At the Venice Film Festival’s Giornate degli Autori section, Greek filmmakers Krysianna B. Papadakis and Stergios Dinopoulos claimed a historic first for Greece: the Europa Cinemas Venice Label Award for Best European Film with their feature debut Arkoudotrypa (Bearcave).
The award, presented today on the Lido, ensures the film will benefit from promotional support from Europa Cinemas as well as stronger distribution prospects, thanks to financial incentives encouraging network theaters to screen it.
The jury—comprised of Manuel Asín (Cine Estudio del Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid), Simon Blaas (Cinema Middelburg, Netherlands), Ivan Frenguelli (PostModernissimo, Perugia), and Signe-Annie Lindstedt (Zita Folkets Bio, Stockholm)—praised the film as “a really fresh and energetic feature debut” with “exceptional performances by the two girls.”
In their statement, they highlighted its mix of thriller elements, supernatural undertones, and its “clash and fusion of the old and new,” adding: “We really hope that the award of the Label will encourage distributors and audiences around Europe.”
Set in the mountain village of Elati in Trikala, in the shadow of the Pindus range, Bearcave follows Anneta (Pamela Oikonomaki) and Argyro (Chara Kyriazi), two young women bound by an intense, complex friendship. Their relationship unfolds against a backdrop of forest landscapes, local myth, and the raw authenticity of rural Greece, exploring themes of female desire, sexual identity, self-determination, and social isolation.
The feature expands upon the short of the same name, which won the Golden Dionysus at the Drama Short Film Festival for Best Film in the National Competition. Then, the jury commended its “bold stylistic contrasts, naturalism and character complexity, and two protagonists who keep us riveted.” For her performance, Chara Kyriazi also took home the festival’s Best Actress award.
Bearcave is an independent production by the collective Pame Ligo, made with limited resources, largely through crowdfunding and the dedication of a small, tight-knit crew. The project also received support from the Greek Film Centre.
Directors Stergios Dinopoulos and Krysianna B Papadakis.
