Prix

The sacred place stands as a historical journey guided by the auteur. Merging monk's crafted camera obscura still images with the auteur's moving images, to reconstruct the past within the present. To quote the monks: "It's not beautiful, it is necessary. There's no I, there's only we - there's only us".

Composing a deeply mystical world that, through the use of archival material and bold cinematic choices, interacts with the past, the present and the future by expanding time, we singled out a deeply poetic and existential film.

"The film to which we chose to give the Golden Athena Award for Best Short Film moved us deeply in a way that only the art of cinema can do. In this area of silence, speech is not so important to analyze a film because the sensations and feelings it has evoked in you cannot be put into words. A film that paradoxically and daringly mixes its materials creating a hybrid but completely personal universe that connects metaphysical enlightenment with the light captured on film shouting out loud, yes, cinema is our church".

A film that took us to the space of multiple times, painting mountains, trees, and faith in life with light. Centuries-old photos engraved on glass are slowly turning into today's shots. A long journey encapsulated in a small space opens up questions and imaginations about the relationships of faith, nature, community, and everything in between. The masterful choreography of old and new photographs turns into a meditation on the seemingly simple monastic life on Mount Athos.

For the bold novelty of the concept, which combines creativity and tradition in an exceptional way

"Blending together images preserved on photographic plates from almost a century ago with the filmmaker's own impressive black and white Super 8 recordings, 'Light of Light' takes us into a journey through space and time, bringing to the screen the ghosts of the past, while reaffirming the miraculous quality of cinema to capture in its play of light and shadow both the the real and the spiritual aspects of the world. "