The 13th edition of the Aegean Film Festival will take place from the 18th to the 28th of July 2024 on the island of Patmos followed by a traveling edition in other Aegean islands.
The Aegean Film Festival has the mission to explore, discover and promote films, ideas and stories that further our kindness and tolerance, our understanding and sensitivity towards each other and towards the environments that surround us. For this reason we strive to present bold new voices from all over the globe, to educate and support the next generations of filmmakers and to host a unique celebration of cinema. The Festival team is honoured to invite filmmakers to the islands of Patmos, Serifos and more in order to present their work.
2022 Jury:
CLAIRE DENIS - Filmmaker | Chocolat (1988), Beau Travail (1999), Stars at Noon (2022)
PETER VAN HOOF - Film Programmer | Cinema de Balie, Into The Great Wide Open
THANASIS NEOFOTISTOS - Film director, Writer, Head Programmer | DISFF
NIHAN SIVRIDAG - Selection Committee Member | Berlinale Shorts
2023 Jury:
DIANE BECKER - Oscar winning producer of documentaries Navalny, Tina, Sid & Judy
LAUMA KAUZDITE - Managing director Short Film Conference, project
coordinator European Short Film Pitch
GEORGE GRIGORAKIS - Awarded Film director of fiction films Digger, 45 Degrees
2024 Jury will be announced 3 months before the festival.
Programming:
The selection of the AegeanFF programmes is carried out by three 3 independent teams.
A. The judging team, consisting of a diverse group of 30 people from more than 15
countries including experienced and emerging filmmakers, artists, film critics, past festival team members as well as cinema students.
B. The advisory board, contributing with suggestions and ideas for invited shorts and
features:
Alexander Payne (Film Director, Producer, Script Writer)
Alin Tasciyan (Deputy General Secretary, FIPRESCI)
Elizabeth Woodward (Film Producer, Willa Productions )
Frederic Boyer (Artistic Director, Tribeca Film Festival, Les Arcs Film Festival)
Jesper Jack (Documentary Producer, House of Real)
Joanne Sawicki (Journalist, television producer)
Marco Frazier (Industry Executive)
Nicolas Brown (Documentary Director)
Robert Dick (Festival Development, Sundance Film Festival)
Sam Sutaria (Conservationist, Photographer, Head of Strategy Waterbear Network)
Thanasis Karathanos (Film Producer, Twenty Twenty Vision )
C. The AegeanFF programming team, working also in international film festivals like
RotterdamFF, LondonSFF, TampereFF, BerlinFF and more.
History:
In 2010 the Aegean Film Festival was founded on the island of Patmos as a way of bringing together filmmaking communities while introducing a meeting point and celebrating independent cinema in the heart of the Greek summer.
Since 2010, the festival has grown from 6 to 12 days, has taken place on three islands and hosted more than 1600 special guests. We screened our programmes to more than 80.000 spectators, in 14 custom built cinemas, presenting more than 1000 films, documentaries and shorts many of which in Greek or European premieres. Following the screenings, we organised numerous events including seminars, panel talks, art exhibitions, galas, Pop-Up screenings and parties.
Furthermore, we created 3 innovative storytelling workshops and introduced the environmental programme “Echoes”.
Since 2016, “Echoes” has been fostering a dialogue about environmental protection, sustainability, and the role of cinema. It brings together filmmakers, experts, activists, policymakers, and audience members to amplify the voices of those working towards solutions on both global and local levels.
Following the success of this programme, we have established the “ReScript the Future Competition” with the goal of featuring the projects to come. We invite young storytellers to share their ideas for a short film documentary looking into a sustainable future. In partnership with WaterBear Network we have awarded 10 prizes to young filmmakers worth 85.000 euros.
Since 2017 we introduced juried competitions and in total 8 AegeanFF awards
AegeanFF Winter Editions have also been running since 2017, providing free access to schools and residents of the islands to watch documentaries and shorts focusing on pressing issues, diversity and human rights.
As the festival kept growing, we decided to join forces with international film festivals, introducing the “Festival Alliance for the Climate” in 2022, with the goal to make our industry more sustainable and amplify the impact of environmental films.
We are looking forward to meeting you on the islands and celebrate together storytelling and cinema at its best.
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Awards:
Best Aegean Short Film:
-- Jury Award - € 3000,00
Best Greek Short Film:
-- Jury Award - € 1000,00
Jury Special Mention
Short Film Sustainability Award
-- Distribution Option from WaterBear Network and a seat at the Rescript The Future Competition Jury
Audience Award for Best Feature Fiction Film
Audience Award for Best Feature Documentary
ReScript the Future Short Script Awards:
-- Grand Award: € 25.000
-- Impact Award: Internship programmes with the Aegean FF and WaterBear.
-- Runner Ups: Perks including AegeanFF Guest Passes to attend the festival.
Selected Filmmaker Perks:
All Selected filmmakers in the competition programmes also receive:
1. Accommodation for three nights (single occupancy).
2. Festival Guest Pass providing access to all screenings, seminars and events.
3. Access to dedicated industry seminars and the “Filmmaker’s Brunch” – a series of networking events presented by industry experts.
4. Promotion for the films and press focus covered by the Festival’s Media Sponsors.
5. The option for their films to travel and get screened as part of curated programmes with affiliated festivals.
6. Discounts up to 30% on ferry tickets, restaurants, bars, rentals.
7. 40% discounted Festival Passes for plus ones to accompany the filmmakers to the islands.
