The Greek poetic film by Nana Papadaki and Giorgos Zorbas has won its seventh consecutive award at an international film festival

The poetic film “Primordial” returned from the Cambridge Short Film Festival in the United Kingdom with the Best Independent Short Film Award. It is the only Greek film that was awarded among entries from the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Ireland, China, Spain, Canada, Switzerland, Poland, India, Norway, and others.

The film has already traveled to 16 international film festivals in Greece, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, the United States, India, the United Kingdom, France, Malta, Serbia, Bulgaria, and more, and has received 6 film awards: Audience Choice Award, Best Experimental Film (Outstanding Achievement), Best Experimental Film – Director (Special Mention), Best Experimental Film (Special Jury Award), Award Winner Poetry, Cinematic Achievement Award. It has participated in a total of twenty festivals worldwide.

A few words about the film

“Primordial” creates an internal dialogue between poetry and a timeless landscape. The fusion of image, speech, and music reflects the abandonment of nature, spiritual deadlock, and the end times through the eyes of a woman, who could be Nature, History, an Idea, or simply a person of our time.

Directorial Note

The film “Primordial” extends our artistic collaboration from the theatrical stage to poetic cinema. It explores the possibilities of a non-narrative structure focusing on the core of human existence and the relationship between humans and nature. It is a collaboration of different arts and is based on the poetic book “Archegonis” by Nana Papadaki, which was shortlisted for the poetry awards of the literary magazine “Chartis”. The first draft of the film was presented at a book launch co-organized by the “Melani” publishing house and the “Athens Book Space” of the Municipality of Athens.

A few words about Nana Papadaki

Nana Papadaki is an actress, theater and film director, poet, and author. A graduate of the German School of Athens, the Athens University of Economics and Business, the Film Directing School of E. Chatzikou, and the Drama School of the “Karolos Koun” Art Theatre, she has worked as an actress since her first year of studies. She has collaborated with the Art Theatre, the National Theatre, the Northern Greece State Theatre, the Piraeus Municipal Theatre, the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, and others, with directors such as Giorgos Lazanis, Mimis Kougioumtzis, Thodoros Grampsas, Stathis Livathinos, Peppi Oikonomopoulou, Ioli Andreadi, Ektoras Lygizos, Dimos Avdeliodis, Mirka Gemetza, Stamatis Fasoulis, Marlene Kaminski, Roula Pateraki, and others.

She has performed in dozens of works, portraying many leading roles. She has directed three theatrical productions and published four poetry books. Her poems have been translated into German and Spanish.

A few words about Giorgos Zorbas

Giorgos Zorbas studied film directing, with teachers including Filippios Koutsaftis and Petros Sevastikoglou, and also studied sound engineering. He works as a director, assistant director, sound engineer, and lighting designer in various films and theater productions.

A few words about “Maldoror” Non-Profit Organization

“Maldoror” Non-Profit Organization operates under the artistic direction of Nana Papadaki. Under her direction, the organization has presented the Platonic dialogue “Ion” in the main program of the Aischylia Festival, “Under the Shade of the Mountain” by Yiannis Ritsos in Athens, Elefsina, and Brussels, following an honorary invitation from the Greek cultural association in Brussels “Kyklos”, “The Sea Lovers,” three short stories by Alexandros Papadiamantis, directed by Mirka Gemetza, in the events of the institution of memory and tribute in Skiathos, after an honorary invitation from the Municipality of Skiathos, the play “Victory Tonight at the Party” by Niki Triantafyllidi, directed and dramaturgically adapted by Roula Pateraki, “Timandra” by Thodoris Kalifatidis, directed by Chrysa Kapsouli, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and the Swedish Institute in Athens, with financial support from the Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the international publishing house Galaxia Gutenberg, based in Spain.

The poetic film “Primordial,” directed by Giorgos Zorbas and Nana Papadaki, is its first audiovisual production, which has received seven international awards and has traveled to various international festivals in Greece and abroad.