"Red Hulk" triumphs at the Greek short film competition section!

Asimina's Proedrou was the big winner of the Greek Short Stories In Competition section of the 19th Athens International Film Festival by claiming the Best Film award and the 2,000-euro cash prize which accompanies it, thanks to its "poignant and incisive depiction of the psychological routes, vicissitudes and stalemate of the central hero, as a man without any features, who is driven to one of the darkest choices of Greek desperation". The film was also honoured with the top prize of the Drama Short Film Festival.

In the film, we follow Yorgos, who is looking for a meaning in his life. He fills the void by becoming "Red Hulk" as he's known in his team's fan club. His involvement in an incident of racist violence will bring about new impasses and choices.

Responding to last year's jury's request for more awards so that they cater to the large number of films (73 nominees out of more than 200 submissions), the Festival inaugurated two more Best Film prizes: the Best Film - second place was given to Anastasia Kratidi's "On the Threshold" for its "minimalistic power, its elliptically realistic depiction of the unseen Greek countryside and the strength of its central heroine in her underground road to autonomy" and the Best Film - third place was awarded to Sonia Liza Kenterman's "Nikoleta", for the "successful splice of classical writing with emotion, narrating a harsh story about adults through the eyes of a child".

The Best Direction award was given to the film "Dead End" by Tonia Misiali, which the jury lauded for its "particularly successful, accurate and subtle way with which it balances between comedy and tragedy of an aged couple facing the fears of the end".

Zisis Kokkinidis and Ionas Papaspyrou were singled out for their script for the film "I Am Not Here Now", a film "which charts the routes of the ego in its contemporary disguises and turns the personal and random into art, by describing a man's anguish trying to stop time".

Finally, the Jury took the initiative to award three Special Mentions, to the films "Lea" by Konstantinos Antonopoulos, "Dust" by Thanassis Tsimpinis and "Boil" by Iro Ntika for their "boldness with which they seek and try different ways to narrate their stories in a complete way".

Calling their deliberation "euphorically exhausting", during which they weighed on at least 15 films as true contenders, the Jury noted that they realised that "young Greek filmmakers find the inspiration, the courage and passion against the difficulties of the times to make films, independent films mostly: films of an explosive variety, in terms of themes and style". They also stressed that this year a great number of female directors came forward with their work, something which they hope "will also translate over to the feature film field".

The Jury members were Thanos Anastopoulos (president, director and screenwriter), Alexandra Boussiou (producer), Panayiotis Evangelidis (director and screenwriter), Katerina Filiotou (director and screenwriter) and Leda Galanou (journalist).