A fire raging across the Peleponnesos in the south of Greece
threatened to wipe out both the anniversary 30th Drama National Short
Film Festival and its offshoot, the 13th Drama International Short
Film Festival (17-23 September 2007), although this picturesque host
city is situated to the north in the Macedonian Prefecture. The
popular double-pack film event under director Antonis Papadopoulos
also suffered a minor setback when national elections were
unexpectedly called for the very day (September 16) on which the
festival had been scheduled to open. However, by moving the festival
start from Sunday to Monday, the delay turned out to be fortuitous for
a noticeably relieved festival director, who arrived on the scene with
the news that he had just saved his summer home near Athens from
burning to the ground! Moreover, as a result of the closely followed
Greek elections, the newly elected Minister of Macedonia and Thrace
inaugurated on the spot a handful of Special Awards to boost Drama's
reputation on the international film scene. Thus, despite impending
setbacks harked in the media, DISFF in the end emerged a winner – a
key Greek film event with its future now fully guaranteed. Provided,
of course, that the "Perdika Tobacco Warehouse Project," an
all-purpose festival venue currently on the drawing boards, becomes a
reality. For the "Warehouse" is badly needed to replace the 700-seat
Olympic theater, an old-style arthouse that can barely accommodate
overflow crowds at the evening shows.


Drama thrives as a high-powered "shorts festival" because it offers
its public three competitions – Greek films, international entries,
and digital experiments – each with its own jury. Altogether, Drama
2007 programmed 230 films, including a retrospective of contemporary
Spanish shorts and a salute to past festival award winners. The
270-page catalogue in Greek and English spotlighted films and
filmmakers with photos and bio/filmographic information. Further, the
program of Greek shorts embraced all that's been produced over the
past year that runs under an hour: fiction films, documentaries,
student films, digital (digi) productions, and even shorts made by
expatriots living and working abroad under a fetching "Greeks of the
World" heading. In addition, there was a master class conducted by
Russian director Konstantin Lopushansky, the Hellenic Broadcasting
Corporation sponsored a photo exhibition honoring press photographer
Petros Poulidis (1885-1967), and Greek Radio Television (ERT) restored
an archival documentary about an arena production of Prometheus Bound
staged in 1927 at the Delphic Celebrations.


The Grand Prix in the International Competition went to Michaela
Kezele's Milan (Serbia). Directed by a student at the München Film and
Television Academy, whose father is a Croat and mother a Serb, her
film is set in a rural Serbian village during the NATO bombing in 1999
of nearby Belgrade. While playing a game in the woods, a fun-loving
six-year-old boy saves the life of an American pilot without knowing
at the same time that his own older brother is fighting for his life
in a Belgrade hospital hit by a bomb. Thus, as seen through the eyes
of an innocent, the everyday horror of war is rendered in personal,
human, and universal terms. By the same token, Gregorio Graziosi and
Theresa Menezes's minimalist documentary Saba (Brazil), awarded the
runner-up Second Prize, came across as another an affecting statement
on the human condition. The focus is on elderly centenarians at an
urban rest home, whose daily routine is little more than wrestling
with their mortal coils with vacant eyes and helpless limbs. While
they are washed, shaved, and dressed by a nursing staff, this dawdling
impersonal ritual of the day is accented by the drone of highway
traffic heard through an open window.


The UIP Prix for Best European Short went to Abdekatuf Hwidar's
Salvador (Spain). Viewed as an open-ended political statement on
terrorist attacks that per se contradict life, love, and humanity, the
story unfolds gradually from a heart warming hide and-seek game played
by a father with his young son on a commuter passenger train. Only
towards the end of the film, when a TV broadcast is aired, does the
viewer relate to the recent Spanish tragedy. The Award for Best Balkan
Film went to Belma Bas's Boreas (Turkey). Set in a remote mountain
village, the focus is on the experiences of a sensitive young boy who
cares for his aging grandmother. This poetic account of life and death
as a timeless tradition pegged to the pulse of nature and the course
of existence is enhanced by the sheer beauty of the mountainous
landscape.


The Award for Best Animation Film went to Alexander Petrov's Moya
lyubov (My Love) (Russia). Based on Ivan Shmelyov's bucolic "A Love
Story" tale, published in 1927, when the popular Russian writer had
chosen exile over life under the Bolsheviks, My Love had already
received several international festival prizes since its appearance in
the spring of 2006. Set in late 19th-century Russia, this exquisitely
beautiful and charming film sketches the lofty dreams of a 16-year-old
aristocrat in love for the first time. The director's use of a
meticulous painting-on glass animation technique, a process that
required three years to complete the 26 minute film, has earned him
unstinting praise from critics and colleagues as an accomplished
artist of "romantic realism" in animation. Another audience favorite
at Drama was Philippe Pollett-Villard's fiction short Le Mozart des
Pickpockets (France). Awarded Best Comedy for its light narrative
style, humorous twists, and deft deadpan acting, The Mozart of
Pickpockets chronicles the ups and downs of two hapless pickpocket
conmen, who are shown the way from rags to riches by a charming gypsy
lad in command of all the tricks of the trade.


Last, but not least, a Greek entry was singled out for high honors in
both the national and the international competitions. In Yiannis
Katsaboulas's 22-minute fiction short Perasma (The Passage), set in
winter at a border crossing in the mountains, a hunter is fired upon
by illegal aliens, returns the fire, and kills a man. When he
discovers that the dead man was attempting the passage with two
youngsters, remorse and guilt sets in, enough to force him to take
action to amend his deed. Gradually, in the course of an evening at an
isolated cabin, the roles of victim and perpetrator are reversed with
revenge now replacing guilt as a primary concern. Awarded the Prize of
the Greek Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace by the International Jury,
The Passage also received the First Prize of the Greek Jury in
addition to the Greek Critics Award and three other national film
citations. Yiannis Katsaboulas, who has yet to make his first feature,
is now a name to watch on the Greek film scene.

Le Mozart des Pickpockets (France). Awarded Best Comedy for its light
narrative style, humorous twists, and deft deadpan acting, The Mozart
of Pickpockets chronicles the ups and downs of two hapless pickpocket
conmen, who are shown the way from rags to riches by a charming gypsy
lad in command of all the tricks of the trade.

Last, but not least, a Greek entry was singled out for high honors in
both the national and the international competitions. In Yiannis
Katsaboulas's 22-minute fiction short Perasma (The Passage), set in
winter at a border crossing in the mountains, a hunter is fired upon
by illegal aliens, returns the fire, and kills a man. When he
discovers that the dead man was attempting the passage with two
youngsters, remorse and guilt sets in, enough to force him to take
action to amend his deed. Gradually, in the course of an evening at an
isolated cabin, the roles of victim and perpetrator are reversed with
revenge now replacing guilt as a primary concern. Awarded the Prize of
the Greek Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace by the International Jury,
The Passage also received the First Prize of the Greek Jury in
addition to the Greek Critics Award and three other national film
citations. Yiannis Katsaboulas, who has yet to make his first feature,
is now a name to watch on the Greek film scene.

International Competition

Grand Prix
Milan (Serbia), dir Michaela Kezele – fiction
Second Prize
Saba (Brazil), dir Gregorio Graziosi, Theresa Menezes – documentary
UIP Prix Drama, Best European Film
Salvador (Spain), dir Abdelatif Hwidar – fiction
Best Balkan Film
Boreas (Turkey ), dir Belma Bas – fiction
Best Animation Film
Moya lyubov (My Love) (Russia), dir Alexander Petrov
Special Award of Greek Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace
Perasma (The Passage) (Greece), dir Yiannis Katsaboulas – fiction
Special Mentions
Actor
Zakariya Gouram, Bonne nuit, Malik (Good Night, Malik) (France), dir Bruno Danan
Actress
Emily Hamilton, Personal Spectator (Belgium), dir Emmanuel Jespers
Comedy Film
Le Mozart des pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets) (France), dir
Philippe Pollet Villard
Artistic Contribution
Achilleas Kyriakidis, Writer-Director, Esoterikos, Nychta (Interior,
Night) (Greece)

Greek Competition

First Prize (Prince Film Award)
Perasma (The Passage), dir Yiannis Katsaboulas – fiction
Second Prize
Gina Dostoyevsky, dir Vanessa Zouganeli – fiction
Special Award, Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace
Discussing Space, dir Panagiotis Christopoulos
Special "Ntinos Katsouridis" Award, Best Newcomer Director
Anthi Daountaki, Sunny Day
Special Award Best Production
Rose For A Day, dir Vasilis Kazis, Epikouros Triantafillidis
Special Mentions
Actor
Manolis Mavromatakis, Spinalonga, dir Kostas Athousakis
Cinematography
Alekos Yiannaros, Gina Dostoyevsky, dir Vanessa Zouganeli
Screenplay
Anthi Daountaki, Kyriako Charito, Sunny Day, dir Anthi Daountaki
Editor
Giorgos Triantafullou, Sunny Day, dir Anthi Daountaki, The Highway
Killer, dir Tasos Goudelis, Vasilis Goudelis
Set Design
Dimitris Ziakas, Shoulder For Hire, dir Dimitris Emmanouilidis
Musical Score
Vaggeli Faba, Perasma (The Passage), dir Yiannis Katsaboulas
Sound
Spyros Drosos, Ground Floor, dir Charis Stathopoulos
Costumes
Loukia Chatzelou, Transit, dir Yiannis Gaitanidis
Make-Up
Evi Zafeiropoulou, Transit, dir Yiannis Gaitanidis

Greek Critics Awards
Perasma (The Passage), dir Yiannis Katsaboulas
Crying While Being Killed, dir Maria Maganari
Special Mention
Ground Floor, dir Charis Stathopoulos

Greek Film Center Awards
Perasma (The Passage), dir Yiannis Katsaboulas
Discussing Space, dir Panagiotis Christopoulos
Rose For A Day, dir Vasilis Kazis, Epikouros Triantafillidis
Happy New Year, Mama, dir Irina Boiko
Can Anybody Hear Me?, dir Tasos Gerakinis

Greek Union of Film & TV Technicians Award
Perasma (The Passage), dir Yiannis Katsaboulas

"Greeks of the World" Competition
Special Award
Welcome Home, dir Vasilis Giannakakis

Student Film Awards
First Prize, Best Student film
Kimon & Lusy, dir Efi Bountri
Special Mention
Vaggelio Andreadaki, Actress, Kimon & Lusy, dir Efi Bountri
Greek Union of Film & TV Technicians Award
Kimon & Lusy, dir Efi Bountri

Digi 2007 Awards
First Prize, Best Digital film
Small Talk, dir Orfeas Peretzis
Special Award of Ministry of Macedonia and Thrace
Pyramid, dir Dimitris Papathanasis
Special Mentions
Road To Nowhere, dir Konstantinos Prepis
You Asked Me to Wait, dir Grigoris Rentis