A film by Greek students from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki is Greece’s first entry into the La Cinef competition at Cannes in 23 years.
The movie “The Chaos She Left Behind” was selected by a distinguished panel among 2,263 submissions by film schools worldwide. Selected for the prestigious Official Competition Student Section La Cinef at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, it stands tall alongside 17 other works by budding filmmakers.
This year’s program reflects the geographic mobility of film students, with Greek students from Thessaloniki, a Singaporean director in Australia, an Indian and a Lithuanian in the UK, a Russian in the Czech Republic and three shorts made at American schools by Russian, Chinese and British filmmakers.
The Jury will hand over La Cinef prizes at a ceremony preceding the screening of the awarded films on Thursday 23 May in the Buñuel Theatre.
La Cinef was created by the Cannes Film Festival in 1998 to inspire and support the next generation of international filmmakers.
The selection of films is projected at the Cannes Festival and presented to the La Cinef and Shorts Jury, which awards prizes to the best three at an official Festival ceremony.
The Greek film at Cannes features a student cast
Spearheaded by Nikos Kolioukos’s directing thesis and Alexandra Reba’s photography thesis, both at the Film Department of the Faculty of Fine Arts, the film features a predominantly student cast.
The film was produced under the mentorship of Dimitris Koutsiambasakos and Panagiotis Salapatas, professors of Directing and Photography respectively at AUTH’s Department of Cinematography.
Having premiered domestically at the Student Section of the Drama Festival last September, where it clinched awards for Best Director and Best Female Performance, the film continues its journey. It now vies for the Iris Short Student Film Award of the Hellenic Film Academy, representing the esteemed Film Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, already securing a place among the final 12 contenders.
“The Chaos She Left Behind” follows Anna’s poignant narrative as she navigates the pursuit of her musical aspirations amidst familial strife and personal struggles. A tale woven with themes of love and addiction, it resonates with audiences on a profound level.
Anna, the protagonist, is just before thirty and she feels that now is the last chance to achieve her dream, to pursue a musical career in Paris. Success wouldn’t seem so elusive if her self-destructive alcoholic father didn’t stand in her way.
Along with La Cinef, the Cannes Film Festival has a short film competition.
Selected from 4 420 films, 11 shorts will be presented this year in Competition, coming from 10 countries: Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Kosovo, Lithuania, Portugal and the United States.
The Short Film Palme d’or will be handed by the Jury chaired by Lubna Azabal, Saturday, May 25, during the closing ceremony of the 77th Festival de Cannes.
Related: Greek Cinema Makes Splash at Cannes Film Festival
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