THE AWARDS CEREMONY
AGON – 12th International Festival of Archaeological and Cultural Doc Fest

On Sunday, the 26th of May 2024, at 19:00, the Jury of the 12th International Archaeological Film Festival- AGON, granted the following Special Mentions and Awards.

THE JURY

Emeritus president of the Jury

Manos Zacharias, film director

Members (in alphabetical order)

Dimos Avdeliodis, film director

Marc Azéma, archaeologist, film director, director of the RAN – Rencontres
d’archéologie de la Narbonnaise (RAN) Film Festival (France)

Tony Coe, film director and producer (UK)

Dario di Blasi, director of the FAB! – Festival dell’ Archeologia di Bacoli (Italy)

Nikolaos Kaltsas, archaeologist, former director of the Museum of Cycladic Art and
the National Archaeological Museum

Thanasis Lalas, visual artist, author

Lada Laura, director of the MFAF – International Archaeology Film Festival in Split
(Croatia)

Anna Dalaras, publisher, concert producer

Dionysis Petroutsopoulos, photographer and cinematographer

Memi Spyratou, film director, president of the AGON Festival

THE AWARDS

    • THE CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD goes to the film: THE PHILAE OPERATION. RESCUING THE NILE’S TEMPLE, directed by Olivier Lemaître. Producers: ARTE – NDR – HISTOIRE TV (GERMANY) for the impeccable photography despite the challenges of excavation in adverse conditions and the message that when everything is on the verge of oblivion, archaeologists must stay alert.

A SPECIAL MENTION is awarded to the films:

    • ΙΖΝΙΚ, THE SUNKEN ENIGMA, directed by Pascal Guerin (FRANCE), for the beautiful photography, the scientific documentation, the fast-paced narration, the subtle music and the clever editing.
    • MISSION MEDITERRANEAN, THE ABYSS MUSEUM, directed by Thomas MARLIER – Mathieu PRADINAUD (FRANCE) for the efforts of marine archaeologists to outdo themselves with the help of technology, by creating their robot counterpart: the archaeologist of the abyss.

    • THE AWARD FOR CONCEPTUAL ORIGINALITY goes to the film: COMB SISTER, directed by Atefeh Khademolreza (CANADA), because with its highly aesthetic animation, it addresses a taboo subject: the coercion of young girls into marriage.

A SPECIAL MENTION is awarded to the films:

    • THE KISS, directed by Ali Zare Ghanatnowi, FRANCE,  for its superior aesthetics and originality
    • THE SUITCASE, directed by Saman Hosseinpuor – Ako Zandkarimi, IRAN, for the black humour with which the director documents a bleak future for the human race
    • MISSING FOOTSTEPS, directed by Daniel Sousa, Portugal, for its splendid concept, the black and white photography where all the mosaic streets in Portugal, as artworks, suggest and contribute to a civilised way of life.
    • THE AWARD FOR EDUCATIONAL FILM – “CHRISTOS LAMBRAKIS” goes to the film VENIZELOS, STRUGGLE FOR ASIA MINOR, directed by Nikos Dayadas, GREECE, for the superb screenplay and the excellent directorial approach to a historical era and trauma in the modern history of Greece.

A SPECIAL MENTION is awarded to the films:

    • THE HEROIC VOURLA OF ASIA MINOR, directed by Irene Sarioglou, GREECE, for the touching scenario and the historical and educational character of the film.
    • MAMODY, THE LAST BAOBAB DIGGER, directed by Cyrille Cornu, FRANCE, for documenting the unique method of storing water, a universal good to be shared by all people.
    • THE “JUNIORS” OF AGON AWARD goes to the film I HATE BORDER, directed by Mohammed Isam Abbas, IRAQ, because it addresses the issue of immigration with excellent humour and good animation.  

A SPECIAL MENTION is awarded to the films:

    • SYMPHONY OF THE KNOTS, directed by Hossein Ranjibar Shirazi, IRAN, because it captures, in a beautiful way, one of the disappearing professions, combining harmonious photography and music.
    • WHEN HERMES WAS BURIED, High School of Pelopio – OLYMPIA International Film Festival for Children and Young People, GREECE, for how memory is passed down from generation to generation as stories that become scripts for future filmmakers.
    • LOVE IN THE DEPTH OF TIME: DISCOVERING THE MYTHS OF ANCIENT PLEVRONA AND OINIADES. Art High School of the Holy City of Messolonghi – GREECE. For encouraging the students of the Art High School of Messolonghi who motivated by AGON and using minimal resources created an initial archaeological documentary as part of the pilot educational program The “Juniors” of Agon.
    • THE SCREENPLAY AWARD goes to the films
    • STORIES OF A NECROPOLIS, directed by Javier Trueba, SPAIN, for the excellent scientific documentation that provides us with a clear picture of this important archaeological site

and

    • UNCLAIMED, directed by Marianna Economou, GREECE, for refraining from turning the heartbreaking theme of the sanatorion SOTIRIA into melodrama.

A SPECIAL MENTION is awarded to the films:

    • A BIG FAMILY, directed by Vasilis Loules, GREECE, for the director’s ability to convey messages and stories about the social, economic, and political life in the countryside and the importance of human relations through the story of a soft drink factory.
    • THE STRANGE STORY OF THE HEARTS OF KINGS, directed by Dominique Adt, FRANCE, because in a scientific yet original and bold way, it ventures into another type of “excavation”, by presenting us with vividness and eloquence an unknown aspect of the posthumous fate of two historical kings.
    • ANIMA INSULAE, directed by Lorenzo Daniele, ITALY, for the scientific and experiential approach of the site.
    • ΑΣΚΟΣ, ΤΟ ΚΑΛΕΣΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΣΕΙΡΗΝΑΣ, directed by Antonio Martino, ITALY, for the passion of the amateur archaeologist of Calabria.
    • THE DIRECTION AWARD goes to the film ROUNDELS. A 7.000 YEAR OLD MYSTERY, directed by Andrzej Paluszynski, POLAND, because the director, straddling between digital and analogue documentation, presents the overall picture of the oldest examples of monumental architecture in an admirable way.

A SPECIAL MENTION is awarded to the films:

    • TEVIEC, MURDER IN THE MESOLITHIC, directed by Hubert Béasse, FRANCE: the archaeologist’s passion combined with the discovery of a homicide that occurred 9,000 years ago results in an almost detective movie of antiquity.
    • PALATIANO. A ROMAN CITY ON THE KROUSSIA MOUNTAINS OF KILKIS, directed by THANOS KARTSOGLOU, GREECE, for the experiential and also cognitive approach of a magical archaeological site.
    • AFTER DEATH, directed by Mahmoud Ahmed, SYRIA, because through the wreckage and rubble of war it sends a message of hope.
    • THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FILM AWARD goes to the film THE LOST TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS, directed by Sébastien Reichenbach, SWITZERLAND, for the consistent style and balance in everything that makes up a complete archaeological film, along with the vision of the persistent archaeologist who is finally vindicated.


A SPECIAL MENTION is awarded to the films:

    • NEANDERTHAL IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF ANOTHER HUMANITY, directed by David Geoffroy, FRANCE, for the persistent quest of an archaeologist to reconstruct a truth from a small find, comparable to the great as Thucydides said, and the enthusiasm of a devoted group of diverse specialists.
    • LADY SAPIENS, directed by Thomas Cirotteau, FRANCE, because it introduces us to the prehistoric woman and, for the first time, we get to know her contribution to the communities of people who lived thousands of years before us.
    • ABOUT THE CYPRIOT MARBLE, directed by PASCHALIS PAPAPETROU, CYPRUS, because it is an excellent university thesis characterized by precision.
    • THE GRAND PRIX – “LENA SAVIDIS” goes to the film MESOPOTAMIA. THE RISE OF CITIES, directed by Olivier Julien, FRANCE, for all the qualities that make up a perfect archaeological film: scholarship, script, direction, photography, history, originality, education.
    • THE PUBLIC’S CHOICE AWARD goes to the film UNCLAIMED directed by Marianna Economou.