MONICA
Monica - A Short Film by Dimitris Argyriou from Dimitris Argyriou on Vimeo.
Monica - A Short Film Dimitris Argyriou
Synopsis
Monica wanted to become hair dresser, when she was young…
Things went wrong…This is her story...
(Based on a real interview with a human trafficking victim.)
Director’s Statement
Globally, there are around 20 to 30 million slaves today; that equates to about three in every 1,000 people. Human trafficking, or modern slavery, generates about $32 billion a year, making it the third-largest criminal activity in the world after drug and arms trafficking. Monica is one of them. This is her story.
AWARDS:
- Best Human Rights Short Film at Short Film Breaks 2019
- Grand Winner at Festival La Caja de Fósforos 2019
- Best Documentary Award, Festival of Nations 2018
- AUDIENCE AWARD at SHORT OF THE YEAR, 2017
- BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM at SHORT OF THE YEAR 2017
- Shortlisted for the Online Audience Award at SHORT OF THE YEAR 2017
- BEST EXPERIMENTAL FILM in London Greek Film Festival 2016
- Special Mention in Balkan Focus Competition in World of Film International Festival Glasgow
- Nominated Best Short Film in WIND International Film Festival 2016
- Finalist for the Vimeo Audience Award in the 2016 Sundance Channel Short Film Competition
Official Selection
- Amsterdam Independent Film Festival 2023, Netherlands, 18-21 October 2023
- Doc.Berlin Documentary Film Festival, Germany, 12-15 December 2022
- Hellios Film Festival, Greece, 20-24 June 2020
- "Difficult Dialogues" Forum, Goa, India, 14-16 February 2020
- NewBorn Short Film Festival, Berlin, Germany, 28-29 November 2019
- Festival La Caja de Fósforos ,Venezuela, 22-23 November 2019
- 3in1 Film Fest, Portugal, 22-24 November 2019
- Libélula Dorada Festival Internacional de Cortometrajes/Golden Dragonfly International Short Film Festival, Dominican Republic, 21-27 August 2019
-Short Film Breaks 2019, Bucharest, Romania, 2 July - 31 December 2019
- N-H//LYON Festival for Digital Arts, Hangar, Struga, North Macedonia, 14-15 June 2019
- Audience Awards 2019 Social Political Shorts Film Festival, May 2019
- “Film Studios: Scenario on Life" by Szczecin European Film Festival, Poland, May 2019
- Kontrast Film Festival,GÜLDEN GLÖBE competition, Bayreuth, Germany, 5 March 2019
- Human Rights Short Film Festival 2018, Dhaka, Bangladesh,8-9 December 2018
- Karama Human Rights Film Festival, Jordan, 5-10 December 2018
- South West London International Film Festival, UK, 24 November 2018
- Drim Short Film Festival, Struga, Furom, 12-14 October 2018
- 6th AegeanDocs-International Film Festival, Lesvos, Greece, 1st – 6th October 2018
- OPEN AIR FILMFEST WEITERSTADT, Germany, Sunday 19th August
- Docademia’s 2nd Short Documentary Festival, US, 09 August 2018
- Drimon Festival, Struga, FUROM, 28 July 2018
- FESTIVAL INTERNATIONAL DU FILM DE VEBRON, France, 17 - 21 July 2018
- FEAR NO FILM FESTIVAL, Utah Arts Festival, Utah, US, 21-24 June 2018
- FESTIVAL CINÉMA EN LIBERTÉ, Tour Royale, Toulon, France, 17 June 2018
- 14th Kino Otok – Isola Cinema International Film Festival, Slovenia, 6 June 2018
- International Labour Film Festival / Mostra CineTrabalho, Campinas/Marília, Brazil, 21– 25 May & 04– 08 June 2018
- Festival of Nations, Lenzing, Austria, 18-24 May 2018
- 15th Festival international Signes de Nuit, Lisbon, Portugal, 23 Nov. - 3rd Dec. 2017
- Sguardi - European Independent Short Film Night, Cles, Italy, 24 November 2017
- Caribbean Film Festival and Market, Grand Bahama Island, Bahamas, 2-5 November 2017
- San Francisco Greek Film Festival, SF, US, 14-22 October 2017
- International Festival SIGNES DE NUIT, Paris, France, 5-15 October 2017
- Platform Film Festival,New York City, US, September 29th-October 1st
- 4°LIFE AFTER OIL International Film Festival, Sardinia, Italy, 22-24 September 2017
- California International Film Festival and Davis Chinese Film Festival, US, 10 September 2017
- FERFILM Festival in Ferizaj - Republic of Kosovo, 02 - 06 September 2017
- InShort Film Festival, London, UK, 31 August 2017
- AM Egypt Film Festival, Cairo, Egypt, 24 August 2017
- EuropeNow Film Festival, Glasgow, Scotland, 12-14 July 2017
- Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, US, 20-26 June 2017 (Market Screenings)
- GATFFEST Film Festival, Kingston, Jamaica, 20th June 2017
- Los Angelers Greek Film Festival, US, 7-11 June 2017
- 2nd Cefalù film festival, Italy, 2017
- Back_up International Short Film Festival, Weimar, Germany, 20 May 2017
- Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, Germany, 14th May 2017
- 29th Dresden International Short Film Festival, Germany, 5th April 2017
- Nominated at Greek Film Academy Awards, 2017
- 22nd Vilnius International Film Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania, 23rd March - 6th April 2017
- 20. International Film Festival Zoom - Zblizenia, Jelenia Gora, Poland, 20-26 February 2017
- 5th Boddinale Film Festival, Berlin, Germany,12 February 2017
- Greek Short Film Fest, Brussels, Belgium, 10 February 2017
- 6th Athens International Digital Film Festival, Athens, Greece, 5 February 2017
- 2nd VAULT Film Festival, London, UK, 28 January 2017
- 2nd Hellas Filmbox Berlin, Berlin, Germany, 19 January 2017
- Festival de Cortometrajes "Jose Francisco Rosado" PACAS, Pedro Muñoz, Spain, 19 - 30 December 2016
- 7th Balkan Beyond Borders, Sofia, Bulgaria, 15-18 December 2016 (Special Screening)
- Equality festival, Kiev, Ukraine, 8 – 11 December, 2016
- Exground filmfest, Wiesbaden, Germany, 12 & 14 November 2016
- 31st European Film Festival (Market Screening), Brest, France, 7-12 November 2016
- Tahoe Underground Film Festival, Nevada, US, 4-5 November 2016
- Tirana International Film Festival, Tirana, Albania, 3-11 November 2016
- 20th Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival/13th East Silver Market, Jihlava, Czech Republic, October 25 – 30, 2016
- Szczecin European Film Festival, Poland, 22nd October 2016
- Thessaloniki International Short Film Festival 2016, 17-22 October
- World of Film International Festival Glasgow, Scotland, 29 September 2016 - 2 October 2016
- Västeras FilmFestival, Vasteras, Sweden, 28 September - 02 October 2016
- Sose International Film Festival, Armenia, 23 - 30 September 2016
- 39th National Short Film Festival of Drama, Drama, Greece, 19-24 September 2016
- Jahorina Film Festival, Pale, B&H, 14-18 September 2016
-Portobelo Film Festival, London, UK 1-18 September 2016
- Arkadia Short Film Festival, Romania, 2 - 4 September 2016
-WIND International Film Festival, Hollywood, US, July 5-7 2016
- FEST - New Directors New Films Festival,Espihnio Portugal, 20-27 June 2016
- London Greek Film Festival, London, UK, 15-21 May 2016
- Sundance Channel Short Film Competition
- Short Film Corner 2016 - Festival De Cannes, Cannes, France, 11-22 May 2016
- ECU - The European Independent Film Festival, Paris, France, 8-10 March 2016
- Landshut Shortfilm Festival, Landshut, Germany, 09 - 14 March 2016
Monica - A Short Film by Dimitris Argyriou Trailer from Dimitris Argyriou on Vimeo.
Feedback
"Five very impressive minutes!" Ludo Vici
"Heartbreaking..." Imdb
"A film sharp, short, well told" Flix
"Monica tells a harrowing story & brings awareness to a very important issue" Sundance Film Festival
Cast & Credits
Writter | Director | Producer: Dimitris Argyriou
Monica: Ivana Pavlakovik
Voice: Martyna Jatkauskaite-Paleologou
Cinematography: Lev Predan Kowarski
Editor: Dimitris Argyriou
Music | Sound Design | Voice Over Recording: Michail Palaiologou
Mixing: Kai Mueller
Co-Producers: Aleksandra Bilic & Aleksandra Lazarovski
Thank You: Tamara Kotevska, Lidija Mojsovska,
Tomislav Ivkovic, Kristina Markovic, Christos Giannakopoulos,
Asja Makarevic, Florian Weghorn, Sarajevo Talents
© Dimitris Argyriou, 2016
Bosnia&Herzegovina/Germany
16/9, 5 min.
Screenings
- Film Event, Import-Export, Munich, 10 August 2023
- Open Screening, Sputnik Kino, Berlin, Germany, 15 July 2020
- "Film Studios: Scenario on Life" by Szczecin European Film Festival, Poland, May
- Balkan Kino, Athens, Greece, 7 March 2019
- Dresden International Short Film Festival, Dresden, Germany, 15 May 2018
- University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, "SEFF on the Road", 07 March 2018
- Balkan Can Kino, Athens, Greece, 27 January 2018
- Sguardi Film Festival, Cles, Italy, 24 November 2017
- Openscreen in RUŽICA, B&H, 22 July 2017
- Film Event, The Book Club Shoreditch, London, UK, 14 June 2017
-Openscreen @ an der Uecht, Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg, 19 May 2017
- MONICA by Dimitris Argyriou presented in German Television (UNICATO | MDR.de) by Markus Kavka!
https://www.mdr.de/unicato/index.html
- DEKRA Hochschule für Medien, Berlin, Germany, 25 November 2016
- International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Kavala, Greece, 15 November 2016
- 39th National Short Film Festival of Drama goes in Athens, Trianon Cinema, Greece, 21 October 2016
- Berlin Film Society's Cherry Picks, IL Kino, Berlin, Germany, 25 May 2016
Press
Flix.gr
TheNewCurrent.co.uk
Nea Egnatia, 6 October 2016, page 13
Flix.gr No2
The Utah Review, USA
"An impressive backgrounding effort went into Monica (5 mins., Germany, 2016, directed and written by Dimitris Argyriou), which presents the issue of human trafficking in uniquely piercing effect. Argyriou based his narrative on details he collected from an interview with a woman he met several years before making the film. A woman who hoped to become a hair stylist, ‘Monica’ was from eastern Europe and was forced into prostitution. The director researched the issue before writing a screenplay that would convey her story without conceding her real identity. While in Sarajevo for a film festival, he met several actors who expressed interest in his screenplay so he managed to complete the process in the city from pre-production to film wrap up in less than a week."
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