Should Costa-Gavras get funds for Varoufakis film?
Moviemaker Costa-Gavras is currently filming the book by Yanis Varoufakis in which the former Greek finance minister describes the negotiations with international financiers during the first six months after the Syriza government came to power. The fact that the Greek-born filmmaker, who has lived in France since the 1950s, is getting money from Athens for the project is highly controversial among the country's media.
Only in Greece for the subsidies
For Protagon it's no coincidence that Costa-Gavras wants to make this film:
“Costa-Gavras has been making films for 50 years. Only now has he come to Greece, and he's offended by the way the media are treating him since he's come only because of Varoufakis's book. ... At the age of 86, after making so many films that gained international acclaim, he is making a film in Greece because he can get 630,000 euros in subsidies for it by law.”
Unnecessary criticism
Kathimerini defends Costa-Gavras:
“The process through which filmmakers can obtain state funding in Greece (via cash rebate) is based on numbers and percentages rather than in-person meetings. Furthermore, the process does not evaluate the script. … The director's 50-year career, which has earned him awards, honors, recognition and all kinds of reviews, was simply dismissed by the repulsion felt toward the people in his new movie. We are not trying to sanctify Costa-Gavras. But we ought to fight against the demons of prejudiced sloppiness and cannibalism, wherever they come from. Partial color blindness leads, as it turns out, to blindness.”