With Production Booming, Greek Filmmakers Hope Industry Can Keep Up
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For a country of 11 million that’s spent much of the past decade lurching from one economic crisis to the next, you’d be hard-pressed to suggest the Greek film industry isn’t punching above its weight. In the span of just a few weeks earlier this year, Rian Johnson’s Netflix blockbuster “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” became one of the streaming service’s most-watched films of all time, while Ruben Östlund’s “Triangle of Sadness” was nominated for three Academy Awards: two splashy productions that were both shot in the Mediterranean nation.
Since the launch of its cash rebate in 2018, which covers up to 40% of qualifying expenditures along with 30% in tax relief, Greece has become one of Europe’s hottest filming destinations. Last year the industry reached new heights, with the rebate supporting 132 international and domestic productions — including Nia Vardalos’ long-awaited “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3” and the action thriller “Tin Soldier,” starring Jamie Foxx and Robert De Niro — while paying out a record €34 million ($36.2 million).
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With some of the most competitive incentives in Europe, the Greek industry has never been busier, says Kostas Kefalas, head of production at Faliro House, which provided production services on “Glass Onion” and has three international projects on tap this year. “We’re trying to push projects that we love to 2024,” he says.
The industry is scrambling to keep up. A host of training programs have been introduced to shore up the country’s stretched-thin crew base. Meanwhile, plans are underway to expand Kapa Studios, which played host to David Cronenberg’s 2022 Cannes competition title “Crimes of the Future” and Disney+’s Giannis Antetokounmpo biopic “Rise” at its state-of-the-art facilities located a 10-minute drive from Athens International Airport.
“Greece needs to keep up with ever-growing demand for production,” says CEO Giannis Karagiannis, who expects four new sound stages to be operational by June.
Many Greek producers, however, fear that the local biz is becoming a victim of its own success. “The Greek industry is booming. The question is whether that is sustainable,” says Neda Film’s Amanda Livanou, who wrapped production last fall on the horror-mystery “Buzzheart,” from veteran director Dennis Iliadis (“The Last House on the Left”). Yorgos Tsourgiannis of Horsefly Productions, who co-produced Emin Alper’s 2022 Cannes Un Certain Regard player “Burning Days,” agrees.
“There’s a lot of activity. Lots of people are working. The sector is thriving,” he says. “But at the same time, crews are not readily available. The rates are driving upward. It’s increasingly more and more difficult to secure availability for people when you are trying to produce local content.”
Heretic’s Giorgos Karnavas estimates that roughly 80% of the business being done by the Greek film industry today is in servicing foreign productions. “It’s not healthy,” he says. “In terms of production costs, [the split is] maybe 90-10 — maybe 95-5. Which means when production service stops, you’re going to have a huge part of this industry going home.”
Heretic’s Berlin slate includes Angela Schanelec’s competition title “Music” and the Willem Dafoe-starring psychological thriller “Inside” (pictured, top), which plays in the festival’s Panorama strand. That film — a debut from director Vasilis Katsoupis that Karnavas describes as one of the most ambitious ever for the local industry — underscores what the producer believes is necessary for Greek cinema to fulfill its potential. “The industry develops only when it develops, finances and produces its own projects,” he says. “This is essential. We really need to find a balance.”
Last year, the Greek Film Center had a budget of just under €5 million ($5.3 million) to support domestic production, a figure that falls far short of what industry insiders say is necessary to grow the local talent pool. While splashy Hollywood productions arriving in Greece are quick to grab headlines, “if you don’t invest in your national cinematography, you don’t have a future,” says Markos Holevas, president of the film center’s board of directors.
Time and again, however, the Greek industry has shown its resilience, weathering the storm of the 2008 global economic crisis as well as the mid-2010s financial meltdown that nearly pushed it from the Eurozone. Cameras continued to roll throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and however challenging the present landscape amid runaway inflation across Europe, Greek filmmakers can justifiably feel their best days are ahead.
“There’s a new generation that we’re waiting for,” says Livanou, who with Erik Glijnis of Dutch production outfit Lemming Film is currently financing “Cora,” the buzzy feature debut of Evi Kalogiropoulou, whose short film “On Xerxes’ Throne” won a prize at Cannes’ Critics Week last year. Other hotly anticipated projects in the pipeline include feature debuts from short film Palme d’Or winner Vasilis Kekatos and Konstantina Kotzamani, whose shorts have played in Cannes, Venice and Berlin.
Recent triumphs, such as Araceli Lemos’ Locarno prize-winning debut “Holy Emy,” have proven that this ancient land of drama is not short on inspiration. And it continues to broaden its horizons.
After his critically acclaimed debut, “Apples,” executive produced by Cate Blanchett, opened the Venice Film Festival’s Horizons sidebar in 2020, director Christos Nikou was tapped by Apple to helm the forthcoming sci-fi love story “Fingernails,” starring Jessie Buckley and Riz Ahmed — a sudden leap for the young filmmaker from Athens to Hollywood.
“I’m not sure whether things like that would happen that fast in the past,” says Kefalas, of Faliro House. “This is the thing that we’re all waiting for — to be able to get the Greek voice abroad, in a broader sense than it has happened before. Not just the festivals and the awards, but [reaching wider] audiences.”
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