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Pantelis Voulgaris's film "Little England" is the official Best Foreign Language Film nominee of Greece for the American Film Academy Awards. It is based on the eponymous novel by the director’s wife Ioanna Karystiani that was released in 1997. It received the state award in its category in the same year and became a bestseller.

"Little England" presents the lives of the women from Andros in the 1930s and 1940s. "Andros was a captains’ and women’s island. Women there spent endless hours of solitude. They experienced death, loss, expectation, mourning, and, when their husbands returned home after a 2-3-year absence, they were almost strangers to them. The terms and conditions in these small communities were inviolable. Men had to be sailors and fearless. Women had to be patient and spend wisely the money sent by their husbands in order for the family to live well on the one hand but to always save some of the money on the other, to buy a field or a small shop that would allow them to find a good match for their daughters. Observing this rule of the community was not easy. The people had to fulfil this condition without being able to determine its framework alone," says Karystiani, who subsequently wrote the film screenplay.

This April "Little England" won six awards in the competition of the Hellenic Film Academy, the most important among them being the Best Film award. The other awards were for sets, costumes, cinematography, sound and makeup.

Two months later, at the 17th International Festival in Shanghai, Voulgaris’ film won awards in three categories, namely best film, best director and best actress for the performance of Pinelopi Tsilika in the leading role.

Pantelis Voulgaris and Pinelopi Tsilika during the filming of "Little England"

Photos from the filmmaking and of the atmosphere in Andros are available on the website of the film.
 
So far, 24 countries have presented their Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nominees, and the deadline expires on 1 October. The first selection among the films that meet the requirements for participation in the category will take place in the middle of the month. The list of the nine finalists will be announced in January 2015 and the titles of the five films that will compete for the prestigious award at the end of the month.

Greece last participated in the competition in 2010 with George Lanthimos’ film "Dogtooth" as well as in 1983 and 1968 with Michalis Kakoyannis’ "Electra" and "Iphigenia", and in 1963 and 1966 with Vassilis Georgiadis’ films "Red Lanterns" and "The Ground was Painted Red".