Chiliadou Beach, on the Aegean side of the Greek island of Evia, has been nominated for this year’s renowned Best European Film Location Award.
The award is presented by the European Network of Film Commission (EUFCN). The beach was proposed as a nominee by the Hellenic Film Commission’s Directorate for International Audiovisual Productions earlier this year.
The general public is invited to vote online for their favorite film location on the EUFCN’s website.
Chiliadou’s nomination for best film location award
Chialiadou has been selected as a finalist for best film location among four other finalists. These include the Brissago Islands for the film Dawn Chorus (Switzerland), the town of Portsoy for the television series Peaky Blinders (Scotland), The Schlosshotel Kronberg for the film Spencer (Germany), and The Stari Grad district for the film How I Learned To Fly (Croatia).
Chiliadou’s breathtaking natural landscape was visible in the award-winning Swedish dark comedy, the Triangle of Sadness. The movie was directed by Ruben Östlund and starred Charbli Dean, Harris Dickinson, and Woody Harrelson.
The Athens-based Greek boutique film house, Heretic, was also involved in the production of the Triangle of Sadness, together with Plattform Produktion, Essential Films, and Parisienne de Production.
The film was well-received by critics and won a Golden Palm at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival.
Ruben Östlund, spoke at length on the suitability of Chiliadou as a film location. “The locations in Chiliadou are unique. I’m not exaggerating, the filming was fantastic. The crew was knowledgeable and willing, while the locals were friendly and accommodating,” the director said.
“We were lucky in terms of the weather, but also the conditions regarding COVID-19,” Östlund said. “The organization of filming under these conditions and the production of material, which exceeded my expectations, made my joy greater. The period I spent in Greece was one of my experiences that made me love my job even more. A big thank you to Heretic and the Hellenic Film Commission.”
Eric Hemendorff, one of the film’s producers, also sang Chiliadou’s praises as a film location. “When our collaboration with Heretic began, Giorgos Karnavas sent me the photographic material of the location manager Menelaos Mytilinaios, the best I had seen,” he said.
“Chiliadou combined mountain and sea, [and] it had the wild beauty we wanted,” the Swedish producer added. “Reuben is selective with locations. If they didn’t do it for him, we wouldn’t be there.
Greece as a film location
The Triangle of Sadness is not the first picture to highlight Greece as an excellent filming location. Much of this is due to the beautiful and varied landscapes across Greece, which provide filmmakers with a tantalizing list of options for atmospheric backdrops.
The first-ever Hollywood movie to be shot in Greece was The Boy on a Dolphin, starring Sophia Loren. The film was shot on location on the stunning island of Hydra in 1957.
Loren recalled her time filming in Greece fondly, saying that she “did a picture, The Boy on a Dolphin, in Greece, in Hydra, one of the most beautiful places in the world. I remember it really with great, great joy.”
More recently, Greek filmmakers have used the landscapes of Greece to great effect in their movies. The 2012 film Meteora, directed by Spiros Stathoulopoulos, features many lingering shots of Meteora’s gravity-defying rock formations.
How to vote
Voting is available to the general public internationally via a page on the EUFCN pan-European platform website. Voters have until January 30, 2023 to pick their favorite film location.
Online voters will also have the chance to win a three-day stay for two at whichever film location goes on to win the award. Voters will be entered into the prize draw automatically, and a winner will be chosen by lottery by the EUFCN and Cineuropa.
The award ceremony will take place during the 73rd Berlin Film Festival as part of the European Film Market in February 2023.
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