Thanos Anastopoulos' second featureDiorthosi (Correction) is the Greek official submission for the foreign-language Academy Award.

The decision reached by the Cinema Department of the Culture Ministry marks a change from the current film law which stipulates that the film
submitted should have won the best film trophy at the State Cinema Awards (SCA).

That honour went to Yiannis Smaragdis'El Greco, a biography of the famous Greek origin painter of the 16th century which dominated the local box office this year grossing around 1 million admissions.

El Greco, a Greek, Spanish, Hungarian co-production starring a multinational cast, was however rejected by the Academy as
the majority of the dialogues is in English.

The Anastopoulos'film, produced by his own Fantasia Audiovisual outlet and backed by the Greek Film Centre, is a powerful drama that tackles the interracial tensions between Greeks and immigrant Albanians living and working in Greece.

Ithaswearned a critical praise in home and abroad since its appearance at the 2007 Thessaloniki film festival. It went on to appear at numerous festivals including the Forum section at Berlin.

It is also among the films considered by the European Film Academy for next December European Film Awards.

The decision to switch films submitted for the Academy Awards indicates
that the Culture Minister Mihalis Liappis is ready to adopt the draft of a
revised film law produced by a committee, called by the minister himself
and headed by the celebrated Greek origin director Costa Gavras.

Among the numerous changes proposed is the one that calls for the film
submitted to the Academy Awards to be selected by a special ad hoc
committee instead of being automaticaly eligible for having obtained the
best film trophy at the SCA.

Liappis intends to present the draft of the new law to the parliament no
later than the end of the year following consultations with industry and
union representatives.

The actual film law, which the majority of the local film community
considers obsolete, was drafted more than a decade ago by a committee
headed by another prominent Greek film director, the celebrated Theo
Angelopoulos.