The award ceremony for the “STRATOS” 2025 Awards, which honored the best Greek-produced animated films, took place on Saturday, March 29, 2025, in the packed auditorium of the Hellenic American Union. The awards are an initiative of ASIFA HELLAS (Hellenic Animation Association) and were held for the second consecutive year. They are named after a key figure in animation and cinema, Stratos Stasinos.
Best Music Video Clip Animation 2025: “The Alligator”, Dimitris Armenakis
Best Animated Series 2025: “Bug n Play”, Lefteris Faidas, Vasilis Evdokias (produced by Funny Tales)
Best Commissioned Animation Film 2025: “Search Culture”, Giorgis Kondos
Best Script for an Animated Film 2025: “Pi (Π)”, Stelios Koupetorís (award received by the producers Vasilis Karamihtsanis and Amit Russell Gicelter)
Best Direction of an Animated Film 2025: “Echoes”, Robinson Drosos
Best Music in Animation 2025: “Underground”, Thodoris Reglis
Best Student Animation Film 2025: “Plantasia”, Angelos Gourzis – accompanied by a prize of €3,000 instead of €1,000, following a generous offer by the CEO of EKKOMED, Mr. Leonidas Christopoulos
Best Animation Film of 2025: “Underground”, Yiannis Christoforou – accompanied by a prize of €1,000 offered by EKKOMED
Special Mention: “Poppies”, Evridiki Papaïakovou (accepted by project supervisor Aspasia Kazeli)
The awards for Best Animation Film and Best Student Animation Film were sponsored by EKKOMED–Creative Greece and Hellas Film, as every year. (https://www.ekkomed.gr)
Three honorary awards were presented to:
Anastasia Dimitra, Director of Animation and Interactive Media and Game Design at AKTO, and Vice President of ASIFA International
Yiannis Koutsouris, Animator and Visual Artist
Iordanis Ananiadis, Director and Animator
The jury consisted of:
- Giorgos Zois, Award-winning Director
- Elisavet Paneta, VFX Producer at Foss Productions and professor at the American College of Greece
- Maria Boua, Composer and Director
- Efi Pappa, Animation Director
- Eirini Vianelli, Director, Screenwriter, Animator, and winner of STRATOS 2024
The event was attended by many notable guests, including:
Zoe Konstantopoulou, President of the Plefsis Eleftherias
Yanis Varoufakis, Secretary of MeRA25
Akrivos Konstantinos, representative of the Deputy Minister of Culture Mr. Iason Fotilas
Konstantinos Giannakodimos, General Communication Advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Konstantinos Zobos, Deputy Regional Governor for Central Sector of Attica
Panagiotis-Paris Charlavtis, Deputy Mayor of Education, Digital Governance, Lifelong Learning, Urban Planning, and Property of the City of Athens
Leonidas Christopoulos, CEO of EKKOMED–Creative Greece
Athanasios Kakarountas, Associate Professor at the University of Thessaly in the Department of Informatics and Biomedical Applications, and Vice President of the Regional Research and Innovation Council of Central Greece
Stavros Kaminaris, Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs and Quality Assurance, University of West Attica
These guests delivered brief welcome remarks at the opening of the event.
Among other distinguished attendees were:
- Athena Kartalou, General Director of Film at EKKOMED
- Maria Archonta, Director of the Executive Office at EKKOMED
- Eirini Andriopoulou, Director of Development, Technology, and Education for the Creative Sector (Creative HUB Node)
- Anna Kasimati from the MEDIA/Creative Europe Desk
- Menos Deliotzakis, Head of the Co-productions Department of ERT
- Eirini Souganidou, CEO of Feelgood Entertainment
- Danae Stratou, Visual Artist
- Haris Papadopoulos, President of the Greek Directors’ Guild
- Eleni Androutsopoulou, Head of the Greek Program at the Thessaloniki Festival
- Giorgos Angelopoulos, new Artistic Director of the Drama International Short Film Festival (DISFF)
- Sofia Georgiadou, General Coordinator of DISFF
- Manolis Melissourgos from Camera Zizanio of the Olympia Festival
- Matthaios Frantzesakis, Director of the Chania Film Festival
- Thodoris Panoutsopoulos, Coordinator of the Aigio International Short Film Festival “Theodoros Angelopoulos”
- Dimitris Kalantidis, President of OKLE
- Mirella Legaki, OKLE Board Member and WIFT GR member
- Maria Stasinou, daughter of the late Stratos Stasinos
- As well as well-known journalists and festival representatives
The evening also featured video messages from friends and collaborators of ASIFA HELLAS, including:
Spyros Bibilas, Actor and Secretary of the K.O. Plefsi Eleftherias
Arty Papageorgiou, Co-Writer of “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” and Director (Warner Bros.)
Michael Marin, Director of the Annecy International Animation Festival and Market
Deana Morse, President of ASIFA INTERNATIONAL
Aubry Mintz, Executive Director of ASIFA HOLLYWOOD
Aliki Theofilopoulos, Director, Screenwriter, Animator, and Executive Producer at Disney
Ivan Agenjo, Vice Chairman ANIMATION IN EUROPE
Mar Saez Pedrero, General Secretary ANIMATION IN EUROPE
Matija Sturm, CEE ANIMATION
Antonios Vlassis, Animamundi and Research Professor, CEFIR-Department of Political Science, University of Liège
Georges Sifianos, filmmaker, and professor emeritus of animation at ENSAD
The evening included moving tributes to prominent figures in animation and important announcements from ASIFA HELLAS President Konstantinos P. Kakarountas, such as:
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Creative HUB of EKKOMED, the University of the Aegean, ASIFA HELLAS, and Animasyros, under the name Aegean Creative HUB, aimed at developing animation co-productions
A collaboration Memorandum between the Chania and Aigio Film Festivals and ASIFA HELLAS
The event concluded with a new promo video by ASIFA HELLAS for the Hellenic Pavilion at the Annecy Festival, which delighted the audience.
The event was hosted by actress Christina Sotiriou, who wore inspired creations by ATELIE EPIFANIOS, shoes by STATHIS SAMANTAS, with hair and makeup by Morfi Meni.
- Direction of the event: Konstantinos P. Kakarountas
- Production coordination: Maria Mavroeidi
- Communications: Spyros Derveniotis
- Event planning, research, audiovisual production, and video design: DAHOUSE STUDIO (https://www.dahouse.gr)
