15/10/2013 - The alternative film-funding festival gave film-lovers the chance to meet filmmakers before picking and supporting projects

A two-day event designed to provide extra stimuli to film-lovers eager to help struggling filmmakers finish their projects, the Give & Take funding fest brought creative talent to the crowds at a meet and fund gathering last weekend.

The event first started on local online crowd-funding platform Groopio.com, where filmmakers looking for funding were invited to post their projects and ideas on the website, kicking off the first round of funding.

Afterwards, projects and creators were gathered at warehouse-turned-art gallery EDW, where people interested in funding film efforts, had the chance to walk around the projects, meet their talent and vote for their favorites.

Voting was done with 1-euro chips, voters being able to drop as many chips as they wanted on their favorite projects. The project with the highest number of chips would then gather all chips cast on every other project, thus securing a hefty sum to help get it off the ground, as well as post-production sponsorships awarded by the fest.

Including both short and feature length films, the event showcased projects like Photis Velentzas’ Inside Agnes, where a doctor embarks on a journey inside a constipated octogenarian sex worker’s anus, or Syni Pappa’s futuristic short Whack (photo), where suicide is forbidden and those arrested attempting it, are sentenced to life imprisonment in reproduction camps.

Christos Pitharas’ feature film project Bliss, whose team was the most enthusiastic during the event, was crowned winner, garnering a €2,500 boost to its budget. The film, a mixture of drama and black comedy, follows a young woman who thinks an unknown Facebook friend is stalking her.