben Whishaw. In the film, newly single bachelor David moves into a hotel with other singletons, who are all obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days, or else be transformed into animals.
Alice Rohrwacher is an Italian film director, editor and screenwriter.
Luke Meyer is an American documentary filmmaker who has made the films Darkon (2006), New World Order (2009) and others. He is a founding partner of the New York-based filmmaking collective SeeThink Films.
Angeliki Papoulia is a Greek actress and theatre director. In film, she is most notable for her roles in Dogtooth, Alps and The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos, and A Blast and The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea by Syllas Tzoumerkas. For her part in Dogtooth she was awarded with a Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress.
The Favourite is a 2018 period black comedy film co-produced and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, from a screenplay by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Set in early 18th-century Great Britain, the film's plot examines the relationship between cousins Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, and Abigail Masham as they vie to be court favourite of Queen Anne. Principal photography for the British-Irish-American production lasted from March to May 2017 and took place at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire and at Hampton Court Palace.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a 2017 psychological horror thriller film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Alicia Silverstone, and Bill Camp. The screenplay by Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou was inspired by the ancient Greek tragedy Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides, and follows a cardiac surgeon who introduces his family to a teenage boy with a connection to his past, after which they mysteriously begin to fall ill.
Robbie Ryan is an Irish cinematographer, serving as the director of photography whose work has spanned on over 106 film projects, including feature-length, short films, commercials, and music videos. He is most known for his collaborations with film auteurs such as Andrea Arnold, Sally Potter, Stephen Frears, Ken Loach, Noah Baumbach, Yorgos Lanthimos and Mike Mills.
Efthymis Filippou is a Greek screenwriter, known for his collaborations with Yorgos Lanthimos. He was the winner of the Golden Osella Award for Best Screenplay at the 68th Venice International Film Festival in 2011, which he shared with Yorgos Lanthimos. In 2016, he was invited from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to become a member.
Thimios Bakatakis is a Greek cinematographer. He has served as a cinematographer for various feature films, short films, music videos, and commercials, often collaborating with director Yorgos Lanthimos on his projects.
The 75th Venice International Film Festival was held from 29 August to 8 September 2018. Mexican film director Guillermo del Toro was named as the President of the Jury. First Man, directed by Damien Chazelle, was selected to open the festival. Guillermo del Toro was named as the Jury President for the main competition section, with Michele Riondino hosting the festival.
