(People’s Daily Online) Greece is opening its cultural industry to Chinese filmmakers and TV producers, wishing to promote cooperation with China in the field of co-production of Film and TV programs through a series of concrete measures and tools. This issue has been included in the agenda of Government talks between the two sides in the past, and it has been mutually agreed that it could be a very promising field of cooperation.
Over the last 50 years Greece, with its unique landscape and highly skilled technical staff, has regularly attracted famed directors and actors from a number of countries (notably US and Europe, including a few from China), chiefly as a top shooting location. To name a few international productions filmed in Greece: Mamma Mia, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Lara Croft, Beijing Love Story etc.
Recently (April 21-29), the President of the Association of Greek Independent Audiovisual Producers (SAPOE), Mr. Panos Papahadzis, together with the Legal Counselor of SAPOE, Mrs. Christina Pigaki, concluded a successful visit to China (Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang) and held a series of meetings with China Film Producer’s Assoc., SAPPRFT, Shanghai SARFT, CCTV, SMG, Zhejiang TV, Shanghai Intl Film Festival, Shanghai Film Group and other private film and documentary production companies. Greek delegates were warmly received and during discussions useful exchanges and ideas were generated as regards ways of promoting joint productions and rendering Greece a preferred location for shooting of Chinese films in Europe.
Greece’s most important assets as a film production base and shooting location derive not just from the unparalleled beauty of its land, but also from its millennia-long diversified culture, friendliness and warm hospitality of its people, the vast resources and experience in its tourism industry, and last but not least, the high quality of its film and movie industry and its skilled people. This was amply demonstrated in China last year, when the film of director P. Voulgaris “Little England” received a triple top award and the Golden Goblet prize at the Shanghai Intl. Film Festival.
