Onassis Culture at the 79th Cannes Film Festival
The Onassis Foundation takes part in the most prestigious international film festival, on the Croisette in Cannes, from May 12 to 23, with two co-productions premiering globally: Konstantina Kotzamani’s debut feature film, “Titanic Ocean,” and Alexandra Matthaiou’s short film, “Free Eliza (The Unlikely Story of an Anatomical Anomaly).” Two Greek entries at the world’s leading film festival, two female directors, each with a distinct view, supported by Onassis Culture.
Titanic Ocean by Konstantina Kotzamani
A co-production by Onassis Culture
World premiere in the Un Certain Regard section of the 79th Cannes Film Festival
At a school in Japan training girls to become mermaids, 17-year-old Akame will discover her deep, inner siren voice. She will fall in love for the first time. And she will transform. Between dream and reality, realism and magic, “Titanic Ocean” plunges into the mythical universe of mermaids. In her first feature film, Konstantina Kotzamani explores the complex world of the new generation—a fluid generation that hopes, fears, rebels, and seeks. As the girls transcend their physical and emotional limits, they discover magic, dreams, danger, but also the power hidden within them. “Titanic Ocean” is a poetic and provocative film in which the feminine becomes an unstoppable flow of transformation. A flow that, like a great wave, will flood the world.
The film, produced by Homemade Films, is a co-production of Onassis Culture. The Onassis Foundation has supported Konstantina Kotzamani from her very first steps; she has been an Onassis Scholar, and in 2023, she traveled to Los Angeles as an Onassis Fellow, where she engaged with the American film community.
I wanted to create a film that seduces like a mermaid into a luminous world of youth, desire, and fantasy, before pulling the audience into deeper waters—into the wild psyche, instinct, and magic.
Free Eliza (The Unlikely Story of an Anatomical Anomaly)
Big Short Film Open Call Winner 2024
World premiere at the Directors’ Fortnight of the 79th Cannes Film Festival
Due to an anatomical anomaly, Eliza cannot smile. In the global realm of toxic positivity, this is a serious problem. The film, written and directed by Alexandra Matheou and produced by Savvas Stavrou (Merricat Films), was selected as one of the five films of the Big Short Film 2024 Open Call. Regarding the film, Alexandra Matheou states: “Every day we are bombarded with reminders about the importance of positivity. The trend now termed as ‘toxic positivity’ promotes smiling and optimism as supreme values in a society seeking painless and quick solutions. As a person and a creator who, by nature, leans toward optimism, I do believe that looking at the world with a smile can be a small act of resistance in a world that does everything it can every day to crush you. However, it strikes me as utterly paradoxical that, when we face problems, there is truly very little space left to process our emotions before reaching the point where we feel better and can move forward. In this short film, my starting point is not to privilege a narrative tied to classical dramaturgy. At its core, after all, the script presents an idiosyncratic heroine about whom we know very little—and even that with no certainty—within a story where conflict seems entirely absent. In a world built on superficial layers of fleeting joy, Eliza may not be the heroine we conventionally imagine, but perhaps the one we will always need.”
Onassis Culture stood by the film at a time when it needed it most. Their support is not only practical but deeply human, and it is a form of care we felt at every stage of the process, which I do not take for granted at all. A big short film and an even bigger team!
A new partnership
Onassis ONX partners with CIRCLE Expanded Orbit, a new international programme dedicated to immersive storytelling and advanced technologies. The programme supports women and gender‑expansive filmmakers, artists, and creative teams exploring emerging storytelling forms through critical and creative practices.
The collaboration will be presented within the framework of the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival, where the programme will be introduced and the open call for participation announced, in advance of its implementation in Athens in November at ONX Studio, Onassis Ready.
