After a month of scandals that called into question the legitimacy of Greece’s Oscar selection process and threatened to wreck the country’s chances at the 97th Academy Awards, Greece has selected Eva Nathina’s historical drama “Murderess” for the international feature film race. Of the 26 eligible films, “Murderess” was the only one left, after the remaining contenders withdrew from the selection process in protest.
In a brief statement, Deputy Culture Minister Jasonas Voutilas announced the selection of “Killer,” saying the decision was reached by a “quorum” of industry professionals on the evening of September 10, and that the six-person panel decided the film “meets the requirements for a dynamic presence” in the upcoming Oscar race.
The Greek film industry community did not hesitate to express its outrage, with commentators calling the selection process a “disgrace,” “the theater of the absurd” and an “absolute disaster,” with one social media user posting the sarcastic comment: “‘Killer’ competed with itself and came out the winner.” In a scathing comment in the weekly news outlet Documento, writer Chrysoula Papaioannou slammed the “killer of Oscars, the ‘killer’ of dignity.”
The announcement ended a nearly six-week period of chaos that began when four members of Greece’s Oscar selection committee were abruptly fired just two days after they were appointed. Government officials insisted that the four industry professionals — film critic Lida Galano, actress Cora Karvounis, screenwriter Kalia Papadakis and director Vassilis Kikatos — had been notified of their selection “by mistake” before their participation was “finally approved.”
A replacement committee was quickly announced, with Greek industry representatives complaining about the ministry’s “unacceptable and deplorable” handling of the situation. Several members of the replacement committee subsequently resigned, including Asimina Prodrou, director of last year’s Oscar-nominated Greek film “Behind the Haystacks,” who announced her resignation on Facebook, saying she “rejected” the move.[d] “To legitimize the government's failure in the selection process.”
With the October 2 deadline for submissions to the Academy’s international feature film competition approaching, the Greek Ministry of Culture this week appointed two new members, U.S.-based cinematographer Anastasios Michos and composer Nikos Platerakhos, to complete the six-member committee.
But just hours after “Killer” was chosen to represent Greece in the international film Oscar race, the two men resigned, renewing questions about the legitimacy of the process and raising fresh accusations about the speed with which the latest selection committee was formed.
Accessed by diverse, Mikos described the timing of his resignation as “unfortunate” but declined to comment further, while Platerakhos could not be reached for comment. In his letter announcing it, Voutilas noted that the committee “thanked them for their service.”
Based on the acclaimed novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis, “Fatal” is set on a remote Greek island at the turn of the 20th century, where a young woman struggles to survive under the dictates of her patriarchal society.
The film premiered at the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where it won six awards, including the FIPRESCI Award for Best Greek Film of the Festival and the Audience Award for the Meet the Neighbors+ Competition. The film also won five awards at the Greek Iris Awards, including Best Cinematography for the film’s cinematographer Panagiotis Vassilakis.
The film received largely positive reviews in Greece, with Christos Mitsis of the Athenaeum arts and culture website praising its “stirring atmosphere, calm direction and the delightful performance of Kariophilia Karapeti”, while Thodoris Koutsogianniopoulos of the cultural weekly Levo praised the “dramatic consistency and visual dedication” of the “thriller with a coherent character”, calling it “tight in its duration and tight in its style”.
diverse Al-Hayat reached out to producers Kostas Lambropoulos and Dinisis Samiotis of the Athens-based production company Tanweer for comment on why the filmmakers decided not to withdraw “Murderess” from the shortlist, given the widespread irregularities in the selection process and a similar decision by their Greek colleagues. Lambropoulos said he was currently busy with other projects and could not comment. Samiotis did not respond to multiple text messages. Nathina could not be reached.
Talk to diverse On Thursday evening, Deputy Minister Voutilas declined to make any further comments on the controversy or comment on why he refused to heed industry calls to cancel this year's selection process.
“My role as Deputy Minister of Culture in the matter of the selection process for Greece’s entry to the Oscars focuses mainly on the appointment of the committee members and due process. It is the committee’s duty and responsibility to determine whether the film in question meets the necessary criteria to represent our country,” he said.
“From this point onwards, our role as the Greek Ministry of Culture is to enable the journey [‘Murderess’]“Needless to say, this year’s selection process confirms that we need to rethink the entire concept for the future,” he added.
The statement echoed calls by the Hellenic Film Academy to hand over the selection process to the film body and its 700 or so members, a move the group has long advocated. Last month, the academy also wrote an open letter demanding that this year’s selection process be canceled and that Greece not submit a film to the international feature film competition at next year’s Oscars, which will take place on March 3.
“This process needs to change. As the minister said, this whole mess clearly proves that this is the right way to go,” said Lefteris Charitos, president of the Hellenic Film Academy. “It’s a kind of one-man rule, in a way. We only have one film left, a weak committee handpicked by the minister, and there was no real process for choosing between the 26 films that were initially submitted. That’s ridiculous in my eyes. It’s as if there was no real process for choosing, and that has led to a breach of trust.”
“I think it would be more honest if all the films pulled out and we went about it normally next year – as a country, as a community of people working in film,” he continued.
