GREEK
SCHOOL
PRAYER

In Dimitri’s high school, Vassilis and his friends, a gang of bullies, terrorize him. When he learns that it’s his turn to say the morning prayer in front of the entire school, Vassilis becomes the only thing he can think about. But, what’s going to happen when the time comes and he stands in front of the whole school and mainly in front of him? While seeking their identity, through violence, they will inevitably test each other’s boundaries.

SYNOPSIS

GREEK SCHOOL PRAYER (20' | 2014), his graduation short film and a deeply personal story, explores adolescence, conformity, and the silent violence of bullying within the Greek educational system. The film received the Golden Dionysus Award for Best Greek Short Film at the Drama International Short Film Festival and has since been used as an educational tool in schools across Greece, addressing issues of diversity and inclusion. Over time, it has found its most meaningful audience in the students themselves, while also reaching a wider audience with over 2.5 million views online.

INTRO

★★★★★
GREAT
Cinepivates

★★★★★
POWERFULL
Euronews

SHORT FILM | PROSEFHI | 20' | 2014

★★★★★
UNFORGETTABLE
Lifo

TRAILER

PHOTOS | STILLS

FILM DIRECTION
Thanasis Neofotistos

SCREENPLAY
Thanasis Neofotistos
Grigoris Skarakis

CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ilias Adamis

EDITING
Chronis Theocharis

CREDITS

CAST
Christos Karavevas as Dimitris
Stelios Karambinas as Vassilis

SOUND
Alejandro Cabrera

PRODUCTION
Kyriakos Chatzimichailidis (T-ShOrt)
Thanasis Neofotistos (NF-Films)
Production Manager: Iro Adracta

TITLE: PROSEFHI : Greek School Prayer
ΤΙΤΛΟΣ: ΠΡΟΣΕΥΧΗ
GENRE: Narrative Fiction | Short Film
RUNTIME: 20 min
YEAR: 2018
FILM LANGUAGE: Greek
FORMAT: 2K | 1:2:35 | 24fps | 5:1 Sound | DCP
KEYWORDS: Puberty | Diversity | Bullying
HASHTAG: #prosefhi #greekschoolprayer

SPECS

FUN FACTS

● Shot with ALEXA ARRI
● No music & sound libraries were used.
● Thefilm shot in Artistic High School of Gerakas.
● The protagonist were 14 & 15 years old.
● The film was a graduation film for the A.M.C (AKMI Metropolitan College) & Q.M.U (Queen Margaret Univercity).

DIRECTOR'S NOTE
PROSEFHI: Greek School Prayer is a short narrative film that negotiates, using bullying in the background, the transition to the difficult phase of puberty and its revelations. The actors chosen were amateurs, students of this age. The filming took place at the Gerakas high school of Arts. In order to capture the tension in the relationship of the main characters (Vassilis-Dimitris), camera is almost permantly at their Point Of View.

CV
Thanasis Neofotistos is a Greek film director, writer and architect. His work explores identity, fear and desire through symbolic and impressionistic storytelling grounded in realism. His short films, including AIRHOSTESS-737, PATISION AVENUE, ROUTE-3 and GREEK SCHOOL PRAYER, have premiered and received awards at major international festivals such as Venice, Sundance, Toronto, Locarno and Clermont-Ferrand. He served as Head Programmer of the Drama International Short Film Festival and is a member of the European and the Hellenic Film Academies. His debut feature film, THE BOY WITH THE LIGHT-BLUE EYES, is a dark coming-of-age folktale.

DIRECTOR

THANASIS NEOFOTISTOS

*LEARN MORE:  
www.neofotistos.com

FESTIVALS

● HIGHLIGHTS:
• GOLDEN DIONYSUS AWARD, 1st prize at 37th DRAMA DISFF.
• ENCOUNTERS ISFF 21st, Official Selection, 2015 UK.
• SAO PAULO ISFF 26th, Official Selection, 2015 Brazil.
• RAINDANCE IFF 23rd, Official Selection, 2015 UK.
• MUNICH IFF SCHOOL 35th, Official Selection, 2015 Germany.
• BEST SOUND AWARD: at DRAMA ISFF 37th, 2014 Greece.
• BEST PHOTOGRAPHY: Athens Digital IFF, OS 2015, Greece.
• GREEK ACADEMY: Nom best Greek Short Film 2015.
• GOLDEN ODYSSEUS AWARD: 1st prize at 8th London GISFF.
• AUDIENCE CHOISE: FANDEPENDENT, ISFF OS Online 2017.
• NY Union City, IFF OS, USA 2015.
• TIRANA, IFF OS, Albania 2015.

• HONORABLE MENTION: ATHENS IFF 20th, 2014 Greece.
• HONORABLE MENTION: FESTIVART, ISFF OS, Greece 2015.
• SPECIAL MENTION: Short Of The Year, OS ISFF 2016.
• AESTHETIKA ISFF, OS, BAFTAs qualifying, 2015 UK.
• CORNWALL, IFF OS, UK 2015.
• AUBAGNE, IFF OS, France 2016.
• SHORT VISION, Official Selection, Ningbo ISFF, 2015 China.
• PINK SCREENS 14th, Official Selection, 2015 Brussels.
• D'EDUCATION European IFF, 11th OS, 2015 France.
• OLYMPIA 18th Children IFF, OS Greece 2015.
• BALKAN Beyond Borders, IFF OS, Balkans 2015.
• CYPRUS ISFF 5th, Official Selection, 2015 Cyprus.
& More | Awards | 70 IFF |

BACKSTAGE

PRESS

#BULLYING

PROSEFHI: Greek School Prayer is an official educational school's material from CINEDU program, the Ministry of Greek Education and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival!

The screenplay was then approved from the Greek Ministry of Education.

● SCHOOL SCREENINGS: For subjects about Bullying & Diversity.

● Anti-Bullying Day: 06 March