The Hellenic Film Academy, Greece’s national cinema body, has said it’s “outraged” and is seeking clarity from the country’s cultural ministry after a series of chaotic government-mandated U-turns paralyzed the selection of Greece’s submission to the 96th Academy Awards.
The confusion began in early August when the Greek Ministry of Culture, as is customary, invited a committee of Greek film professionals to select the country’s submission to the international Oscar race. The committee included Milky Way filmmaker Vasilis Kekatos, film critic Leda Galanou, actress Kora Karvounis, and screenwriter Kallia Papadakis. All four accepted and Kekato, best known for The Distance Between Us and the Sky, which won the short film Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2019, was set at committee president.
Online links to view this year’s selection of films were sent to the members. However, a few days later, the four members received a follow-up email from the Ministry which said all previous communication had been accidental and they were, in fact, not part of the selection committee. They were all immediately released from their duties. Shortly after, the Ministry announced a new seven-person committee.
The new selection committee featured screenwriter Evan Spiliotopoulos, film critic Dimitris Danikas, and director Asimina Proedrou, who has since resigned from the committee, citing the chaos surrounding the Ministry’s selection procedures in an open letter on Facebook. Proedrou was the director of Greece’s 2023 Oscar pick Behind the Haystacks.
Now, the filmmakers and producers behind 20 of the 23 films submitted to the committee for Oscars consideration have pulled their films from the process. In an open letter addressing the Culture Ministry, the collective of 20 filmmakers said the Ministry’s “interventions” on the selection committee “cast serious doubt on the credibility and validity of the process.”
“Therefore, we refuse to cooperate in opaque actions, which discredit Greek cinema and its professionals, and we are forced to withdraw our films from the above process,” the open letter read.
Signatories of the open letter include Sofia Exarchou, whose film Animals was up for consideration after screening at Locarno, Sarajevo, and Goteborg. The film also picked up two Hellenic Film Academy awards.
The films that remain in the selection process are Fonissa by Eva Nathena, Minore by Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, and Captain Michalis by Kostas Charalambous.
In a statement on Instagram, the Hellenic Film Academy said it is “outraged” by the Ministry’s conduct. In an official letter, the Academy described the Ministry’s changes as “unacceptable” and called for the organization of the country’s Oscar submission to be handed over to the Academy.
“We once again ask the Greek State to entrust the EAK with the responsibility of selecting the Greek nomination for the Oscar International Film award in correspondence with other Academies, such as the UK and Spain,” the statement read. “We have repeatedly put this constant request of the Hellenic Film Academy to the Deputy Ministers of Modern Culture over the last four years.”
Filmmaker Lefteris Charitos heads the Greek Academy.
The Deputy Greek Culture minister has since replied in a separate open letter. He said Greece’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for invites to the Oscars selection committee. He added that the initial invites had not been handed out in “accordance with the provisions of the law.”
It is unclear where the selection process currently sits. We have reached out to the Greek culture and foreign affairs ministries for comment as well as the Hellenic Film Academy for comment. The Best International Feature Oscar shortlist is set to be announced on December 17.
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