Film criticism and the legitimization of a New Wave in contemporary Greek cinema

Contemporary Greek cinema garnered a great reputation in recent years, including Oscar nominations, numerous awards and distinctions in international festivals and also worldwide media coverage. The emergence of a new group of filmmakers whose creativity and avant-garde aesthetics were stimulated and heightened by the social and economic crisis was first marked by media critics (film critics and cultural journalists). As journalistic art criticism plays a prominent role in the legitimization of cultural products and artistic genres, this article examines the way in which professional film critics and journalists, both in Greece and abroad, described, evaluated and labelled the ‘Greek New Wave’. In line with cultural evaluation theories, we conducted a content analysis of film criticism articles in order to explore how professionals have reviewed and deployed their arguments towards this new phenomenon. Our results indicate that film criticism decisively influenced the Greek New Wave’s shaping and legitimization in the film industry. Even though film critics and journalists hesitated to adhere to a specific name for this phenomenon in Greek cinema, their discourses and interpretations have been based on the films’ break with previous film practices and representations of Greek society and the paradox between a ‘collapsing country’ and a flourishing arthouse cinema.