18/06/2026 - Giorgos Georgopoulos’ coming-of-age sports drama has won seven trophies, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay

The Hellenic Film Academy has held the 17th edition of its Iris Awards, with Patty Is Such a Girly Name by Giorgos Georgopoulos emerging as the night’s major winner. The film collected seven prizes in total, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing, with the latter three awarded to Georgopoulos, confirming its status as the most-decorated title of the ceremony. It also picked up Best Original Score for Marilena Orfanou and Stavros Mitropoulos, and Best Sound for Nikos Exarchos, Aris Louziotis and Kostas Varympopiotis, while Youla Boudali received one of the Best Supporting Actress Awards.

The film follows Patty, an 18-year-old judo athlete from a remote Greek island who decides to leave for Athens with her sensei in pursuit of her Olympic dream. Along the way, she faces desire, betrayal and painful truths that could either break her or make her stronger. Patty Is Such a Girly Name was staged by Stefanos Koutsardakis (Chaotic Good Productions), Christos V Konstantakopoulos (Faliro House Productions) and Fenia Kosovitsa (Blonde Audiovisual Productions).

The Best First-time Director Award went to Stergios Dinopoulos and Krysianna Papadakis for Bearcave, which explores society’s expectations of two young female best friends in the Greek countryside. The Venice Giornate degli Autori-premiered flick also earned Hara Kyriazi the Best Actress in a Leading Role Award.

Acting honours were widely distributed across different titles. Christos Passalis won Best Actor in a Leading Role for Beachcomber, directed by Aristotelis Maragkos, with the film also receiving the Iris for Best Cinematography for Giorgos Karvelas. In the supporting categories, Christos Valavanidis was honoured posthumously for his last film role in Receptions by Filippos Tsitos, alongside Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos for Life in a Beat by Amerissa Basta. The other Best Supporting Actress gong was bestowed upon seasoned thesp Betty Arvaniti for Broken Vein by Yannis Economides.

The remaining major awards were spread across a range of titles, with the local box-office success The Christmas Carols by Hristos Kanakis standing out in the technical categories, winning Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and Best Make-up, Hair and Special Effects Design. The Best Minority Co-production Award went to Maricel, directed by Elias Demetriou and co-produced by Maria Drandaki for Homemade Films, while the Best Documentary Film Award was given to Lo by Thanasis Vasileiou. The Best Special and Visual Effects Award was presented to Hen, directed by Hungarian filmmaker György Pálfi.

Here is the full list of winners at the 2026 Greek Iris Awards:

Best Film
Patty Is Such a Girly Name – Giorgos Georgopoulos (Greece)

Best Documentary Film
Lo – Thanasis Vasileiou (Greece/France)

Best Minority Co-production
Maricel – Elias Demetriou (Cyprus/Greece)

Best Short Film
Dust to Dust – Dimitris Papathanasis (Greece)

Best Short Documentary Film
Beware of the Southern Stars – Christos Karteris (Greece)

Best Short Animated Film
Black Cities – Christos Magganas (Greece)

Best Short Student Film
Leaving Was What She Did Best – Vasilis Pantelidis (Greece)

Best Director
Giorgos Georgopoulos – Patty Is Such a Girly Name

Best First-time Director
Stergios Dinopoulos, Krysianna Papadakis – Bearcave (Greece)

Best Screenplay
Giorgos Georgopoulos – Patty Is Such a Girly Name

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Christos Passalis – Beachcomber (Greece)

Best Actress in a Leading Role
Hara Kyriazi – Bearcave

Best Actor in a Supporting Role (ex aequo)
Christos Valavanidis – Receptions (Greece)
Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos – Life in a Beat (Greece/Cyprus/Bulgaria/North Macedonia/Montenegro/France)

Best Actress in a Supporting Role (ex aequo)
Youla Boudali – Patty Is Such a Girly Name
Betty Arvaniti – Broken Vein (Greece/Cyprus)

Best Cinematography
Giorgos Karvelas – Beachcomber

Best Editing
Giorgos Georgopoulos – Patty Is Such a Girly Name

Best Original Score
Marilena Orfanou, Stavros Mitropoulos – Patty Is Such a Girly Name

Best Production Design
Liza Tsouloupa – The Christmas Carols (Greece)

Best Costume Design
Triada Papadaki – The Christmas Carols

Best Sound
Nikos Exarchos, Aris Louziotis, Kostas Varympopiotis – Patty Is Such a Girly Name

Best Make-up, Hair and Special Effects Design
Katerina Varthalitou, Chronis Tzimos – The Christmas Carols

Best Special and Visual Effects
Glen McGuigan – Hen (Germany/Greece/Hungary)

Honorary Award
Pantelis Voulgaris