In this Webinar, we managed to virtually bring together 4 international film experts to discuss the short film at the time of the pandemic.
Astrid Dober from Radio FRO is hosting this Panel Discussion. She welcomes Finnish producers Julia Elomäki and Pasi Hakkio as well as Iliana Zakopoulou from the Greek Film Centre and Linz ISFF director Parisa Ghasemi to debate on their experiences in the film industry during the ongoing pandemic.

This panel discussion will also be broadcasted on Radio FRO.  

Iliana Zakopoulou

Iliana Zakopoulou has studied French and has been working for the Greek Film Centre since 1986 and for Hellasfilm – the department of Sales and Promotion, since its establishment in 1989. She has worked for several years in the festivals sector and has been Head of the department of Sales and Promotion (Hellasfilm) of the Greek Film Centre (GFC) for the past nine years for the representation and promotion of Greek films (funded or independent) to International Festivals and Audiovisual Markets.

In particular and in the framework of Hellasfilm, she acts as a sales agent for the films which haven’t secured worldwide sales by pitching the films to film professionals (festival programmers, distributors, TV channels), undertaking the negotiations for the contracts, screening fees, or travel to festivals. 

Besides, her responsibilities include planning and preparing the Greek participation in major festivals and markets such as Berlinale, Cannes, Toronto, Venice IFF, Tokyo F.F. , Shanghai F.F., Locarno F.F., Chicago F.F. , Montreal F.F., Karlovy Vary F.F, Istanbul F.F. , Idfa, Moscow F.F., Haifa F.F., Mumbai F.F., Cairo F.F., Rotterdam F.F., as well as programming and coordinating Film Events and Retrospectives in collaboration with International Festivals as well as Museums, Universities, Associations, Embassies, International Organizations and Institutions.

Pasi Hakkio

Pasi (b.1986) is a Finnish Film producer, who has a background in theatre and business. In the Film branch, he entered during his studies by working for German company Bavaria Film 2008 - 2015 in Sweden and by founding a production company in Finnish Lapland. His first film as a producer was a German-Finnish Film Feature Film Snow Queen, which was nominated twice at German Grimme-Awards. Pasi started as a producer at Wacky Tie Films 2018. Most of his works have been short films and documentaries. His production One Girl was nominated for the Best Film in Finnish Competition at Oulu International Children's Film Festival in 2018.

Just before Covid two of Wacky Tie Films ́s short films were premiered and during Covid, Wacky Tie Films has been mostly active in post-production but also planning for launching a big documentary film in early 2021. The next short film shootings will hopefully happen in spring 2021.

Julia Elomäki

Julia (b.1991) is a Finnish Film producer, who has a Master in Film producing from Aalto University - Elo Film School Finland and a Bachelor of Media and Arts from Tampere University of Applied Sciences. She has produced many short films. The film Yellowstone was part of the international competition at the Brussels International Film Festival and also part of the national competition at the Tampere Film Festival in 2016. The film Thoughts about dying won the Youth Jury Prize at the Tampere Film Festival and was screened at many festivals such as Odense Film Festival, CILECT Film Festival, Dublin Film Festival, and Bogota Short Film Festival in 2013.

Parisa Ghasemi

Parisa (IR) completed her bachelor's and master's degree in film at the Tehran University of Art and a master's degree in time-based media at the University of Art and Design Linz. In 2018 Parisa together with Ashkan Nematian founded the Linz International Short Film Festival and the non-profit film and culture association CLOSEfilm in Linz. They are both filmmakers themselves and are committed to the organisation of intercultural exchange and cultural events. Since February 2020, Parisa has also been a member of the board of the KUPF Cultural Platform Upper Austria. She was a jury member in the Cultural Department of the City of Linz for special funding Linz Impuls (Sonderförderung) in 2020.

Astrid Dober

Astrid lives, works, and studies in Linz, Austria. During her studies and in her spare time she occupies herself with media, old and new, digital and analog. She also likes to tell stories with pictures and radio. Astrid is responsible for the following programs at Radio FRO: Window stories, FROzine, Culture & Education special.