Odysseus Awards 2009

awards dedicated to film artist's Odyssey...

Best Fiction Feature Film Best Documentary Best Creative Documentary Best Short Film Best Student Short Best Video Art Best Animation Best Fiction Feature Script Best Short Script Audience Award (voting at the in-house screenings) www-Visitor choice (online voting is now closed)

Odysseus Awards Evening: Sunday 1 November 2009, 9.00 pm @ the Hellenic Centre

The Jury

Leon Herbert (director, filmmaker)

Leon is a passionate exponent of the Uta Hagen method, in which he was immersed while studying at RADA under Doreen Cannon. He has been in the movie business for 27 years both as an actor and filmmaker. His roles include Scandal, Aliens 3 and Batman and most notably as the first black Jesus Christ. After a successful acting career Leon turned to writing and has written 11 feature screenplays and directed numerous plays. He inspires and supports young filmmakers; as a result he has produced nine short films. In August 2005 he completed his first feature film Emotional Backgammon, a romantic thriller set in London. He is currently in postproduction with another feature film ‘Rene Dubois’, a noir detective story. His latest feature film is a street version of Julius Caesar and is currently in preproduction.

Ann Kristine Glenster (producer, film financer, scriptwriter)

Ann Kristin has considerable experience as a film financer and screenwriter. As the Managing Director of FilmCamp, a Norwegian regional fund, she invested in several feature films with budgets over US$10 million including The Kautokeino Rebellion and Far North starring Sean Bean and Michelle Yeoh which premiered at last year’s Venice Film Festival. Ann Kristin is an award-winning screenwriter and is currently developing several projects with her writing partner Funke Oyebanjo. In addition, Ann Kristin runs her own finance consultancy company BOILER STATION and acts as an Executive Producer on selected films. In 2004 she was invited to join the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for her work of writing for the screen. Ann Kristin has a unique European perspective and is based in Norway and London.

Leda Papachatzi (programming manager, ANT1)

Leda has a BA in Media Studies from University of Westminster and an MA in Media and Communications from Goldsmiths College, University of London. Both dissertations for her BA and MA explored and analysed programming and audiences of Greek Commercial Television. She did her placement in the Greek Section of BBC Radio and started working for ANT1 Group as soon as she returned to Athens, as a PAY TV Programming Executive. In her second year in ANT1 Group, she ran the planning and the realisation of ANT1 Gold. As a Programming Manager, Leda has initiated extensive research projects relating to the viewing habits of Greek audiences in Greece and abroad. Leda is currently Programming Manager for ANT1 PAY TV and is responsible for the programming and the media promotion strategies of all PAY TV channels of ANT1 in USA and Canada, Australia and Europe.

Aris Vasiliadis (journalist)

Aris Vasiliadis is a journalist, who worked from 1996 as a cultural reporter in Greek best selling newspapers and magazines, such as Tahydromos, Ta Nea and Eleftherotypia. He is specialist in interviews and in artistic articles about cinema, theatre, music, dance, painting, literature. He has made many exclusive interviews with famous artists, like Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Andrea Bocceli, Philip Glas, Franco Zeffirelli, Boy George, Ozzy Osbourne, Peter Ustinov, Willem Dafoe, Irene Jakob, Jeremy Irons, Ennio Morricone. He is the producer of the Athens Hip Hop Festival and Active Member Tribute Festival.

Sophie Papadopoulos (actress, producer)

Sophie Papadopoulos – was born in Toronto, Canada whereby she received her Dramatic Arts training at the Toronto School of Drama (TOSD) under the guidance of Dame Marjorie Purvey.  As an actor she has performed in various theatrical plays with a focus on prose. Sophie has further enriched her education by completing Courses at Christie’s ® Education (Art History, Art Curation) and by attending the Business Administration Program at York University (Toronto). Her non-theatre professional experience spans several years in Marketing Communications during which she worked for a U.S. advertising company and a major multinational group.  Sophie is the Founder and Director of the International Workshops for Actors – iWa with offices in Athens and Los Angeles. iWa services the growing need for the latest in professional development serving actors and their industry. It also serves as a platform for creating powerful international relationships by networking professionals in the entertainment industry that wish to expand their opportunities. Sophie recently Co-Produced an independent U.S. film that has been awarded the Silver Lei Award “For Excellence in Filmmaking”, the “Best International Feature Film” at the Heart of England International Festival and the “Best Foreign Comedy Feature” at the Atlanta Underground till date. Currently she is producing her next feature film.

Odysseus awards are not accompanied by cash prize or founding