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Tatyana Yaneeva, Russian Federation
16′ 49”
A chance romance with a girl that keeps matchboxes with pictures of missing people and searches for them at night, one night she disappears.
Director Biography – Tatyana Yaneeva
In 2013 graduated from the All-Russian Academy of Foreign Trade, Faculty of International Law. In 2022 graduated from the Moscow School of New Cinema, Laboratory of directing. I develop scripts and make films as a director.
THEATER
Anastasia Lola, German/Greek
13′
People working backstage, during a theatre play.-Alles gut?-Alles gut? They act according to time -Alright. They wait for the right time to act. Moin!The accident happens.
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Demi-Demons
Martin Gerigk, Germany
17’12”
Demi-Demons is an essay film about the contradictions of contemporary existence, which separate us from our natural instincts, opening abysses within us. The glorification of the hermaphrodite, the hedonism of virtual realities, the search for new levels of physical attraction and forms of higher consciousness, ambivalence towards sexual reproduction, these abysses embody the existential struggles inherent in navigating the terrain between instinct and enlightenment in a rapidly evolving world.
Demi-Demons is made and animated from vintage photos and collages, creating a surreal and thought-provoking atmosphere.
Director Biography
Martin Gerigk (*1972) is a composer of contemporary music. His repertoire includes compositions for orchestra and chamber music, as well as several solo concertos. His compositions are performed nationally and internationally including in Korea, Japan, USA, England, Finland, Austria and Switzerland. In this context he works together with renowned international soloists and ensembles.
In addition to his compositional work he is known for his remarkable audiovisual art and experimental films which focus on inherent synesthetic connections of sound and visual perceptions. Besides creating interwoven aural and visual landscapes of music, nature sounds and video sequences one important aspect of his art is the illustration of the hidden poetry of nature phenomena and sciences.
His experimental films won several international prizes and were screened at noted festivals like the Seattle International Film Festival, Asolo Art Film Festival, International Digital Arts Festival Videoformes, Girona Film Festival, Salento International Film Festival, Columbus International Film & Animation Festival, USA Film Festival, New Jersey Film Festival, Sidney International Film Festival, Fargo Film Festival, Sherman Oaks Film Festival, Canberra Short Film Festival, Film and Video Poetry Symposium Los Angeles or the Syracuse Film Festival.
Director Statement
Demi-Demons is an experimental film essay which explores the abysses that emerge inside us when we stray from our innate instincts.
One notable consequence of this distancing in contemporary life is the glorification of the hermaphrodite as the ideal link between women and men. In a departure from traditional gender roles and binaries, the hermaphrodite symbolizes a fusion of femininity and masculinity, embodying the pursuit of unity and balance. However, this idealization can also reflect a deep-seated discomfort with one’s own innate gender and sexuality, leading to a sense of disorientation and confusion.
Similarly, as individuals try to redefine and expand their notions of desire, they search for new modes of physical attraction. With the erosion of traditional norms, people explore unconventional avenues of intimacy and connection, challenging societal expectations and boundaries. This exploration can be liberating, yet it also exposes individuals to vulnerability and uncertainty as they navigate uncharted territory.
Alongside these shifts in physical attraction, there is a parallel quest for higher levels of consciousness. In an increasingly fragmented and chaotic world, individuals yearn for transcendence and enlightenment, seeking meaning beyond the confines of the material realm. Yet, this pursuit can lead to a sense of detachment from the realities of everyday life, fostering a disconnect between mind and body.
In the digital age, the search for pleasure takes on new dimensions as people immerse themselves in virtual worlds and online interactions. The allure of instant gratification and endless choices draws individuals away from the tangible pleasures of the natural world, blurring the line between reality and simulation. This digital escapism offers temporary relief from the stress of contemporary life but can ultimately deepen feelings of isolation and alienation.
As a result of these changes, people are increasingly ambivalent about having children, which becomes a source of conflict within relationships. As societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality evolve, traditional notions of family and procreation are called into question. This conflict underscores the profound implications of distancing ourselves from our natural instincts, challenging fundamental aspects of human identity and existence.
Demi-Demons is made and animated from vintage photos and collages, creating a surreal and thought-provoking atmosphere.
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The Chaos She Left Behind
Nikos Kolioukos, Greece
33′ 40”
Anna feels like her life is slipping through her hands. A ticket to a music school in Paris might be the last chance to pursue her dream, but her self-destructive alcoholic father stands in her way.
Director Biography
Nikos Kolioukos (b. 1996) is a film director based in Athens. He graduated from the Film Department of the School of Fine Arts at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
His debut short film, The Chaos She Left Behind, was awarded 2nd Prize in LA CINEF at the 77th CANNES FILM FESTIVAL.
This year, the film also received the Best Student Film “Iris” Award from the HELLENIC FILM ACADEMY. Ιt won the Best Director and Best Leading Actress awards at its national premiere in the national student competition at the 46th DRAMA INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL. Subsequently, the film was showcased at the 64th THESSALONIKI lFF and is now officially selected for the 30th SARAJEVO IFF.
Recently, the GREEK FILM CENTRE commissioned Nikos Kolioukos to create the official promotional campaign, using the visual identity of his award-winning film, to represent the organization at the 64th THESSALONIKI IFF.
Currently, he is preparing his next medium-length film, Amnesia (Homemade Films Productions), a queer love story set in the working-class Thessaloniki of the 1980s.
Director Statement
I am interested in contrasts and contradictions in life, complexity, and the unexpected power of emotions. In this film, I aimed to ensure that Anna’s relationship with her father would be sincere, realistic, and intricate. I wanted to show that light exists within the darkness and that love emerges even in the depths of selfishness.
Eutopia
Apostolos Tzikas, Tony Kris, Greece
20′
A chance meeting of two people on a bus. A paradox in an equally realistic universe like ours. Eutopia its a short film, tell us about the nostalgia of our past moments and how we should live them to the fullest before they end.
Director Biography – Apostolos Tzikas, Tony Kris
Apostolos Tzikas was born and raised in Athens. He studied at the Higher Drama School of Vassilis Diamantopoulos. He attended seminars in acting, speech education, contemporary drama, and theater modern singing and guitar. He has been working as an actor since 2015. He has worked with directors such as Kostas Gakis, Agni Chioti, Alberto Eskenazi, Androniki Avdelioti etc. in classical and contemporary repertoire in classical and alternative theatre scenes. A sample of his work are: ’’The Master Builder’’of Henrik’s Ibsen at the Alkmini Theatre, John Steinbeck’s ‘’East of Eden’’ at the Aggelon Vima Theatre, ‘’Sherlock Holmes and the Enigma of Luna Park’’ at the Glass Music Theatre etc. In the theater he has directed the play ‘’Short Murder Stories’’ by Panagiotis Bratakos at the Avaton Theatre and in cinema he has directed the short film ‘’Eutopia’’.
In his spare time he likes to be in a cinema hall and watching movies, playing guitar, reading comics and traveling.
Tony Kris (legal name Antonios Gkiaouris) was born and raised in Drepano, a small village of Argolis. He has a diploma in Art of Photography and he just finished the second year on his BA in Film Studies at University of Greenwich. He works as a professional photographer and videographer until 2018. He has worked with many Greek artists like Thanasis Tsaltampasis, Vicky Koulianou, Evridiki, Georgia Kefala, Mihalis, Hatzigiannis, Tania Tsanaklidou, Cezaris Grauzinis, Alexandra Paleologou, Idra Kayne, Katerina Stikoudi, among others. He has worked for Athinaika Theatra, Kryolan, Delta, Pantene, Theatro Athinon and more.
Director Statement
My intention with Eutopia is to tell a story about the nostalgia of our past moments and how we should live them to the fullest before they end.The feeling I want to evoke in this film is the feeling that you get when you look at an old photograph. Our moments are like shooting stars. Shooting stars when they are very bright seem to tear up the sky and reach the surface of the earth, they burn. In an instant. In this way they write their own history, and then they disappear. So that’s how our moments are. They appear suddenly, burn and carve their own path within us. All we can do is to remember them, capture them in a photograph and make them a memory. The good ones and the bad ones. What would happen if instead of capturing the moments, we erased them? As if they never happened? How would we feel if with one click we erased every memory of our lives that caused pain or joy?
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Aqueronte
Manuel Muñoz Rivas, Spain
25′
On board a ferry, a series of passengers cross a river from one riverbank to the other.
Some of the travelers wrap themselves in silence and observe the unfamiliar fellow travelers or contemplate the scenery. Some others chat, perhaps to liven up the voyage and speed up time.
The journey on the waters seems to expand, the destination shore is postponed, the magnitude of space is blurred. Motion itself is perhaps the only certainty.
Director Biography – Manuel Muñoz Rivas
Manuel Muñoz Rivas is a filmmaker based in Spain. He alternates his personal film projects with co-writing and editing films for colleagues.
His first feature film EL MAR NOS MIRA DE LEJOS (The sea stares at us from afar) was premiered in 2017 at BERLINALE, in the FORUM section, and was shown at several international film festivals. His short film CON EL VIENTO (With the wind) premiered at the OBERHAUSEN INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM FESTIVAL, 2009.
Among those films in which he has participated as editor and/or co-writer, it’s worth mentioning DEAD SLOW AHEAD, BLANCO EN BLANCO, ELES TRANSPORTAN A MORTE, ARRAIANOS, OCASO, etc
Director Statement
With each new film project, it is natural for me to return to the foundational question of “what is cinema”, and to engage with this inquiry through a wider formulation:
“what can cinema be?”.
I feel that the commitment of every filmmaker is to carry
out a formal exploration through which, hopefully, to broaden the contours of what we expect from cinema as an art. Both as a filmmaker and as a film spectator, I
seek astonishment and wonder.
I would add that I also seek the revelation of something, a kind of truth, which might comfort me (and others) with a sense of belonging.
When I first approached the location where later I would shoot my film “Aqueronte”, the river Guadalquivir and more specifically the ferry boat that crosses it, I was
struck by the aesthetic characteristics of the scene. Everything that I identify as defining elements of cinema was there: movement, faces, bodies, landscape,
sound atmospheres, light and shadow, reverie, the visible and the latent force of the invisible… all present in the raw material with which to shape fragments of time and space.
Because ultimately that is what we filmmakers do: compose with fragments of time and fragments of space.
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I can’t smell the soil in my head
Alkistis Kafetzi, Germany
6′ 30”
“I can`t smell the soil in my head” is the poetic depiction of a philosophical struggle. Associative patterns and cinematic allusions create a suggestive atmosphere full of tension and release. Close-ups of the protagonist and outdoor scenery complement each other and form a synaesthetic equivalent to the inner movement of the protagonist’s struggles. The camera follows closely his trail of thoughts in a constant forward motion. It’s the bittersweet realization that a mind’s work is as fleeting as an image on a single frame.
Director Biography – Alkistis Kafetzi
Alkistis Kafetzi is a Berlin based filmmaker who engages in diverse independent productions, ranging from music videos to poetry films and documentaries. She studied Theatre and Film at the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens and since 2014 she lives and works in Germany. In her recent projects, she delves into the dynamic realms of the feminist movement and self-organized communities. With her filmmaking she tries to explore evolving social landscapes, weaving together narratives that resonate with diverse voices and struggles.
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