Etienne KALLOS

Etienne Kallos is a Greek- South African who studied and worked in theater in South Africa before moving to California where he made documentaries for several years. He shifted into fiction filmmaking after moving to New York to attend the NYU graduate film-directing program. His directed work has been selected for festivals such as Berlin International, Sundance, Cannes (Cinefondation) and Telluride… In 2007 his 20-minute fiction short, ‘doorman’ was released by Strand Releasing on dvd in North America and in 2009 his 30-minute fiction short, ‘Eersgeborene’ (‘Firstborn’) was awarded the ‘Corto Cortissimo’ Lion for best short film at the Venice Film Festival. It was the first Afrikaans-language film to do so. ‘Eersgeborene’ also won a National Board of Review (N.B.R) student film award in 2010 and the ‘special jury’ award for best narrative short at the Atlanta Film Festival. After graduating with his M.F.A, Etienne stayed on in New York and worked as a lecturer in the NYU graduate film program before moving back to South Africa in 2011 where he is currently developing his narrative feature projects ‘Vrystaat’ (‘Free State’) and ‘Thirstland’.