By Hector Alejandro Morales, Film Industry Watch contributor and Greek industry insider.

The latest film from Vasilis Kekatos was funded with 488.596,99 € from the Cash Back Financing initiative in Greece (EKOME) and an additional 235.000 € from the Greek Film Center (GFC). All told, that’s 723.596,99 € in public funding — taxpayer money. Public funds. Yours and mine — flushed.

The total budget of the film Our Wild Days was 1.221.492,49 €, according to public records.

Kekatos allegedly helped orchestrate one of the boldest acts of state-funded artistic nepotism this side of the Parthenon. Cross-paneling, they called it — a cozy little club where evaluators approved grants for each other’s films while locking the doors on real, outside talent. But the generous support of public funds did not help Vasilis Kekatos. Our Wild Days has officially bombed at the Greek box office. Distributed by Cinobo, with 6,094 tickets sold across 25 cinemas in its first five days, it made about as much noise as a paperclip falling in a hurricane.

The film’s producer’s gross — if any? A glorious 14.016 € — before subtracting ads, DCPs, and whatever was spent printing posters no one looked at. That means the producers may have walked away with the financial equivalent of a good brunch in Mykonos. The film was produced by Eleni Kossyfidou.

So if you’re wondering what Greek cinema looks like in the age of crony culture and creative bankruptcy, look no further. It’s screening now. In 25 empty theaters.

Critics Raise Concerns Over Director’s Style and Storytelling Weaknesses

The director’s latest film has drawn notable criticism from several film critics for its narrative shortcomings and stylistic indulgences. Christos Mitsis of Athinorama highlights the film’s early momentum but criticizes its descent into repetitive, loosely connected vignettes that lack a cohesive narrative structure. He notes that dramatic turns are often weighed down by an unnecessary poetic pretension, leaving the film emotionally thin.

Greek outlet in.gr echoes this sentiment, pointing to the underdeveloped motivations behind the characters’ rebellious actions, suggesting that the script needed more refinement to fully flesh out its themes. News247 goes further, calling out “script inconsistency” and a lack of clear direction, noting that while the film gestures toward social commentary, it ultimately “loses its aim,” with characters remaining faint sketches rather than fully realized individuals.

Newsbomb.gr critiques the film’s preference for fantasy over realism, describing it as “a love letter to coming of age” that lacks grounding in lived experience, while Flix.gr labels it “a fairy tale for kids who don’t want to grow up,” with ghost-like protagonists who serve more as symbols than believable human beings.

SOURCES:

https://freecinema.gr/greek-box-office-how-to-train-your-dragon-flies-low/

https://www.athinorama.gr/cinema/3047469/elliniko-box-office-agries-meres-gia-iptamenous-drakous

https://flix.gr/news/berlinale-2025-our-wild-days-vasilis-kekatos.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Wildest_Days

https://flix.gr/reviews/berlinale-panorama-film-review.html

https://www.newsbomb.gr/media/kinimatografos

https://www.news247.gr/o-ko/sinema

https://www.in.gr/entertainment/cinema

https://www.athinorama.gr/cinema/reviews

The post Greece: Talented, independent filmmakers? Rejected. Visionary projects? Ignored. But Our Wild Days? That got the golden ticket. first appeared on Film Industry Watch.

Evidence suggests a conflict of interest marred the 2019 Cannes Film Festival’s Official Selection for Short Films, and the award itself. The Palme d’Or went to the Greek short film ‘The Distance Between Us and the Sky,’ directed by Vasilis Kekatos, produced by Eleni Kossyfidou and French producer Guillaume Dreyfus.

Editorial note: The facts made on this page are based on public production credits and information, with sources and screenshots provided at the bottom of this page.

Overview

Evidence indicates that the 2019 Cannes Film Festival Official Selection for Short Films, and the awarding of the Short Film Palme d’Or, may have been compromised by undisclosed conflicts of interest and irregular jury conduct.

The Palme d’Or was awarded to The Distance Between Us and the Sky, directed by Vasilis Kekatos, produced by Eleni Kossyfidou, with French producer Guillaume Dreyfus.

At the center of the concerns is the role of Panos H. Koutras, a member of the 2019 Short Film Jury, who has maintained a long-standing professional relationship with Kossyfidou, the producer of the winning film.

Summary of Key Findings

1. A multi-year professional relationship existed between Vasilis Kekatos and Wim Vanacker, a member of the Cannes selection committee, dating back to at least 2018. This relationship included reciprocal professional engagements prior to the 2019 selection.
2. Eleni Kossyfidou, producer of The Distance Between Us and the Sky, is the long-time producer of Panos H. Koutras, a sitting jury member in the competition that awarded the film.
3. Kossyfidou was not introduced at Cannes to other filmmakers as the producer of the film. Her producer credit was added to the film’s Wikipedia page only in 2021, more than two years after the award, raising concerns regarding concealment of material relationships.
4. At a post-festival screening event in Paris, Koutras reportedly told several competing directors that he had “pushed [their] films out of consideration” during jury deliberations.
5. Audio recordings from the same Paris event document:
   • Koutras stating, “as a joke,” that he “could be bribed.”
   • Another director replying, “I told you I don’t have my wallet on me,” followed by “I was wearing a dress.”
   • Koutras stating that he had been “very opposed” to several films and that he was “alone” in those objections.
   • In the same recordings, Koutras explicitly acknowledges opposing other films during deliberations, an admission made in his own voice.
6. These statements support an allegation of manipulation by elimination: rather than solely advocating for a preferred film, Koutras allegedly opposed competing entries one by one until only the film produced by his own producer remained viable for consensus.
7. A broader pattern of opacity is identified:
   • In 2018, a short film (Gabriel) produced by a Cannes selection committee member was selected from over 7,000 submissions.
   • In 2019, another selected short film (Parparim) credited a producer who was also an employee of the Cannes Film Festival.
   • These incidents suggest repeated governance failures across multiple years.
8. Additional concerns involving Wim Vanacker, reported separately, demonstrate recurring issues of transparency involving the same individuals across different institutions and projects.

Conflict of Interest: Jury Member and Producer Relationship

The central undisclosed conflict concerns the relationship between Panos H. Koutras and Eleni Kossyfidou.

Kossyfidou has produced all of Koutras’ feature films since 2004, including:

• Strella
• Xenia
• Dodo

She initially served as production manager on Koutras’ 2004 film Real Life. Their professional partnership spans nearly two decades.

Kossyfidou also produced both of Kekatos’ short films:

• The Silence of the Dying Fish
• The Distance Between Us and the Sky

This creates a direct overlap between:

• a jury member,
• his long-time producer,
• and the winning film.

Such an arrangement presents a clear financial and professional incentive for a jury member to favor a film produced by his own producer, particularly where future funding, prestige, and project development are implicated.

Recorded Statements and Jury Conduct

At a post-Cannes screening event in Paris, Koutras addressed several competing directors. According to witnesses and audio recordings:

• Koutras stated that he had “pushed [their] films out of consideration.”
• He told attendees that he had been “very opposed” to certain films and that he was “alone” in these objections.
• In jury practice, a strong objection by a single juror often renders a film non-viable, as juries tend to converge on consensus rather than confrontation.

In the same recordings:

• Koutras is heard saying that he “could be bribed,” described by him as a joke.
• Another director replies, “I told you I don’t have my wallet on me,” followed by “I didn’t have my phone either.”

These recordings are cited as direct evidence of Koutras’ own account of his actions during deliberations.

Mechanism of Influence: Elimination Rather Than Promotion

There are two recognized ways to influence jury outcomes:

1. Active promotion of a favored film.
2. Systematic elimination of competing films through objection.

The recordings support the latter. By opposing multiple films, Koutras allegedly narrowed the field until consensus could only form around The Distance Between Us and the Sky.

This conclusion is based not on inference, but on Koutras’ own recorded statements.

CRelationship Between Kekatos and Wim Vanacker

Further reporting establishes that the professional relationship between Kekatos, Kossyfidou, and Wim Vanacker predates Cannes 2019.

In 2018:

• Kekatos invited Vanacker to serve as a jury member at the SeaNema Open Air Film Festival, organized by Kekatos on Kefalonia.
• Kossyfidou also participated in the same event.
• Vanacker was at the time Artistic Director of NISI MASA, where Kekatos’ film The Silence of the Dying Fish was presented.

Festival jury participation typically involves compensation, travel, and accommodation. This establishes a material professional benefit conferred one year prior to Cannes 2019.

Industry Context and Broader Implications

According to a European Union survey, 98 percent of Greek citizens believe corruption is widespread in Greece. While this statistic does not establish guilt, it contextualizes public sensitivity to conflicts of interest.

Comparable cases at Cannes include:

• Mélissa Malinbaum, a selection committee member whose produced short film was selected.
• Dominique Welinski, who holds overlapping roles as producer and decision-maker.

These examples reinforce concerns regarding structural governance failures rather than isolated incidents.

Final notes:

The undisclosed relationships, recorded admissions, delayed credit disclosures, and recurring selection irregularities raise serious questions about the integrity of the 2019 Cannes Short Film competition. The evidence presented does not rely on anonymous accusations or speculative interpretation. It consists of:

• documented production histories,
• contemporaneous statements by involved parties,
• and audio recordings in which a jury member describes his own conduct.

Together, these elements warrant scrutiny by the festival, the industry, and the public.

Vasilis Kekatos Biography

Vasilis Kekatos is a Greek film director and screenwriter recognized for his 2019 short film The Distance Between Us and the Sky, which won the Palme d’Or and Queer Palm for best short film at the Cannes Film Festival. His body of work includes The Silence of the Dying Fish (2018) and Retrograde, with his films featured in festivals such as Locarno, Sundance, and Telluride. In addition to filmmaking, Kekatos has worked in art photography, including a cover for Greek Vogue. In 2023, he released the teen drama series Milky Way, and he is in production on his debut feature film Our Wildest Days.

SOURCES:

Our organization is dedicated to unveiling the true decision-making processes and power dynamics within the film industry. The chart below provides a comprehensive summary of these elements. Our goal is to democratize access and provide talented, emerging young filmmakers with the opportunities they rightfully deserve to succeed in the industry.

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Sources:

Wikipedia article history (Difference between revisions) showing how the names of the producers were added only in 2021:

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Distance_Between_Us_and_the_Sky&diff=1032591270&oldid=904440713

All screenshots takes from public resources:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10214916/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8791506/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3187519/

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3267450/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Distance_Between_Us_and_the_Sky

https://greekreporter.com/2022/07/20/greeks-believe-corruption-widespread/

The post Conflict of Interest Taints 2019 Cannes Palme d’Or Award for The Distance Between Us and the Sky by Vasilis Kekatos, Guillaume Dreyfus, Eleni Kossyfidou first appeared on Film Industry Watch.