Books by Lydia Papadimitriou
Greek Cinema: Texts, Histories, Identities
Covering the silent era to the present, this wide-ranging collection of essays examines Greek cin... more Covering the silent era to the present, this wide-ranging collection of essays examines Greek cinema as an aesthetic, cultural, and political phenomenon with the potential to appeal to a diverse range of audiences. Using a range of methodological tools, the authors investigate the ever-shifting forms and meanings at work within Greece’s national cinema and locate it within the booming interdisciplinary study of European cinema at large. Designed for undergraduate courses in film studies, this well-researched volume fills a substantial gap in the market for critical works on Greek cinema in English.
The Greek film musical was the most popular film genre in Greece in the 1960s. The songs became i... more The Greek film musical was the most popular film genre in Greece in the 1960s. The songs became instant hits, the dances were performed at parties, and the fashions were imitated by people of all ages. Challenging assumptions that the Greek film musical was a culturally lacking imitation of Hollywood, this work examines the genre as a cinematic and historical phenomenon that condensed key social and cultural concerns of its time, and contributed to the development of a national popular culture in the light of the rapid Americanization of postwar Greece. During two decades characterized by affluence and upward mobility in Greek society, the musical expressed and reinforced the optimism of the times while capturing the tensions and contradictions that emerged as a result of rapid social changes.
Beginning with an introduction to modern Greece and cultural identity, the book locates the genre in its historical context and argues that it consists of different layers of cultural appropriation and transformation that redefine traditionally fixed notions of identity. Old Greek cinema is examined, the Greek musical is defined, and a number of key films are analyzed with particular emphasis on the style and structure of the musical numbers. The work concludes with a filmography of Greek musicals; lists of the annual outputs of the production companies Finos Films, Karagiannis-Karatzopoulos, Klak Films, and Damaskinos Michailidis; a glossary; and bibliographies in English, Greek, and French.
Editor by Lydia Papadimitriou
Extract from the Introduction:
"This special issue on ‘Film festivals: origins and trajectories’... more Extract from the Introduction:
"This special issue on ‘Film festivals: origins and trajectories’ aims to bring histor- ical concerns to the center of lm festivals studies. Foregrounding the global dimensions of festivals, this issue brings together a number of in-depth historical studies of practices that have developed in vastly di erent parts of the world in the course of this almost century-long phenomenon. While shining light on lesser-known ‘peripheries’ of the festival circuit, this issue also outlines new approaches and methodologies for unearthing and discussing them. By bringing these case studies together, we seek to encourage a comparative exploration of the diversity of the festival phenomenon within distinct historical periods and sociopolitical systems."
Journal of Greek Media and Culture , Jun 2014
"The Journal of Greek Media and Culture (JGMC) is a new interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal p... more "The Journal of Greek Media and Culture (JGMC) is a new interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published by Intellect that aims to provide a platform for debate and exploration of a wide range of manifestations of media and culture in and about Greece. The journal adopts an expanded and inclusive approach to media and culture with reference to film, photography, literature, the visual arts, music, theatre, performance, as well as all forms of electronic media and expressions of popular culture. While providing a forum for the close analysis of cultural formations specific to Greece, JGMC aims to engage with broader methodological and theoretical debates, and situate the Greek case in global, diasporic and transnational contexts. The aspiration is that the journal will set the foundations for a sustained and serious engagement with Greek culture and media that will not only enlighten particular manifestations, but will have methodological relevance and implications that extend beyond its specific field of study. Greek culture can thus become a ‘limit case’ that tests the value and rigour of critical positions in the debate around Europe’s cultural unity and diversity, and instigates important theoretical and methodological enquiries around media and cultural exchange and interaction.
Editorial Board: Dimitris Eleftheriotis, Vassiliki Kolocotroni, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Eleni Papargyriou, Yannis Tzioumakis"
Articles and Chapters by Lydia Papadimitriou
The Online Circulation of Audiovisual Content from the Small Market Perspective , 2020
Drawing on policy documents, press reports and interviews with key stakeholders, the chapter will... more Drawing on policy documents, press reports and interviews with key stakeholders, the chapter will map out the media ecology of film and television distribution in Greece by 2018. It will highlight the extent and ways in which digital innovations have been embraced and/or resisted, the key players involved and the future prospects for consumers and industry in the country. The chapter will depict a national media landscape which, while in flux and under pressure from global and European forces, remains (on policy level) resistant to change – as indicated, among others, by the lengthy, troubled and still incomplete process of regulating national television providers. While imported audio-visual content has long been proportionally higher than the circulation and consumption of national productions in Greece (Papadimitriou, 2018), the rise of digital OTT giants, such as most notably Netflix, places additional pressure on the sustainability of national productions – even those with global prospects (BBC, 18.7.18). By situating Greece in the context of Ramon Lobato’s forthcoming work on Netflix Nations (2018), the chapter will illustrate how this global platform has been disrupting existing national distribution dynamics, while also potentially offering new possibilities for local productions, esp. should co-production schemes be embraced. Ultimately, the chapter will throw light on the conflicting (at national, European and global levels) forces and interests at work in shaping the shifting landscape of digital distribution in Greece, and will argue about the significance of embracing more (European) co-productions as a means, among others, of increasing the digital distribution visibility of audio-visual creative output originating in small nations.
European Film and Television Co-Productions: Policy and Practice, edited by Julia Hammett-Jamart, Petar Mitric, Eva Novrup-Redvall (Palgrave-Macmillan), 2018
The chapter examines the effects of the financial crisis on the Greek film industry, especially w... more The chapter examines the effects of the financial crisis on the Greek film industry, especially with regard to providing further impetus for European co-productions.
Screen, 2018
The essay examines formal and informal film distribution in Greece since the financial crisis of ... more The essay examines formal and informal film distribution in Greece since the financial crisis of 2009. By ‘formal’ I refer mainly to commercially organized theatrical, DVD and online distribution, while ‘informal’ consists of various networks of unlicensed circulation of films, usually referred to as ‘piracy’. The essay’s aims are threefold. As a media industries study, it focuses on formal distribution; it identifies the players that are involved in the process of rights acquisition and promotion of feature films in Greece, and explains their working practices. From a film studies perspective, it explores the mediating role of – both formal and informal – film distribution in helping (re)define and question the notion of national cinema. And finally, from a broader cultural studies angle, it presents a profile of the country in terms of which films are in circulation and how they are being watched, while pointing to comparisons with global and other national patterns of change. The essay positions Greece in the broader context of recent debates around contemporary film distribution and piracy, highlights methodological issues, and identifies the way in which global distribution practices manifest themselves locally in a specific ‘small’ territory of the European periphery.
Studies in European Cinema, 2018
The article examines the extent to which Greek cinema has engaged with European co-productions an... more The article examines the extent to which Greek cinema has engaged with European co-productions and identi es the ways in which these have changed its production culture, as well as, indirectly, its form, content and mode of address. While mainly focusing on the 2010s, it also offers a historical account of co-production practices in Greece, especially since the establishment of Eurimages in 1989. It argues that the intensification of co-production activity that has become more evident in the last few years has been the result of a number of factors, including the continuing impact of European institutional frameworks, the reduction of national funds towards cinema, the emergence of a number of new producers trained in building co-productions and the critical success of a number of Greek films in prestigious festivals. The analysis draws on lm studies, media industry and lm policy studies as it aims to reveal the ways in which both Europe-wide and localised social, financial and professional conditions have affected the production culture in Greece, especially with regard to art/quality cinema, leading to the increased ‘Europeanisation’ of Greek cinema.
The Routledge Companion to World Cinema, 2017
The chapter explores cinematic developments in countries of the European South (Portugal, Spain a... more The chapter explores cinematic developments in countries of the European South (Portugal, Spain and - mainly -Greece) and the most recent entries into the EU (Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia), in order to provide an alternative map of recent European cinema as experienced from its periphery.
Greece in Crisis: The Cultural Politics of Austerity, 2017
The chapter uses the concepts of ‘economy’ and ‘ecology’ to map out the landscape of Greek cinem... more The chapter uses the concepts of ‘economy’ and ‘ecology’ to map out the landscape of Greek cinema since the crisis. Drawing on industry data and interviews with filmmakers, distributors and cinema owners, it explores the effects of the cultural politics of austerity on the production, circulation and reception of Greek films. Syllas Tzoumerkas’ A Blast (2014) serves as a case study to illustrate some of the connections and interactions that enable a film from Greece to be made and shown in crisis-ridden times.
International Journal on Media Management, 2017
The article focuses on Greece and explores the extent and ways in which film production funding c... more The article focuses on Greece and explores the extent and ways in which film production funding cultures have changed in the period 2010–2015. It maps out the hybrid modes of funding embraced by filmmakers in this period, and explores the extent to which new models, such as crowdfunding, were adopted, European co-production opportunities were more fully embraced, as well as how far traditional modes of financing such as, on the one hand, state funding, and, on the other, private, distributor-led, backing have persisted. As a country of the European periphery, and one particularly hard-hit by the recent financial crisis, Greece offers a good example of the processes of an uncertain, but also creatively productive, cultural, and financial transition. Set within the broader context of global changes led by technology, the national case study illustrates how state and private top-bottom funding initiatives have begun to co-exist with bottom-up production and dissemination processes, and how some new players have entered the scene. The patterns revealed through this exploration of the new funding cultures for film production in Greece contribute to an understanding of the impact of global economic transformations on a national level, and help us assess the effectiveness and viability of the new funding models for small markets.
Journal of Greek Media and Culture, 2016
Indie Reframed: Women's Filmmaking and Contemporary American Independent Cinema, ed. Linda Badley, Claire Perkins, Michelle Schreiber, Oct 24, 2016
The Routledge Companion to Cinema and Politics, Jun 2016
The article examines four independently produced and circulated documentaries that have addressed... more The article examines four independently produced and circulated documentaries that have addressed aspects of the financial and political crisis in Greece as experienced from its outset in 2009 up until the national elections of 2012. The documentaries are examined from both a textual and a contextual angle. The analysis foregrounds the implicit connection between, on the one hand, the representation and interpretation of the crisis, and resulting degree of direct political engagement, and, on the other, the films’ mode of production and circulation. Such an approach is particularly relevant in the light of the fact that all four documentaries were independently produced without any financial support by state-related institutions, private profit orientated companies, or indeed, political parties. As such, they were not just about the crisis, but they were also products of the crisis. The four documentaries examined are Aris Chatzistefanou and Katerina Kitidi’s crowdfunded and freely circulating Debtocracy (2011); Yiorgos Pandeleakis’ polemical verité 155 Sold (2012); Nikos Katsaounis’ and Nina-Maria Paschalidou’s multimedia-orientated Krisis (2012); and Marco Gastine’s observational Democracy: The Way of the Cross (2012).
New Review of Film and Television Studies, 2016
Originally a site for the promotion of the Greek lm production, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, ... more Originally a site for the promotion of the Greek lm production, the Thessaloniki Film Festival, founded in 1960, gradually evolved to showcase international cinema, with a special emphasis on Balkan lm. By focusing on the festival’s international aspirations, this account highlights certain under-researched parts of its history during which the festival o ered parallel, competitive or not, programs of non- Greek lms. In exploring this history, this article foregrounds tensions among key stakeholders, and maps these over the country’s broader sociopolitical dynamics, as well as in relation to broader developments in the European and international lm festival scene.
Special Issue on Film Festivals: Origins and Trajectories, Volume 14, issue 1, March 2016, Mar 2016
Journal of Greek Media and Culture, Sep 2014
Filmicon: Journal of Greek Film Studies, Sep 2014
This article offers a critical contextualisation of developments in Greek cinema around the nodal... more This article offers a critical contextualisation of developments in Greek cinema around the nodal date of 2009, which brought together the beginning of the financial crisis, an increased international visibility of certain Greek films, significant grassroot-motivated institutional changes for cinema in Greece, as well as the emergence of Anglophone criticism on Greek cinema. In so doing, it aims to identify key dimensions of contemporary Greek film cultures, and point towards
some possible developments in terms of modes of production and reception of Greek cinema, but also new frameworks for its critical understanding.
Papadimitriou L., Peng S.(trans.), Locating Contemporary Greek Film Cultures: Past, Present, Futu... more Papadimitriou L., Peng S.(trans.), Locating Contemporary Greek Film Cultures: Past, Present, Future and the Crisis. Journal of Beijing Film Academy, 2015(06): 138-147
Originally published in http://filmiconjournal.com/journal/article/page/18/2014/2/2
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Books by Lydia Papadimitriou
Beginning with an introduction to modern Greece and cultural identity, the book locates the genre in its historical context and argues that it consists of different layers of cultural appropriation and transformation that redefine traditionally fixed notions of identity. Old Greek cinema is examined, the Greek musical is defined, and a number of key films are analyzed with particular emphasis on the style and structure of the musical numbers. The work concludes with a filmography of Greek musicals; lists of the annual outputs of the production companies Finos Films, Karagiannis-Karatzopoulos, Klak Films, and Damaskinos Michailidis; a glossary; and bibliographies in English, Greek, and French.
Editor by Lydia Papadimitriou
"This special issue on ‘Film festivals: origins and trajectories’ aims to bring histor- ical concerns to the center of lm festivals studies. Foregrounding the global dimensions of festivals, this issue brings together a number of in-depth historical studies of practices that have developed in vastly di erent parts of the world in the course of this almost century-long phenomenon. While shining light on lesser-known ‘peripheries’ of the festival circuit, this issue also outlines new approaches and methodologies for unearthing and discussing them. By bringing these case studies together, we seek to encourage a comparative exploration of the diversity of the festival phenomenon within distinct historical periods and sociopolitical systems."
Editorial Board: Dimitris Eleftheriotis, Vassiliki Kolocotroni, Dimitris Papanikolaou, Eleni Papargyriou, Yannis Tzioumakis"
Articles and Chapters by Lydia Papadimitriou
some possible developments in terms of modes of production and reception of Greek cinema, but also new frameworks for its critical understanding.
Originally published in http://filmiconjournal.com/journal/article/page/18/2014/2/2