Filmmakers lash out at Culture Ministry with bold Oscars move
Greece’s film industry received a massive jolt this week, after the directors and producers of 20 movies decided to withdraw their entries from the process overseen by the Ministry of Culture for selecting the film that will represent Greece at the 2025 Oscars.
In an open letter addressed to the ministry on Wednesday, the filmmakers expressed serious misgivings about the transparency of the procedures followed in setting up the special committee that is responsible for choosing the nomination. They specifically refer to interventions that “cast serious doubt on the reliability and validity of the process” and “sloppy work” that raises “questions and reasonable suspicions” as to their ultimate purpose.
The alarm was raised after the four individuals who were invited to comprise the selection committee and were sent the films that they would be evaluating on August 11, were informed by the Culture Ministry just two days later that their services would no longer be required.
In a letter dated August 20, Deputy Culture Minister Iason Fotilas said that the invitation was withdrawn because the naming of the committee had “accidentally” not followed the proper procedures. And in a press conference on Thursday, he said that the mistake was down to a ministry employee who had forged ahead with the process before getting the proper authorizations.
‘Nontransparent procedures are casting a dark shadow and irreparably damaging the Greek film industry just as it is spreading its wings’
The filmmakers that reacted to these developments earlier this week stated that they “will not be a party in nontransparent actions that undermine Greek cinema and its professionals.” They were, therefore, “compelled” to withdraw their films from the process.
One of the filmmakers who is part of the protest initiative is the director of the award-winning “Animal,” Sofia Exarchou. “I was very alarmed, personally. It was something so unprecedented and odd; weird, really,” she tells Kathimerini. “I later understood that a big part of the film community felt exactly the same way.”
Zacharias Mavroeidis, director of “The Summer With Carmen,” speaks of an “irregular” procedure that “essentially creates suspicions,” while underlining that “the most important thing is for someone to explain who decided on the first committee, who decided to replace it and whether they came under pressure.”
For the director of the documentary “Stray Bodies,” Elina Psykou, the recent developments in the industry have deeper connotations. “What has been so clearly revealed is that the Culture Ministry has no framework and absolutely no interest in the audiovisual field and in cinema more generally,” she comments.
Kostoula Tomadaki, director of “Mother of the Station,” feels the same way, arguing that “nontransparent procedures are casting a dark shadow and irreparably damaging the Greek film industry just as it is spreading its wings and showing remarkable extroversion, and should benefit from the state’s attention and care.”
For the president of the Hellenic Film Academy, director Lefteris Haritos, the fact that the directors and producers joined forces in protest is a good sign for the country’s cinematic community, a way of “stating its presence.” He clarifies that the directors and producers were acting on their own initiative, with no prompting from the center.
His opinion is that the best way to avoid any more controversy, the most practical solution to the present debacle, is to make the Hellenic Film Academy responsible for the process of selecting which film will be nominated to represent Greece in the running for a nomination at the Oscars. “It has 650 members and, therefore, little scope for manipulation,” he says.
Kathimerini contacted Fotilas for a comment on these developments. He said that the decision taken by the protesting directors and producers may not be “pleasant but it is respected.”
