MY SUPERHERO… GREEK ANIMATION!

25 Greek animated short films have been funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports under the Special Program of Support for the Film Community (Animation). The program was initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic in order to support different cinema branches (Short Films, Documentaries, Animation). The Greek Film Centre implemented this specific action of support, producing and promoting Greek animated films most of which already are traveling and being honored internationally.

The following short films have already made a promising start: I Lost Τhe Way by Panagiotis Rappas produced by Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos (ASIFA Hellas “Stratos Stasinos” Honorable Mention), Mine created and produced by Daphne Xourafi, Ideal Other by Dimitris Patrikios produced by View Studio, The Knight’s Hart by Paraskevi Markatou produced by Sierra Recording and The Incredible Mrs. Lien Mourlen by Eleni Xoupa produced by 3 Dimension. 

ECHO by Sergio Kotsovoulos is an animated co-production of Greece, Iran and Canada by Funny Tales Studio, Please Insert Coin and Mystic House. It participated in 47 festivals internationally, having received 11 awards and 6 more nominations.

Canary created and produced by Chrysoula Korovesi and Marios Gampierakis won first award in the Greek Competition Section of Animasyros International Animation Festival and Travel Bugs by Fokion Xenos produced by Neda Film won a special mention, as it had two years ago too, whereas in Animasyros Agora Pitching Sessions got close to get a pass to Annecy Festival du Monde MIFA pitches.

In Animasyros 2022, the short films In Between by Effie Pappa produced by Marni Films and Pink Mountain by Thomas Künstler produced by StudioBauhaus had their festival premiere, as was also the case for the short animated documentary Hellenic Places: Hermoupolis by Charalampos Margaritis a year before. Hellenic Places is an Animasyros Platforma-Urban Culture Productions that now expands into an animated documentaries series co-produced by Cosmote TV. The episodes will explore in an animated storytelling way the history of Hydra, Messolonghi, Naoussa, Kasos, Psarra and Cyprus.

The Little Triangle Fish vs. Τhe Great Shark by Christos Leivaditis and Aikaterini Papageorgiou is produced by White Fox SA, the company that co-produced along with Cosmote TV and Anama Ltd. the unique 3D animation feature film KARAGHIOZIS The Movie by Akis Karas, Christos Leivaditis and Aikaterini Papageorgiou, which premiered in December 2022 in Greek cinemas.

During December 2022, Cat Postale by Zacharias Mavroeidis, produced by Microlake Productions and Wild At Heart, had also its festival premiere in Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People (Children’s Jury Over 13 Years Old: Best Animated Short Film Award).

The Song Of The Fates by Aristarchos Papadaniel, who also sings the lyrics set to music by composer Dimitris Maramis, is scheduled to begin its animation festival tour during 2023, following the festival premiere of another Syllipsis production, the live-action feature poetic documentary MAUTHAUSEN, where Aristarchos has the honor to perform the masterpiece cantata Mauthausen by world-renowned Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis (Z, Zorba) and theatrical playwright and concentration camp survivor, Iakovos Kambanellis (Stella).

My Superhero Husband by Alexandra Tagali and Mikaela K. Deligianni, was firstly pitched as an animated anthology in Cartoon Springboard. After its selection as a short film in the Special Program of Support for the Film Community (Animation) by the Greek Film Centre, the project was pitched in BAF – Balkan Animation Forum at Thessaloniki Animation Festival (TAF), where it received the 3^rd Award and a place in the heart of Dimitris Savvaidis and Glen Beaudin, the producers who suggested to contribute to the implementation of an animated TV series production. My Superhero Husband as an animated series was officially selected for the Annecy MIFA Pitches 2022, where it received the 1^st Award Disney+ For A New Series! After this special achievement -the first ever for a Greek production in Annecy- the project was an official selection in Cartoon Forum 2022, where it scored among the six best pitches of European co-productions.

This year also, in Annecy Perspectives Short Films in Competition, The Blind Writer created and produced by the Paris-based, Greek animation director and University teacher Georges Sifianos was officially selected.

ASIFA Hellas, the Greek National Animation Association, participated for the sixth consecutive time with the Greek national delegation in the Annecy International Animation Film Festival MIFA 2022 in a pavillion. The mission was made possible with the kind support of the National Centre for Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME), the Greek Film Centre and Enterprise Greece.

Just before the end of 2022, the president of Animasyros and ASIFA Hellas, Vassilis C. Karamitsanis, was elected president of the International Center of Films for Children and Young People (CIFEJ), the most important global organization for children’s and youth cinema that was established decades ago by UNESCO.

And the amazing adventures of My Superhero… Greek Animation continue! Stay tuned!

by ARISTARCHOS PAPADANIEL    SYLLIPSIS Ltd. Director-Producer, ASIFA HELLAS Founding Μember