NEO, March 2011: Yorgos Lanthimos' Film Receives a Nomination for Foreign Language Film for 83rd Academy Awards

Yorgos Lanthimos' Film Receives a Nomination for Foreign Language Film for 83rd Academy Awards Share \|
	"Dogtooth", the official Greek Foreign Film Oscar Entry has been nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Foreign Language Film Category for the 83rd Academy Awards. The film made its West Coast premier at the 2010 the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival. "This was very unexpected. It makes me and my collaborators extremely happy," commented Yorgos Lanthimos. This is only the 5th time that a Greek film has been nominated for an Academy Award®. Previous nominations from Greece include: IPHIGENIA (1977) Nominee, Foreign Language Film; BLOOD ON THE LAND (1965) Nominee, Foreign Language Film; THE RED LANTERNS (1963) Nominee, Foreign Language Film; ELECTRA (1962) Nominee, Foreign Language Film. The country has yet to win an Oscar. "Dogtooth", directed by Lanthimos and written by Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou, is the story of three children of a factory manager who have been raised in complete isolation, spending their lives shut up in the family's house and learning only their mother and father's bizarre version of the outside world. As they enter adulthood, however, the three begin to test the boundaries imposed by their parents' unrelenting and often cruel domination. The film, is produced by Boo Productions co-produced by Greek Film Center, Yorgos Lanthimos, Horsefly Productions and stars Christos Stergioglou, Michele Valley, Aggeliki Papoulia, Mary Tsoni, Christos Passalis and Anna Kalaitzidou. "Dogtooth" is Executive Produced by Iraklis Mavroidis Associated Produced by Athina Tsangari with Cinematography by Thimios Bakatakis, Art Direction & Costumes by Elli Papageorgakopoulou, Editing by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Sound by Leandros Ntounis. "Dogtooth", distributed in the U.S. through Kino International a division of Kino Lorber Inc., has been intriguing cinemagoers and fans worldwide with its provocative, experimental, yet thought provoking nature. The film has garnered many awards worldwide. Yorgos Lanthimos was born in Athens in 1973 and studied film and television direction at Stavrakos Film School. Since 1995, he has directed numerous short films (including 2001's Uranisco Disco), experimental theatre, music videos and TV commercials; his first feature film was 2005's internationally-acclaimed Kinetta. To support "Dogtooth" you can click "like" the film on Facebook. You can also visit Oscar.com using a Facebook account and vote for the film, which will compete against four other foreign films for the final Best Foreign Language Film award. The Oscars will be awarded on Sunday, February 27th, 2011 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

NIARCHOS FOUNDATION AWARDS CHALLENGE GRANTS

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation has awarded two challenge grants of $25,000 for each of the next two years to the New York City Greek Film Festival.

“To say a simple ‘thank you’ is just not enough. We are most grateful to the Niarchos Foundation for their support and for their understanding of our mission and of the difficulties we face” said Festival Director James DeMetro. “The Foundation has been at our side practically from the very beginning, but we honestly never expected this level of support. With this money the Foundation is not only seeing to the Festival’s continuation but to its further development. People at the Foundation have been generous with their money and their advice. It’s energizing to know that they want us to keep growing and improving.”

Festival Manager Stamatis Ghikas explained that the Niarchos funds, which the Festival must match, are earmarked for very specific purposes, to pay for professional services that will take the Festival to the next level. “The budget in the past has never allowed us to move in the direction that these grants are going to take us,” Ghikas said.

“The cost of running a decent festival in New York is somewhere between $75,000 and $100,000,” DeMetro said. “Ticket sales cannot meet the expenses, particularly since the Festival wants to keep prices affordable for all. Without benefactors like the Niarchos Foundation the Festival would not be possible.”

Supporters of the New York City Greek Film Festival can help meet the challenge of the Niarchos grants. Those interested in making a contribution are urged to contact Mr. Ghikas at the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce office, 212-629-6380.