10/11/2020 - In the third consecutive announcement this year, the Greek pubcaster is backing 17 national and international co-productions with a total of over €1.6 million

Director Sofia Exarchou, who has received ERT support for her latest feature, Animal (© Margarita Yoko Nikitaki)

The Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT SA) has announced that it is supporting 17 Greek and international co-productions during its latest round of financing. This is the third slate of funding announced this year, with the previous ones being in May (read the news) and in July (see below). The total amount is €1,617,000, which is in accordance with the rule that broadcasters should allocate 1.5% of their gross income to Greek cinema, and the selection comprises 17 projects – fourteen fiction features, and three documentaries.

Among the fourteen selected fiction projects, which have received a total support of €1,492,000, is the upcoming film from Sofia Exarchou, whose debut feature Park [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Exarchou
film profile] had a successful festival run. She is now preparing her sophomore feature, Animal [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sofia Exarchou
film profile], which is produced by Homemade Films and has been selected for the 16^th edition of the Cinéfondation Atelier (read the news) as well as for the MIA Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum (read the news). Also receiving support from the pubcaster are Filippos Tsitos (Unfair World [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]) for his upcoming project Receptions (produced by View Master Films), and actor-director Renos Haralambidis’ (4 Black Suits) Nyhterinos Ekfonitis (produced by Boo Productions), ten years after their previous work. The rest of the selection includes Traces of the Lost (Blacktree Production), the sophomore feature from Dimitra Arapoglou (Paradise Is a Personal Matter), and Yannis Smaragdis’ (El Greco) new biopic The Governor. The only international co-production with a Greek minority producer in the selection is the fourth feature from Serbian director Dušan Milić (Travelator [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), called Darkling [+see also:
film review
interview: Dušan Milić
film profile] and produced by Graal S.A.

The selection of fiction projects wraps with the works of eight debutant filmmakers: Riviera by Orfeas Peretzis (StudioBauhaus), Peter and the Wolf by Thanasis Neofotistos (Argonauts Productions), Kreas by Dimitris Nakos (Fantasia Audiovisual Ltd), The Team of Pele by Marios Karamanis (Argonauts Productions), Bivak by George Drivas (Blonde SA), Iris by Myrsini Aristidou (Graal S.A.), Azure by Stratis Chatzielenoudas (Ioanna Petinaraki), and Kyuka - Journeying to the Moon Through the Endless Sea by Kostis Charamountanis (Heretic).

The three documentaries which receive a total of €125,000 are Dear Future by Christiana Cheiranagnostaki (Argonauts Productions), Vavel The Band by Mihalis Agrafiotis (Multimotion), and the international co-production People, Gods and other Creatures by Svetlana Strelnikova (Asterisk*).

During the July slate of funding, seven fiction projects in development and two documentaries were supported with a total amount of €850,000. The selection mostly includes works by debutant directors: Inside by Vasilis Katsoupis (Heretic), Titanic Ocean by Konstantina Kotzamani (Homemade Films), Play by Vangelis Liberopoulos (Foss Productions), Medium [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Christina Ioakeimidi
film profile] by Christina Ioakeimidi (EKSO Productions), along with Yannis Veslemes’ (Norway) sophomore feature She Loved Blossoms More (Blonde SA), and Olga Malea’s (Risotto) Dirty Girls (View Master Films). To the North [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mihai Mincan
film profile] by Romanian filmmaker Mihai Mincan (StudioBauhaus) was the only international co-production with a Greek minority to be selected.

Finally, the two documentaries supported in July are Into The Land of Ice and Fire by Dimitra Zirou (Bad Crowd) and I Mitera tou Stathmou by Kostoula Tomadaki (AK Productions). Exceptionally, a finalised film, You Sing, I Sing by Nikos Kornilios (11 Meetings with My Father), received a support of €50,000 from the broadcaster.