Drama International Short Film Festival to Celebrate Global Cinema

Photo source: Drama International Short Film Festival

The 47th Drama International Short Film Festival will take place on September 2-8 at Drama, Northern Greece, featuring a diverse program including 211 movies from 39 countries.

The festival was founded in 1978 and has been a Municipal Enterprise since 1996. Its mission is to advance and spread the art of film, particularly the short film, both domestically and internationally.

This year, it will host 148 short films competing in the seven competition sections and 63 films screening in this year’s tributes. In total, 62 Greek movies will be featured in the competition sections of DISFF, in national and international premieres.

Student films, short film hub, networking, pitching, green films, animation, films by kids, films for kids and Cinematherapy for All, promise an unforgettable week and a wild youth cinema fiesta.

The future of cinema in one week

Photo source: Drama International Short Film Festival

Among many other events, the program includes tributes to Greek directors Frieda Liappa and Konstantinos Giannaris and a masterclass by movie editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis.

This year as well, the two films that receive the top awards in both the National and International Competitions will automatically secure the coveted “ticket” to participate in the Oscars.

The National Competition Program and the International Competition are once again complemented by the International Student Program and the National Student Program.

Additionally, International Animation, Short & Green and KIDDO with films for kids and by kids Competition Programs continue their successful course, as well as the Short Film Hub, whose aim is for young directors, screenwriters and producers to form ties with the national and international film industry, fully supported by the Greek Film Centre.

The innovative program Cinematherapy will also be part of the festival.

This year, in a special screening, DISFF will present the student films that were created during the first three semesters of the Undergraduate Department of Film Studies in Drama by the Hellenic Open University, which consisted of online lectures and live workshops in the city of Drama.

The DISFF will be held simultaneously in physical spaces and online. Through the platform https://www.dramafilmfestival.gr/online-festival/ the films will be accessible, with free admission, throughout Greece.

The screenings will take place at the Olympia Cinema and the Municipal Music School of Drama (Antonis Papadopoulos Hall), the open-air cinema Alexandros, the Cyclops Cultural Center’s garden, and the Eleftheria multi-purpose café. This year will also see the inauguration of a new festival space, the Drama Boy’s Gymnasium.

47th DISFF official trailer

This year’s spot, bearing the title All is Drama, has ten versions referencing all the competition segments which together constitute the totality and identity of the festival.

A variety of tales and visuals is created when the 36 carefully chosen movie titles from the seven competition programs are arranged to make entire sentences, whether they be poetic, reflective, or even hilarious. The films are also screened one after the other on a large screen.

The unification of titles through the spot’s ten different phrases attempts to showcase the Drama Festival as a space and a platform for inclusivity, unity and integration of every artistic genre, voice and expression of the wide creative cinema community.

The Drama Festival collaborates among others with the Greek Film Center (EKK) and the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME), with the full support of the Ministry of Culture, the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, the Hellenic Parliament, and the Municipality of Drama.

The Daily Festival Program is available here.