EUFCN: Greece’s Chiliadou Beach Nominated for Best Filming Location
The European Film Commission Network (EUFCN) has included Chiliadou Beach on the island of Evia among the five finalists for the 6th edition of the Best Filming Location competition.
Chiliadou Beach, which was proposed by the Hellenic Film Commission, was featured in “Triangle of Sadness”, winner of the Palme D’Or at Cannes 2022, as the castaway island where the protagonists find themselves after the explosion of the yacht. The island becomes the set of a fight for survival, where social hierarchy is turned upside down, revealing the tawdry relationship between power and beauty.
Why Chiliadou Beach was selected as the film location
Originally, Ruben Östlund’s black comedy film was intended to shoot in Thailand on a location which would combine a virgin beach with a jungle-like flora embracing the sea.
Greece was chosen for many reasons, as highlighted by Erik Hemmendorff, one of the main producers of the film: “The Greek cash rebate had just been announced, Greece is part of Europe and much closer to Sweden than Thailand. But we chose this location mainly for the quality of the place itself: we found Evia and Chiliadou Beach a bit different than the ‘usual’ and more touristic Greece. The vegetation, the high mountains, the sea, and the stony beaches, give the island a feel of ‘unknown and secret place’, which fitted perfectly to the story of the film. The support and hospitality from the local community was also a very big factor.”
The other shortlisted locations for the European Film Location Award 2022 are Brissago Islands for “Dawn Chorus”, Switzerland; Portsoy for “Peaky Blinders”, Scotland; Schlosshotel Kronberg for “Spencer”, Germany; and Stari Grad for “How I Learned To Fly”, Croatia.
Voting still open
The general public has the chance to vote for their favourite European filming location until January 31.
The EUFCN Location Award 2022 will be handed out to the winning location and film commission in February at the European Film Market – EFM 2023 in Berlin.
Also, a lucky name will be picked among the voters and win a trip to the winning location!
The European Film Commissions Network is a non-profit association that supports and promotes the European film industry and culture. It currently represents 95 European film commissions and film institutions from 30 different countries.