Big Short Films 2025. And the winners are.
Discover the winning filmmakers.
For the third consecutive year, the Onassis Foundation has made space for new cinematic ideas through its open call for short films. This year, more than 140 proposals were submitted by Greek and international creators – and five of them stood out and were selected for funding.
AMNESIA (Fiction)
Director & Screenwriter: Nikos Kolioukos
Producers: Kyveli Short, Maria Drandaki (Homemade Films)
An unexpected encounter between Angie and Stathis on a city bus in the working-class western suburbs of Thessaloniki sparks a return to the love story they shared thirty years earlier. From their wild, drunken, and sexually charged nights at the disco Amnesia to Stathis’s secret exploration of his sexuality in the city’s hidden underground queer cruising spots, their relationship was shaped by guilt, lies, and endless declarations of love—until it all unraveled. Now, three decades later, aged and transformed, they confront the past and everything they tried to forget. As if no time has passed, they make love again with the same intensity and vulnerability. A queer story about love and memory—a raw, electric, and heartbreaking love story about the erosion of time, erotic desire, betrayal, acceptance, and tenderness.
MERIDIAN (Fiction)
Director & Screenwriter: Markela Kontaratou
Producers: Manos Tzivakis, Kyriaki Kontaratou (Sonder Films)
MERIDIAN is inspired by real communities in Northern Greece experiencing the impact of lignite mining and, ultimately, de-lignitisation. In the film’s universe, lignite is worshipped as a deity and miners are seen as martyrs sacrificed on the altar of extraction. Marina, a mine worker, lives under bleak conditions in the isolated village of Meridian and hides her health issues from her sister Elina, who is pregnant and deeply religious, clinging to hope through the life growing inside her. One night, a strange explosion shakes the mine, throwing the villagers into turmoil. Soon they learn the mine will be permanently shut down. As Marina begins to question her identity and faith while facing unemployment, Elina turns even more fervently to religion. The arrival of a group of foreign "lignite pilgrims" seeking a miracle brings the sisters into inevitable conflict.
HIGHWAY! (Animation)
Director: Fokion Xenos
Screenplay: Fokion Xenos, Manos Aggelakis
Producer: Isabella Alopoudi (Neda Films)
On a highway, thousands of cars sit stuck in traffic with their drivers. It’s as if centuries have passed, and the gridlock has become a way of life. Gradually, the drivers begin to share the rumors circulating about the cause of the jam. Among them, a Mechanic helps cars in need alongside his Apprentice, while also fighting the biggest battle of all: resisting the influence of endlessly circulated and regurgitated conspiracy theories from the other drivers. When suspicions turn into accusations, and chaos erupts across the highway, the question becomes: will the Mechanic succumb to the madness of the crowd, or will his bond with his student help him rise above it? Can anyone escape the psychology of the masses?
ADA (Documentary, Animation)
Screenwriter & Director: Sofia Kourou
Producer: Daphne Kalafati (FILMIKI)
The documentary “ADA” explores the issue of gender-based violence in the world of cinema, through the experiences of Ariane and Marie, two women at the forefront of efforts to confront sexual abuse and harassment in the industry. Ariane, founder of the organization Association ADA, brings us into the heart of this initiative through conversations with Marie, as the two women reflect on their experiences, on silence, violence, and the urgent need for a network of support and action.
The film is enriched with digitally painted scenes and a parallel visual narrative: a young dancer who physically interprets the stories of the two women through her movement and performance. Her body becomes a vessel of the lived experience, trauma, and resistance, conveying the narrative in a symbolic and emotionally charged form.
Blending documentary and performance, reality and artistic representation, the film boldly and sensitively expresses the need for justice, solidarity and for these voices to be heard.
FINAL GIRLS (Fiction)
Screenwriter & Director: Penelope Mavropsaridi
Producer: Eleni Kossyfidou (Blackbird Productions)
On a winter night, Niki, a young student at the Athens School of Fine Arts, waits for her best friend Aris to join her for a secret gathering inside their school. Alongside five other classmates, they plan to contact the school’s ghost using a Ouija board. But their plans are shattered when a deafening crash shakes the building—a spaceship has landed directly above them, and the humanoid robot that emerges is far from peaceful. A deadly cat-and-mouse game begins, as the group tries to escape the killer android, while their friendships and relationships are pushed to the brink. As her friends are picked off one by one, Niki is forced to confront herself and her deepest fears in an unexpected, glitter-soaked, blood-splattered journey of coming-of-age.
I want to make films I’d like to watch and, if along the way we create a memory, even better.
The first Big Short Film to be completed was "MJ" by Yorgos Fourtounis, produced by Eleni Kossyfidou (Blackbird Production), which had its premiere at the Drama International Short Film Festival 2024. The film was warmly received by both audiences and critics, winning five awards, including the Silver Dionysus. Shortly afterward, it screened at the Athens International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Athena Award for Best Short Film. The films “The Peeling” (Krysianna Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos), “Free Eliza (The Unlikely Story of an Anatomical Anomaly)” (Alexandra Matheou), “Sparoza—Echoes in the Garden” (Catriona Gallagher), “Caps” (Dimitris Theocharidis), and “Zebra’s Island” (Alexandros Kostopoulos) were the winners for 2024.
