The Jury 2025
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
The jury consisted of 500 male citizens over the age of thirty, chosen by lot from among volunteers. Athens used very large numbers of jurors, from 500 to as many as 1501, in part as a protection against bribes: who could afford to bribe 500 people? Therefore, the more the better.
MUSES FILM AWARDS
®
LEVADIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
THE JURY
THE FINEST PROFESSIONALS
Takis Chrysikakos
Takis Chrysikakos is a multifaceted figure in Greek theater and cinema. Born in Nikaia, Attica, he hails from Mani, an area with deep roots in Greek culture. With a distinguished educational background from the School of Theatre "Art - Karolos Koun," he began his career in theater with appearances in plays such as "Birds," "Frogs," "Lysistrata," "Persians," and other classical and contemporary Greek dramas.
With a passion for the art of theater, he continued his career in various theaters, such as the "Laiki Piramatiko Theatro" and "Proskinio," participating in a variety of productions from both Greek and international repertoire, from Shakespeare to Chekhov and Miller.
As a director and actor, Takis Chrysikakos has left his mark on many performances, both in Greek theater and cinema. With roles in films and TV series, as well as involvement in various theater groups and festivals, he has dedicated his life to art and teaching, passing on his love for theater to new generations of actors. Additionally, he has been actively engaged in civic life, serving as a municipal councilor and symbolizing his dedication to the community.
With a distinguished career filled with diverse experiences in the fields of theater and cinema, Takis Chrysikakos continues to inspire and captivate audiences with his talented presence on both the Greek and international stage.
Nassos Vakalis
EMMY award winner animator, storyboard artist and animation director. He was born and raised in Athens, Greece and studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts in the USA. He worked as an animator, animation supervisor and storyboard artist for many Animation Studios such as DreamWorks Animation, Warner Bros, Paramount, and Sullivan-Bluth and Universal/Illumination. In addition, Nassos has been the main pre-production and storyboard artist for the popular ESPN channel series “Off Mikes” for which he received an EMMY award. Nassos also wrote and directed 130 episodes of the Internet animated series “Crime Time” which reached 25 million views worldwide. In the Greek entertainment business he is known as the co-founder and co-owner of the company Time-Lapse Pictures through which he co-produced with ERT and the Greek Film Center a number of animated projects. Over the years Nassos Vakalis has also produced and directed several internationally awarded short animated films. Today he lives with his wife and children in Los Angeles, USA where he works at the Warner Bros. studios.
Fenia Adamidi
Director at the Hellenic Republic (Ministry of Development & Investments, General Secretariat For Research & Innovation) / Philologist, Writer.
Fenia Adamidi is a graduate of the Department of Philology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). She holds a PhD from the same Department, specializing in Classical Philology, as well as a Master's degree from the Department of Digital Systems of the University of Piraeus, specializing in E-Learning. She has taught, for a number of years, Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek Theater and Fiction at the NKUA, the University of Patras and the Hellenic Open University. She has actively participated in Conferences and Seminars in Greek and European working groups and is a National Representative in the European program "Horizon-Europe", in Cluster 2: "Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society". She has been a Municipal Councilor and a member of the Cultural and Sports Association of the Municipality of Vrilissia. Her authorship includes books, translations, scientific articles and book reviews.
Paul Kotrotsios
Paul Kotrotsios is a distinguished entrepreneur and leader who has left a profound impact on the Greek-American
community throughout his career spanning over three
decades. As the Founder & Chairman of the Hellenic News
of America newspaper since 1987, Paul has played a
pivotal role in providing a vital platform for Greek-American
voices and fostering cultural understanding. In addition to his media endeavors, Paul is also the Founder & President of the Hermes Expo International, an annual multifunction trade show and networking event held in prominent locations such as Atlantic City, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Old
Bridge, New Jersey. Over the past three decades, the Hermes Expo has served as a catalyst for business collaborations, bringing together companies from the United States and internationally, particularly in the Balkans and Eastern Mediterranean regions.
Paul's commitment to fostering trade cooperation and cultural exchange extends beyond his
entrepreneurial pursuits. As President of Ethno Communications, Inc., an International Business Consultant firm, Paul actively engages in promotions, advertising, and public affairs.
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Philip Denis Modinos
Philip Modinos has been working in the performing arts since 1996. He has studied singing, piano, guitar, and violin, and has pursued piano and orchestra conducting studies at the Trinity College of Music (London), and singing as a scholar of the Onassis Foundation at the Royal Academy of Music (London). He has performed with all the major Greek institutions, such as the National Opera of Greece, Athens/Thessaloniki Concert Hall, Athens/Thessaloniki State Orchestra, etc., as well as internationally, among others, collaborating with the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Gut Immling Festival, Alte Oper, Musikverein, etc.
From 2009 to 2019, he was the bassist, but mainly the lead vocalist of the internationally acclaimed metal band “Exoristoi”, and had other notable collaborations with the band's founder, Dimitris Katis, in recordings and performances of the composer’s classical repertoire. In 2011, he co-founded the company Skull of Yorick Productions, which later became the Hellenic
Opera Corporation, whose activities from 2012 have carried out many professional and educational opera productions throughout Greece, with main bases in Thessaloniki and Larissa (2012 – 2019) and now in Athens. He served as the financial manager of the Larissa Symphony Orchestra from 2016 until 2018. In 2018-2019, he worked as a television producer on the show “The Raven” on Dion TV.
From 2019 – 2022, he was a co-producer and collaborator for Opera Classica Europa, with international productions and tours in Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, and France. In 2021, he was elected as a member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Greek Opera Singers. Since 2022, the Hellenic Opera Corporation has been handling the implementation of European Programs Erasmus and Creative Europe, with performances and educational activities in Italy, France, Spain, and Greece.
Andrei Muntean
Founder & CEO of WOCOO
Started his career in advertising and marketing back in 2008. He launched products across the CEE for big consumer brands. Now he combines his marketing expertise with his love for film to democratize the global VoD market.
His vision is to build a new kind of ecosystem around filmmaking with WOCOO. An ecosystem that empowers filmmakers to find their audience and help monetize them using the power of the community and creator economy. WOCOO is building the systems for tomorrow to improve discovry opportunities and connect the filmmakers not only with their audiences, but also the relevant community leaders and influencers that can help spread the word and expand the reach of their movies without the need for massive marketing budgets.
Nikos D.Kanellos
Minister Plenipotentiary A Class "CHEVALIER DE L’ORDRE DES ARTS ET DES LETTRES"
He studied Political Studies at Panteios Uninversity of Athens cum Laude (1972-1976) he obtained DEA in France in International Law (Faculté de Droit, Universite de Nice, France) and diplomas of European Institute of International Studies (1976-1979)
1979-1981 Military service
1981: Joined the Greek Diplomatic Service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
1982: First Greek Presidency of EU/ Department of European Communities and European Parliament
1986: Permanent Mission of Greece to the Council of Europe (Strasbourg, France)
1990: First Secretary at the Embassy of Greece in Tirana (Albania)
1993: Consul of Greece to Houston, Texas (USA)
1996: Consul General of Greece to Gjirokaster (Albania)
1997: Consul General of Greece to Barcelona (Spain)
2000: Deputy Director of the Department of International Organizations and UN/ Disarmament and Non- Proliferation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Athens, Greece)
2002: Deputy Head of the Embassy of Greece in Den Haag (Netherlands)
2005: Head of the Liaison Office of Greece in Pristine, Kosovo
2008: Ambassador of Greece in the Slovak Republic
2014: Ambassador of Greece in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam
2017: Ambassador of Greece in the Republic of Azerbaijan
He was granted by the President of Hellenic Republic the Cross of the Order of the Phoenix and also obtained:
-High Distinction from Association of Greek Writers
-4 Scholarships of Panteios University
-Awards for Art and Paintings
- Award from the Minister of Culture of France: CHEVALIER DE L’ORDRE DES ARTS ET DES LETTRES. He has published many articles in many magazines and blogs
Has given lectures in Universities in Viet nam,in US,in Slovakia,in Azerbaijan etc
He is a painter with more than 22 exhibitions in different countries. He is also an author of two political novels in greek language (translated to Slovac).
and a amateur musician
Exsekias Trivoulides
​Sculptor, painter, mosaicist and jeweller. Exsekias Trivoulides was born in Port-Said, Egypt of Hellenic origin and he is the oldest of five siblings.
Exsekias’s talent derives from a family history in the arts spanning three generations of painters resulting in an early exposure to the arts.
He began to paint at the age of four and learned by observing his mother, father, and grandmother. Exsekias continued to develop his art following as a basis the principles of the Greek culture that characterized him from a very early age.
A graduate of George Mason University, he holds a BA in History of Art and Fine Arts and two minors in Mediterranean Archeology and Classical Studies. While at George Mason he was selected to an apprenticeship for renowned figure sculptor Michael Curtis, where he assisted in the creation of the bronze death mask of Roger Stevens, the former director of the Kennedy Center for the Library of Congress. His Art work
Exsekias’s portrayal of the human figure was greatly influenced by both classical Greek sculpture and Italian Renaissance paintings. His paintings and sculpted human figures display a reverence for classical proportions while instilling a contemporary style that gives his work a refreshing spirit. His paintings and sculptures depict the human figure with the same dynamic lines, grace, harmony, balance and attention to detail.
His intense Erotic sculptures and his paintings inspired by ancient Greek mythology and History, woman, nature and Eros, where since 2003, after publications in the press, established him with the name, "EXSEKIAS THE SCULPTOR OF EROS". Mr. Trivoulides’ ability to fuse classicism with the contemporary allows his work to be appreciated by a wide audience. Both traditionalists and collectors looking for a new direction in art have become avid collectors of his work.
Creator of the "Artemis" Award, for the Hellenic-American Council of Women Organization in 2006 with accepted international figures including, Governor of New York, Carolyn Maloney and Senator, Hillary Clinton.
Received the 1st Sculpture Award for the 2024 with his EPHESIAN ARTEMIS
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Justine Frangouli- Argyris
Frangouli-Argyris Greek-Canadian writer & Journalist, member of the Union of Journalists of Athens Daily Newspapers (ESIEA) and has been working in Montreal, Canada since 1989 as a correspondent for the Athens News Agency (ANA), She is a member of UNEQ (Union des Ecrivaines et Ecrivains Quebequois) and QWF (Quebec Writers’ Federation).
She has written The Lonely Path of Integrity (December 2000), the authorized biography of Spyridon, former Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church of America.
Her second book Petaei, Petaei to Synnefo (Clouds Fly, Don't They?), a novel dedicated to a human story which plays out in 20th century Greece on the island of Lefkada, (Psichogios May 2003.
Her third book, Shopping Around the World: Unbeatable Bargains and Bite-Sized Stories, a shopping guide spiced with short stories, (December 2004).
The Legacy (December 2005), is a bilingual edition that includes selected speeches and writings by Spyridon, the former Archbishop of America, with editing, introduction and commentary by Justine Frangouli-Argyris.
Her work, Imerologio Avanas (Havana Diaries), is a journal about Havana just prior to Fidel Castro’s resignation (April 2008). For the Love of Others” is a novel based on the true story of John Catsimatidis’ mother (Psihogios 2009) She has written the “Dilogy of Lefkada” The first novel Psila Takounia Gia Panda (High Heels For Six ), is a best-selling novel about women in the post-feminist era,(Armos 2013) and Barefoot on the Sand , the second part is a novel about the girls meeting on their island 30 years after (Armos 2014).
Her acclaimed children's book, "Paul and Lara Travel,” was transferred to the stage, performed as a musical in 2014 by the theatrical troupe of the Greek Community of Toronto, “Nefeli,” under the direction of Nancy Athanasopoulos-Milonas.
Public Participation and Community Contribution
Since her arrival in Montreal(1989), Justine Frangouli-Argyris has given her time to Montreal’s Hellenic community by volunteering for a 20-year period at local multiethnic radio station, CFMB (1992-2012). In 1995, at the inaugural conference of the World Council of Hellenes Abroad (SAE), she co-founded the Association of Hellenic Mass Media Abroad, of which she was voted General Secretary until 2002.
In December of 2017, she was elected President. As Secretary General of the LGWM, she was instrumental in co-ordinating the creation of the “Statue of the Greek Immigrant” with the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal (HCGM) and the Hellenic Congress of Quebec (HCQ), organizing a highly successful fundraiser that left the project with a surplus of $55,000. Today, after a memorable unveiling last June 30th by Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre, in the presence of Ambassador Markantonatos and many other elected officials and dignitaries, the sculpture has became the symbol of Montreal's Hellenism.
Finally, Justine Frangouli-Argyris sponsors an annual scholarship in the memory of her late sister, Konstantina Frangouli, honouring the excellence of Greek students through the Hellenic Scholarship Foundation, of which she is also a board member.
Justine Frangouli-Argyris sits as a member of the Hellenic Congress of Quebec, representing the Lyceum of Greek Women of Montreal in the said organization.
​ * Two of her novels and one children’s book ("Paul & Lara") Composed by Internationally Accalimed Composer Demetrios Katis, have been set up in the theatrical scene of Toronto, Montreal and Greece
Jorgo Papavassiliou
Multi-Award Winning German-Greek Film Director​
​
Jorgo Papavassiliou is a significant creator in the fields of cinema, television and theater, who has associated his name with notable successes both in Germany and worldwide. His professional journey began in Germany, where he studied cinema, and then continued across Europe, gaining valuable experience and establishing himself as one of the top screenwriters, directors and producers in the industry.
In recent years, Jorgo Papavassiliou returned to Greece, bringing with him the rich and diverse cinematic world he had conquered abroad. Having directed numerous outstanding films, TV movies, and television series for German TV stations, he managed to captivate audiences in other countries as well, showcasing
his impressive talent. In the domestic scene, in 2020, he directed the Thriller Mini-series "42°C" for COSMOTE TV, and in 2021, he created the Drama TV series "Kart Postal for ERT," based on stories by the imternationally renowned author Victoria Hislop.
In 2023, he started the year with TV’s biggest success, presenting his new series, "The Doctor," on Alpha TV. This year Jorgo Papavassiliou will direct a comedy for Village Roadshow Cinema starring Giannis Tsimitselis.
​Films & Projects
​
2024: LARYNX (COMEDY, FEATURE FILM FOR CINEMA, OUT IN SPRING 2025)
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2022/2023: DOC (DRAMA, MINI-SERIES, ALPHA TV GREECE)
2021: CARTES POSTALES
(DRAMA, MINI-SERIES, ERT GREECE, BASED ON THE INT. BESTSELLER NOVEL BY VICTORIA HISLOP)
2020: 2 DEGREES (PSYCHO THRILLER, MINI-SERIES,COSMOTE-TV GREECE)
2019: DER BERGDOKTOR
(DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
2018: DIE BERGRETTER
(ACTION-DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
DER BERGDOKTOR
(DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
EIN SOMMER IN DER TOSKANA
(ROMANTIC DRAMA, ZDF)
2017: IE BERGRETTER
(ACTION-DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
DER BERGDOKTOR
(DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
2016: DIE BERGRETTER
(ACTION-DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
EIN SOMMER IN SÜDFRANKREICH
(ROMANTIC DRAMA, ZDF)
EIN SOMMER AUF ZYPERN (ROMANTIC DRAMA, ZDF)
2015: IE BERGRETTER
(ACTION-DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
DER BERGDOKTOR – CRISTMAS SPECIAL(DRAMA, ZDF)
2014: SOKO 5113 (CRIME-SERIES, ZDF) EIN SOMMER IN GRIECHENLAND
(ROMANTIC DRAMA, ZDF)
DIE BERGRETTER
(ACTION-DRAMA SERIES, ZDF)
2013: DEAD OR ALIVE (ACTION-THRILLER, Cinema) DIE FAMILIENDETEKTIVIN
(DRAMA-COMEDY-SERIES, ZDF)
SOKO 5113 (CRIME-SERIES, ZDF)
2012: EIN FALL VON LIEBE – ANNAS BABY (DRAMA, ARD)
EIN SOMMER IN AMALFI
(ROMANTIC DRAMA, ZDF, 90MIN)
HEITER BIS TÖDLICH – AKTE EX (CRIME-SERIES, ARD)
HEITER BIS TÖDLICH – FUCHS & GANS (CRIME-SERIES, ARD)
2011: Ein Sommer in den Bergen (Romantic Drama, ZDF)
Ein Fall von Liebe (Drama, ARD)
2010: Das Lied der Könige (Crime-Thriller, ZDF)
Ein Fall von Liebe 2 (Romantic Drama, ARD)
Ein Sommer in Paris (Romantic Comedy, ZDF)
Polizeiruf 110 (Crime, ARD)
2009: Slave (Psycho-Thriller, Cinema) Polizeiruf 110 (Crime, ARD)
2008: Ein Fall von Liebe (Drama, ARD) Mörder kennen keine Grenzen (Historical Thriller, SAT 1)
Danny Lowinski (Comedy-Series, Sat 1)
2007: ermisst (Thriller, SAT 1)
Ein Hausboot zum Verlieben
(Romantic Comedy, ARD)
2006: Mein Freund Albert (Comedy, SAT 1) GSG-9 (Action-Series, SAT 1)
Unter Mordverdacht (Thriller, SAT 1)
2005: Es war Mord und ein Dorf schweigt (Thriller, SAT 1)
Liebe nach Rezept (Comedy, ARD)
2004: Die Beauty-Queen (Drama SERIES, RTL) The Stormtide (historical Event-Movie, RTL)
2003: Haialarm auf Mallorca (Action-Event-Movie, RTL)
Die Sitte (Crime-Series, RTL)
2002: Die Sitte (Crime-Series, RTL)
Hero of the Gladiators
(historical Event-Movie, RTL)
2001: Die Sitte (Crime, RTL, Pilot)
Blond, Eva Blond (Comedy, SAT 1, Pilot) Nominated for Grimme-Price
Liebe unter Verdacht (Crime, SAT 1)
2000: Autsch, du Fröhliche (Comedy, RTL)
2000: Wenn eine Mutter ihr Leben verspielt (Drama, RTL)
Das Geheimnis – Auf der Spur des Mörders (Thriller, SAT 1)
1999: Tödliche Wildnis (Thriller, RTL)
1993-1998: hort films (thrillers & comedies), commercials & Videoclips (some of them awarded) at the Filmacademy Baden-Württemberg
1998-2024: Commercials & Videoclips
Paris Katsivelos
Paris Katsivelos is a Greek Actor, Director, and Professor of the Dramatic Arts. He comes from the island of Thassos, Greece. He studied Acting, Directing, Stage Design – Costume design, Monody - Melodramatics, Kinesiology - Choreography, and Scenic Art.For more than four decades, he has taught Acting, Education of Speech, Improvisation, Specialized Dramatic Art Workshops, Special Dramatic Art Retraining Seminars for professional Actors, in Higher Schools of Dramatic Art, Theatrical Workshops, and at Universities in Greece and abroad.He is a tenured professor at the European Institute of Communication (ECI), Austrian University
D.U.K. and the NTUA (National Technical University of Athens), at the master’s program “Quality Journalism and New Technologies,” where he teaches his own section “Education of Quality Communication – Dramatics for Communicators.”
He has played characteristic roles in twenty-nine theatrical and forty-three TV productions. He has participated in four motion pictures and several serial or one-off radio shows. He has been a permanent Announcer, Radio and Music Editor of the radio broadcasts of the Ministry of Rural Development for thirty years.
-He is 2023 Laureate of <<Gusi Peace Prize International>> the Counterpart of NOBEL Prize of Peach.
He is an Honorary Doctor of the Academy of Education and Sciences of Ukraine and a Doctor of Practical Philosophy and Philosophy of Sciences W.PH.F. University (USE, UNO).
He is the Chairman and VP of the Organizing Committee of the World Philosophical Forum, Responsible for the Development of Culture and Intercultural Dialogue and a permanent speaker at it. For the World Philosophical Forum, he is also: World Ambassador of Peace, World Ambassador of Good and Light, Ecumenical Ambassador of Intellect and Arts, Citizen of the World.
He participated as a speaker in Greece and abroad in seminars, workshops, symposia and conferences of schools, systems, currents, and styles of Theatrical Art, the Art of Speech, Self- improvement, Psychology, Philosophy, and Parapsychology, as well as in banquets or festivals on Intellect and Culture. He’s a regular speaker at University Institutions, the Union of Greek Physicists, the UNESCO Group of Speech Arts and Sciences of Greece, the Group for UNESCO Piraeus and Islands, and other institutions.
His recently awarded performances of Theatricalized Poetic Speech include: “Greece - Intellect - LIGHT,” “Ode to Peace,” “Enlightenments Olympism and LIGHT,” “Delphi, Greece, Intellect, LIGHT,” “Traveling with Cavafy” (60 tributes-performances), “Avgerinos,” and “Ahh, Eros.”
Total Speeches: 640. Recent section: “Holy Mother Greece, Matrix of the Worlds,” 34 speeches.
He has conceived and completed the “1st Universal Intellect and Arts’ Flame Lighting Ceremony,” accompanied by a “Ritual Invocation to Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses” at the great master Plato’s Academy and the Academy of Athens.
He researches and moves in spaces of Esotericism, practices of Self-Improvement, Philosophy, and Philosophy of Esotericism since his adolescence.
He has received esteemed awards for his activity in the fields of Intellect, Culture, the Good, and LIGHT, in many parts of the world, from Academies and Universities to important international organizations such as the UN, UNESCO, etc.
-2023 LAUREATE OF <<GUSI PEASE PRIZE INTERNATIONAL>> - GUSI Peace Prize International, is the Counterpart of NOBEL Prize of Peach, of the East and from Gusi Peace Prize International Foundation 2023, 38η Annual Organization (29/11/2023)in Manila Philippines.
Charalampos Persides
Charalampos Persidis is a Music Video Clip Director & Producer (produced more than 600 video clips and commercials)! As 3D animator, he has
created a unique method of learning the English language, worldwide innovation, based on
Cinematographic Quality 3D Animation short films - lessons! As a writer, collaborates with theGreek Ministry of Education, Archbishop's Library, Unesco.
Charalampos Persidis is also a Music Performer (guitar, bass, drums), played in clubs and theaters with the most famous singers and actors, Composer and Lyricist (his album STORIE D’ AMOR is interpreted by the worldwide famous Top ranked Greek Soprano Sonia Theodoridou),