About the Festival
Positively Different Short Film Festival
PDSFF23: Resistances
PDSFF23 – Resistances, 16 – 19 March 2023, Athens (main event), Istanbul, Belgrade, Nicosia, Sofia, Zagreb, Dakar (simultaneous screenings of awarded films).

PDSFF loves twists! This year, the festival transformed into a trans-local cinematic space of creation and resistance with parallel screenings in Athens, Istanbul, Belgrade, Nicosia, Sofia, Zagreb, and Dakar. We sought to create a new space where we can be together in all our diversity: safe and brave at the same time.
The curatorial team of PDSFF23 divided 37 short films from 17 countries into seven narrative sets. Each set reflects concerns, ideas, and explorative attempts to understand better the different worlds we live in and the ones we wish to create. The festival selection looked holistically and critically into the concept of intersectionality; the sets examined its entangled nature and its limits in relation to universal assumptions – the concepts of body, space, boundaries – but also realities that we constitute – relationships, communities, everyday life. The screening program was complemented by discussions, music, and multimedia performances.
This year’s finalists competed for four awards – Jury Award, Audience Award, Best Greek Production, and Curatorial Team award – accompanied by cash prizes in an effort to provide practical support to creators; winners announced in the following section.
Announcements
Four days of screenings, discussions, and ..resisting dystopia
This year’s edition leaves us with a bittersweet feeling. Kicking off the festival run on the day of the general workers’ strike, in the midst of artists squatting theaters and occupying university space, served as a reality check.
In Athens and other cities around Greece, actors protest and strike against a government decision that infringes on their professional and academic rights. On the one hand, this decision attacks artistic expression, of which no conservative ruler is fond. On the other, it is part of a broader strategy to pave the way for a crooked, socially dividing, and unjust version of private university education in the country.
PDSFF23 commenced with the announcement of free admission screenings, open to the public, as a minimum symbolic support to the strike. With full-house screenings every night of the four-day event and filmmakers attending after long delays and canceled flights, we -once again- realise the importance of storytelling and coming together in times when we are expected to retreat.
We wholeheartedly thank all the creators for sharing their stories, the festival workers, the subtitlers, the volunteers, curators, guest speakers, and everyone showing up and flooding TRIANON with their support and enthusiasm amidst the agonising developments in the Greek political sphere.
Until next year,
On behalf of the festival team


PDSFF23 Volunteers Training
On October 22 & 23, returning and new volunteers, along with the organisers of the Positively Different Short Film Festival, gathered at Inter Alia’s office for a two-day training.
On the first day, a series of activities and energisers were organised, where participants had the chance to get to know each other, but also discuss inclusion and address the concept of privilege, reflecting on personal and collective experiences.

Silent discussion
For the purposes of the first day of the training, which aimed to familiarise the participants with inclusion and privilege, the methodology of silent conversation was implemented. Silent conversation aims at providing participants with equal opportunities and a safe space where they can freely express their opinions in writing.
Three large poster-size papers were laid out on the floor, each one posing a different question:
“What does intersectionality mean for you?”
“Which identities, experiences, social positions affect your life and that of the people around you?”
“How do you think inclusivity is created? What do you need for a safe space and how do you make it for others?”
The participants were given markers and post-its and were encouraged to walk around the room, answer questions, respond to what others have written, leave comments and share thoughts.
At the end of the activity, everyone had the opportunity to speak in a group discussion and reflect on the process.
On the second day of the training, emphasis was placed on the film selection process. We talked about the festival’s values and approach, about the concept of content warning and about addressing violence without providing any extra space for it.
Screenings
In order to simulate the process of the film selection, three short films were screened from the previous years:
- At Intersections (6’)
- This is Right; Zak Life and After (13’)
- Feeling Through (18’)
This gave the opportunity for discussion on specific films. Lastly, we formed the small groups in which we will be working for the following months.
The #PDSFF23 preparations have begun!
Call for volunteers
It’s this time of the year!
As we’re collecting shorts from all around the globe, we’re also looking for our PDSFF23 film selection Volunteers’ team!
What you will gain from joining our team:
- Experience and professional training on:
a. film critique
b. the intersectionality framework
c. event accessibility - Collaboration with an international team of committed and motivated people
- All access to screenings and side events
What we’re looking for:
- Cinema related experience (professional, educational, volunteering)
- Interest in the topic of intersectionality
- Sense of responsibility
- Inclusion mindset
Complete the form below by September 25 & join the PDSFF23 team:
https://interaliaproject.com/participation/pdsff23-volunteer-call/


PDSFF22 x Zagoriwood
On 22/7 #PDSFF22 goes to Zagoriwood! 🐐
Until then, we read what Mel Kalfanti said to Stella Elmatzoglou from 3point magazine about its Positively Different schedule, visibility, and a snowy March weekend ✨ Many thanks to Stella and our friend from the magazine! ✨

PDSFF22
The curatorial team of #PDSFF22 and Inter Alia warmly thank all the people who made this event so unique – guests, creators, volunteers and of course, all of you who attended and filled the TRIANON room for three consecutive days. Over the course of the festival run, 35 shorts were screened competing for three cash awards. The official selection was complemented by the open discussion ‘Symptoms of Masculinity’ and the ‘Living Library’ event. Los Tre band completed Saturday’s program with a full house jazz live. PDSFF22 wrapped with over 20 international guests, 1500 euros in cash prizes and over 1700 visitors and attendees. Stay tuned! #PDSFF23
More photos at: @positivelydifferentff

'Symptoms of masculinity' Round-table Discussion
Trianon cinema was filled with an audience eager to discuss with involved experts from diverse fields, coming together to analyse gender-based violence as a symptom of dominant masculinity and alternative ways to discuss the concept and reexamine its meaning.
The panel involved Anna Kouroupou, director of Red Umbrella Athens, who shared her experience of trans activism and precarity as a trans sexworker; Anna Maria Papacharalambous, an actress that is among the ones who inspired the explosion of the #metoo movement in Greece, coming forward to share her experience of gender based violence in the arts sector; Dimitris Terzis, a journalist with many years of experience, discussing how gender roles have changed in this demanding sector; Aggeliki Serafeim, a lawyer who explained what could be achieved if femicides were recognized as such by the law; and Antonis Poulios, psychoanalyst, sharing his thoughts on the influence of the gender binary in the construction of the human psyche. The panel was facilitated by Mel Kalfanti, member of PDSFF’s curatorial team and doctoral student.
The audience remained invested in the panel discussion and had a lively participation in the following discussion, sharing professional and personal experiences on the topic.
PDSFF22 x Masterclass on Film Critique
The Masterclass on Film Critique with Yiannis Kantea-Papadopoulos was followed up with our final meeting on Saturday the 6th, where we met physically and virtually to talk about intersectionality.
We had the chance to get an insight on the theory behind the festival’s rationale, discuss our experiences related to our multiple and conflicted identities, and learn from each other, through games and discussions. The next phase, that of programming, is about to kick off and we couldn’t be more excited! #PDSFF22

Positively Different Short Film Festival 2022 | Call for Volunteers
Positively Different Short Film Festival 2022 calls out to all film enthusiasts for yet another exciting year to come:
Will you help us narrow down the official festival selection for 2022?
Complete the form linked & join the PDSFF22 festival team!
Positively Different Short Film Festival seeks to explore intersecting discriminations; the festival team is particularly interested in providing a space for otherwise ‘invisible’ stories to be articulated and heard; stories of individuals and communities facing marginalisation due to the identities they carry.
What you will gain by volunteering with our team:
- Training on film critique and the subject of intersectionality
- Collaboration with an international team of committed and motivated people
- All access to screenings and side events
What we’re looking for:
- Cinema related experience (professional, educational, volunteer)
- Interest in the topic of intersectionality
- Sense of responsibility

Call for submissions #PDSFF22
Positively Different Short Film Festival, 11 – 13 March 2022, Athens
Two years into a narrower life, filmmakers keep inspiring us with their resilience. They exemplify that power and imagination can’t be confined. PDSFF is a time of appreciation and celebration of this lot.
We invite all filmmakers, documentarists, visual content creators, students and emerging artists to submit their shorts from the fields of fiction, documentary and visual arts. We are particularly interested in the topic of intersectionality; in the stories of communities and individuals that, due to their intersecting identities and complex experiences regarding their gender, sexuality, race, class, ethnicity, religion and able-bodiedness, remain unseen.
Positively Different Short Film Festival focuses on the multiple facets of oppression and aspires to further creative works, cultural networks and political causes from and about the ‘invisibles’ of modern societies. Our team and audience are charmed by aesthetic coherence as much as they are excited by robustness, simplicity and tacitness. Shorts that reflect bold visions, grounded sophistication, original viewpoints and personal urgency are, essentially, what we look for.
The festival will feature a curated catalogue of approximately 35 short films that will be screened at TRIANON cinema in Athens from March 11 to13 competing for 3 prizes – Best Film Award, Audience Award, Best Greek Production. Concerts, workshops and masterclasses, special screenings, poetry-slam sessions and discussions will assemble an intense three-day celebration of diversity and togetherness.
The festival will support all finalists to join in person.
Early bird submission deadline: 20/09 (free)
Regural submission deadline: 31/10

PDSFF21 x Cine Sxoleio
Positively Different Short Film Festival collaborated with Cine Sholeio Pikermiou to hold a day devoted to cinema and social action. Through a curated selection of awarded and handpicked shorts from the official program of PDSFF20 & PDSFF21 touched upon a series of otherwise under-represented thematics and initiated a dialogue with the local community within the context of the 2nd Rafina Short Film Festival.
More info: Facebook





PDSFF21 x Zagoriwood | Κato Pedina
For the second time around, PDSFF prepared and showcased a hand-picked selection of this year’s award winners (Best Film Award, Audience Award and Best Greek Production) and Honorable Mentions.
In the breathtaking scenery of Epirus and Zagorochoria, we were glad to collaborate again with ‘Zagoriwood’ and their exceptional team. Screenings, workshops and multi-awarded films brought us together at Kato Pedina to chat and exchange ideas and best practices.
Until next time,
Thank you Zagjoriwood



PDSFF21 x Exarcheia Square | Plateia Exarcheion
Time and space in our cities is narrowing; a consequence of a lifestyle pattern imposed by few and experienced as an alienating reality by the rest. Positively Different Short Film Festival was created to enable people voice themselves against oppressive structures, enhance their agency and defend the public sphere.
Our route intersected with the struggle to stop the construction of a metro station on Exarchia square and to maintain it as one of the few free public spaces of central Athens. Exarchia square except from a political symbol, is also a field of the community’s earthly struggle for quality time and space. And, as such, it should be defended by all.
On Friday, July 23, we shared some of the PDSFF films on the topics of public space and displacement, fostering reflection on what is at stake:
Between the hill and the marsh, 19′, Spain
Bladgoud, 26′, Netherlands
Suicide Candidates, 18′, Morocco
At the schoolyard, 10′, Greece
Reonghee, 15′, Republic of Korea


Positively Different Short Film Festival Travels to France
On the occasion of the international meeting on European values and the value of Europe that took place in Loche, France, organised by Europe en Berry Tourraine, PDSFF conveyed a message of equality, empathy and solidarity. An audience of great diversity, adolescents, youngsters and elderly people from 20 European countries, enjoyed a special screening from the 2020 and 2021 collection, offering an intersectional view on contemporary challenges of European communities. Able-bodiness, sexuality, age, refugeeship and mental health were among the issues touched through fiction and documentary movies from across Europe. The screening included the following movies:
Happy, 8’, Greece
At Night I Dream, 16’, Luxemburg
At the Schoolyard, 10’, Greece
I See in the Dark, 16’, Slovenia
Down the Wire, 14’, Italy


PDSFF21 x CineParko | Autodiaxeirizomeno Parko Navarinou
The curatorial team of Positively Different Short Film Festival presents this year’s winners and audience picks in open air pop-up screenings in some of our favorites city spots during July.
Last Wednesday we gathered at CineParko | Autodiaxeirizomeno Parko Navarinou and watched some of our feel good shorts along with some of the Greek directors. Thanks for the full house!
Each screening comes with a differentiated program seeking to narrate a specific storyline. Catch a screening if in Athens and come say hi!
Next available date:
23/07 @Plateia Exarcheion



PDSFF21 x Summer Screening | ΤΡΙΑΝΟΝ Οpen Air
Last Sunday, we had the pleasure to screen some of this year’s audience favorites, award-winning shorts and honorable mentions to the festival’s main venue, TΡΙΑΝΟΝ.
The editorial team of PDSFF21 presented two curated sets in PDSFF21 first open air session in Athens and facilitated a Q&A discussion with the invited directors on filming from a position of privilege, underlying motives and on creating safe spaces for less represented communities.
Catch a screening if still in Athens and come say hi!
Next available dates:
14/07 @CineParko | Autodiaxeirizomeno Parko Navarinou
23/07 @Plateia Exarcheion


Positively Different Short Film Festival at ΤΡΙΑΝΟΝ Open Air
Positively Different Short Film Festival throws its first summer screening for 2021. This year’s winners and honorable mentions will be presented in two sessions along with some of the curatiorial team’s favorites. The films will be projected with greek subtitles.
The screening will take place at the 4th of July at the festival’s main venue yet summer-ish;
Rendez-vous at TΡΙΑΝΟΝ Open air ✨
Tickets will be available at the box office from 3 euros/slot or 5 euros for the whole day.

Submissions for 2021 are now open!


Positively Different Short Film Festival joins Zagoriwood
Up in the mountains of Epirus under a magical August full-moon, PDSFF held a screening of selected movies from the 2020 catalogue in the framework of Zagoriwood film festival and workshop. Along with local citizens and film students, in the main square of Kato Pedina, films about intersecting stories and shared struggles against oppression were screened. The discussions that followed with participants and teachers in the workshop were enlightening as to how to make the upcoming festival even better.
Big thanks to Zagoriwood organising team for the invitation and to the local community of Kato Pedina for the warm welcome. See you next year!

Positively Different Short Film Festival at CinePark

Pre-festival screening Photos
PDSFF was introduced to the audience with its first pre-festival event on Friday, 10th of January, almost a month prior to its official opening at the 13rd of February at Trianon. The attendees had the chance to discuss the festival’s core thematics and to participate in crafting the official 2020 festival selection by selecting amongst the semi-finalists.
Stay tuned!






2023 Awards
Best Film Award
Best Greek Production
Audience Award

Left Handed

5PM Seaside

To Read them Poems
Curatorial Team Award
Honourable Mention
Honourable Mention

9th floor to the right

I woke up 18

Sex Relish (a solo orgasm)
Videos
Positively Different Short Film Festival 2023
Ultimate limit
(Un)familial relations & Oh what a world
The body I live in
The space* paradox
Brave new worlds
Ongoing dystopias
Positively Different Short Film Festival 2022
Positively Different 2022 Trailer
'Symptoms of masculinity' Round-table Discussion
Positively Different Short Film Festival 2021
Positively Different 2021 Trailer
Positively Different Short Film Festival 2020
Positively Different 2020 Aftermovie
Positively Different 2020 Trailer
Positively Different 2020 Teaser
Meet the Team
Organisers
Volunteers
Jury Committee

Artemis Anastasiadou
Director and screenwriter from Thessaloniki. She studied theatre at the Fine Arts School of AUTH and film direction at the University of Texas at Austin. Her latest film “Vancouver” was screened and honoured with a special mention at the Berlin Film Festival (2022) and received the IRIS award for best short fiction from the Hellenic Film Academy. Her film “I am Mackenzie” (2019) won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Texas Short at SXSW 2019. After spending over a decade editing films and documentaries, in 2017 she turned to teaching film .

Zacharias Mavroeidis
He studied architecture in Thessaloniki, theatre in Madrid and cinema in Athens and Cuba. He participated in the Berlinale and Sarajevo Talent Campus while he is a scholarship recipient of the Artworks program of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. He teaches screenwriting in schools in Athens. In September 2022, he was elected secretary general of the Hellenic Film Academy.
His documentary ACROSS HER BODY participated in the International Competition of the 60th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. His second feature fiction, APOSTRATOS, won the Audience and Youth Awards of the AUTH student committee at the International Competition of the 60th Thessaloniki Film Festival as well as the IRIS Award for Best Screenplay 2020 and the Best Film Award at Kinenova 2020 IFF.
The release of his new film THE SUMMER OF CARMEN is expected in 2023. At the same time, he participated in the Script Lab of Cinekid FF with the feature animation NINE LIVES LEFT, an adaptation of his novel SEVEN SOULS IN THE MOUTH (Polaris Publications, 2014).
Venue
TRIANON is not a building where a business struggles to survive.
TRIANON is countless individuals who are struggling to support entrepreneurship in art
Having hosted everybody who is passionate about art.
Having relentlessly supported young Greek filmmakers.
Having resisted the decline of downtown Athens.
Believing every moment that “PATISION Lives”.
More info at: TRIANON.GR

Official Logos
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