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7/3/2023

MASTERCLASS AT THE THESSALONIKI FESTIVAL

"How to get documentaries more visibility"
 

As part of the 25th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (March 2-12, 2023), on Tuesday, March 7, the Greek Documentary Association is organizing a Masterclass on:

"How to get documentaries more visibility"

The speaker is German Paul Rieth, designer of strategies for attracting the public.

The Masterclass will take place on Tuesday, March 7 at 10:00 am in the John Cassavetes Hall.

 

"Films are made for the public to see":

If we take the above premise as a given, we notice that documentaries find it difficult to find their rightful place in the distribution circuit.

Looking at the ways in which documentaries try to attract audiences both in theaters and in VOD distribution, it is evident that the limited budget in the areas of marketing is one of the biggest challenges.

In the masterclass, audience strategist, marketing and crowdfunding consultant and producer Paul Rieth will give useful tips on targeting and attracting audiences from the early stages of the process.

Armed with original ideas, research, and personal vision, industry professionals will learn how to optimize the outcome of their efforts by leveraging all available media, each time adapting their approach to the story they want to tell and the audience they want to reach. wish to attract.

Brief Biography of Paul Rieth:

Paul Rieth is a producer, audience strategist, marketing and crowdfunding consultant based in Berlin.

He frequently gives lectures and presentations at universities, colleges and film festivals.

He is a professor and consultant in the field of audience planning for the Feature Lab of the Torino Film Lab. GET YOUR CROWD agency offers consulting or workshops for companies, organizations and individuals in strategy planning in terms of audience attraction, crowdfunding and digital marketing.

In addition to strategic planning and campaigns, his company produces various forms of audiovisual material for its clients. From 2021 he is an executive at the Film University Babelsberg in the field of Audience Planning, Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

 

For more information:www.paulrieth.de

NOTE: The Masterclass will be given in English, without Greek translation.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

26/1/2023

 



Open Letter sent to the Deputy Minister of Modern Culture on the subject of the pending Law on the integration of EKK/EKOME/OPI



Dear Mr. Deputy Minister,


We address you believing that we express the anxiety of the entire film community, regarding the issue of the sudden decision, to proceed with the consolidation of three Organizations (EKK, EKOME, OPI) with different legal character and different statutory purposes.

As the Greek Documentary Association, we have decided to publicly declare our opposition to such a hasty decision to change the legislation that aims to unify three bodies, two of which (EKK and EKOME), finance the submitted film productions with different criteria.

We are concerned, because with the way this merger is being carried out, we will essentially be forced to accept fait accompli, without having been sufficiently informed and without having participated in a wider discussion, which will actually concern the future of Greek cinema and documentary in particular .

We are concerned because the documentary as a genre needs special care, because of its global, not only artistic value, but also because of its international spread as a genre that offers knowledge and experiences to an audience that is expanding year by year.

The Greek Documentary Association represents perhaps the most financially "sensitive" group of the film community. Nevertheless, our offer was, is and will be invaluable, as EEN consists of colleagues with international experience in the documentary production process. As the Greek Documentary Union we have elaborated proposals and thoughts that we would like to share with you.


Mr Deputy Minister,

for all these reasons, our Union decided:

 

  •  To request the suspension of the processing and promotion of the Bill, at least until the elections, so that we do not proceed with hasty solutions that will endanger the viability of the Greek Documentary and in general of film producers; Greek and foreign .
     

  •  To immediately request an informational meeting with you, so that we can be informed in detail about the intentions and goals of the Bill being processed.
     

  •  To publicize her positions and the letter to the other film unions and to the press.


Yours sincerely
The Board of Directors of EEN

President: Anneta Papathanasiou
Vice President: Meletis Moiras
Secretary: Ilia Papaspyrou
Treasurer: Andreas Siadimas
Member: Dionysia Kopanas
Member: Maria Leonidas
Member: Yiannis Misouridis





The 7th EEN Tribute to Greek Documentaries was successfully completed
A little account

 

 

 

With Eyes Open 2022 already in the past, but at the same time a strong legacy for the future of an institution that already counts 7 years of presence in the field of promoting Greek documentary, EEN continues its effort to highlight and promote Greek documentary filmmakers and their films.

 

As part of this year's 7ou Tribute, more than 20 short and feature-length films were screened at the Film Gallery of Greece from October 13-16
After the screenings of the films, interesting discussions followed with the presence of the directors and an audience, which responded and actively participated in these discussions.

 

This year's Tribute to the Ukrainian director, guest of EEN, Alisa Kovalenko, was a great success. After the screening of her film Home Games, she delivered a masterclass to a packed room on the dilemmas of the creator in wartime.

 

In the Honorary Tribute to the recently deceased Robiros Manthoulis, 2 of his important films were screened, which mark the way in which this great director approached the subject and characters of his films.

 

In the framework of the "With Eyes Open" Tribute, the 5th Documentary Workshop was also organized with the theme "Workshop to Strengthen the Production File", in collaboration with the "Lykourgos Stavrakos" Film and Television School and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, with experienced directors and producers as presenters of the documentary space in Greece.

There were more than 40 submissions with proposals for films to be developed and all of them were of great interest. There were also numerous requests to attend the Workshop.

This fact made clear the huge interest that exists among young people, for training on the subject and the field of creative documentary.

 

One of the proposals entitled "Nova Opera - The Art of War" by Vera Iona Papadopoulou was chosen by the presenters to be awarded with an honorable mention and to participate in the Agora Pitching Forum of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in March 2023.

 

The Greek Documentary Union feels proud because with this organization it managed to attract an audience that is interested in and supports Greek documentary.

 

The Tribute and the Workshop were held with the funding and support of the Ministry of Culture and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival

 

Greek Documentary Association

(photo: Yiannis Misouridis)

11/10/2022


PRESS RELEASE
 

WITH EYES OPEN
 

7th  TRIBUTE TO GREEK DOCUMENTARY FILM, FROM OCTOBER 13-16 AT THE FILM LIBRARY OF GREECE 

THIS YEAR TWO IMPORTANT TRIBUTES A MASTERCLAS & A DAY OF MUSICAL DOCUMENTARIES

·     Ukrainian filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko  will be our guest of honor with her filmHome Games, followed by a masterclass on the role of the documentary filmmaker in wartime

·       Tribute to Roviros Manthoulis

·       A day of music documentaries

·       Official festival trailer:  https://youtu.be/HLrZf32bKAE


Official guest of GDA and of this year's WITH EYES OPEN Tribute  is the 34-year-old Ukrainian director Alisa Kovalenko.

 Saturday 15/10 will be dedicated to Ukrainian filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko with the screening of her award-winning film Home Games.
Alisa, after the end of the screening, will give a masterclass on the subject of the conditions and difficulties encountered in making films in wartime conditions. Events she personally experienced participating in 2014 as a filmmaker when  she was captured by the Russians and sexually abused. In the current circumstances  she gave up the camera and took up a gun to fight.

 

A few words about Alisa and her film Home Games.
 

Alisa Kovalenko (1987) is a Ukrainian director, living in Kyiv. Her first feature documentary Alisa in Warland, about the war in Eastern Ukraine, premiered at IDFA Amsterdam in 2015. Alisa's second documentary Home Games had its world premiere at Sheffield Doc/Fest and was selected in 65 festival (8 awards). It was also the official IDFA entry  2018 and was awarded the Best European Documentary Award at the Odessa Film Festival in July 2018. Home Games was nominated as the best Ukrainian documentary in 2019 at the Ukrainian Film Academy.In 2019, Alisa became a member of the European Film Academy (EFA).

Home Games is a 'disintegrated' fairy tale depicting a critical moment in the life of Alina, a 20-year-old girl, a 'million dollar baby' from Kyiv, whose passion for soccer gives her a chance to escape from poverty.

The trailer of the movie    https://youtu.be/tKCID-GxBh8

 

HONORARY TRIBUTE TO ROVIRO MANTHOULI

Friday 14/10 from 19:30 – 22:00  
 

As part of the tribute, the  films of Cinema of the Real and The Wrecks of History will be shown. Then Roviros will 'talk' about Roviros with the help of Nikos Theodosios and Kostas Machairas through excerpts from the Behind the Scenes' Roviros Manthoulis: The man with the cinematograph by Kostas Macheiras.
 

The tribute is also connected to the Workshop for young professionals, organized this year by GDA as part of the WITH EYES OPEN Tribute.
 

Nikos Theodosiou and Stavros Psyllakis will analyze the way in which Roviros Manthoulis approached the subject, the characters and the narrative in his work.

 

 

Greece, the shipwrecks of History (1977, 49'). The documentary, filmed for French and Swiss television, searches for the identity of the Greek, after the contractions that Greece suffered from the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the internal migration from various poor areas to the outskirts of the big cities. A typical example is Maniatika, the neighborhood of Piraeus that arose from the internal migration of residents of Mani, where most of the film was shot. It contains testimonies from Pontic and Turkomeric songs, from maniacal obituaries as well as a lyrical commentary by Dionysis Savvopoulos, as he himself is from a refugee family in Asia Minor.
 

Cinema of the real (LE CINEMA DU REEL 1981,48 min)

A documentary film about creative documentary and its history:

Flaherty, Vertov's 'cinema-eye', the British school of the 1930s, cinema-verité in France in the 1950s. Interviews with: Jean Roux, Edgar Morin, Henri Stork, Joris Ivens, Nagisa Oshima, etc. a. For the series Cinematic Eyes by  Anne Andrieux.

A DAY FULL OF MUSIC

Thursday 13/9 from 18:00 – 22:00

Three musical documentaries take us on a journey from the Jazz of Larissa, to the Askavlos of the Aegean Sea and to 'reality (which) does not exist' by Aera Patera.

 

18:00 – 20:00  

What Happened in Larissa (A story about Nat Birchall)  / 72΄/  Dimitris Papadopoulos, Ioannis Kolaxizis

Nat Birchall is one of the most important representatives of the British Manchester jazz scene. Kostas Voultsidis is the originator of Duende Jazz Bar in Larissa, in 2009. The documentary follows their journey and focuses on the creation of the legendary album Nat Birchall Quintet: Live In Larissa, which was universally accepted by audiences and critics in 2014, year when many music lovers wondered: 'Where is Larissa? What happened in Larissa?'

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nwOsyGexO8

 

20:00 – 22:00    The Voyage of Askavlos / 87΄/ Giorgos Arvanitis

A journey to the Aegean sea, during which the askalos, the ancient Greek bagpipe, is revived in the hands of musicians who keep an ancient tradition alive. The instrument is slowly but surely finding its way to the city, where modern musicians are bringing it to the modern music scene. The viewer witnesses this revival and, together with the protagonists, discovers something that has almost been lost: the customs and ethos of the people of another era, and an oral tradition that was once a way of life, preserved over the centuries.

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoNR1P66LYI
 

22:00 – 00:00     Aeralandi / 94΄ / Haris Raftogiannis

'Reality does not exist': This is the motto of the chaotic and open music band Aera Patera. When some members, tired of the constant chaos, demand some form of organization, Jimis – the unofficial leader of the group – will have to compromise or face that 'reality doesn't exist' once again.

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=554KN-tIE04

 

 

DETAILED PROGRAM OF THE FESTIVAL

At the end of each film there will be a Q & A with the directors

Thursday, October 13

 

16:00 – 18:00    A Beautiful Day / 97΄/ Danis Karaïsaridis, George Paterakis

The portrait of two self-organized preschool educational ventures, which use a combination of non-conventional educational methods. The Little Tree in Thessaloniki operates based on the values of libertarian education and experiential learning, while at the Little Dunias Forest School in Lesvos, local and refugee children play and learn together in nature every day.

Trailer:https://vimeo.com/457744840

 

18:00 – 20:00    Zambeta / 13΄/ Elisavet & Sofia Sfyri

Zambeta follows our grandmother one day in her life, as she watches TV, talks on the phone, visits her neighborhood KAPI. At the same time, she tells us how she was forced by her first husband to move to Canada and how she managed to return and get a divorce in Greece in the 1960s.
 

Trailer:https://vimeo.com/559122086
 

 What Happened to Larissa (A Story About Nat Birchall)  / 72΄/  Dimitris Papadolpoulos, Ioannis Kolaxizis

Nat Birchall is one of the most important representatives of the British Manchester jazz scene. Kostas Voultsidis is the originator of Duende Jazz Bar in Larissa, in 2009. The documentary follows their journey and focuses on the creation of the legendary album Nat Birchall Quintet: Live In Larissa, which was universally accepted by audiences and critics in 2014, year when many music lovers wondered: 'Where is Larissa? What happened in Larissa?'

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nwOsyGexO8

 

20:00 – 22:00    The Voyage of Askalos / 87΄/ Giorgos Arvanitis

A journey to the Aegean sea, during which the askalos, the ancient Greek bagpipe, is revived in the hands of musicians who keep an ancient tradition alive. The instrument is slowly but surely finding its way to the city, where modern musicians are bringing it to the modern music scene. The viewer witnesses this revival and, together with the protagonists, discovers something that has almost been lost: the customs and ethos of the people of another era, and an oral tradition that was once a way of life, preserved over the centuries.

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoNR1P66LYI

 

22:00 – 00:00     Aeralandi / 94΄ / Haris Raftogiannis

'Reality does not exist': This is the motto of the chaotic and open music band Aera Patera. When some members, tired of the constant chaos, demand some form of organization, Jimis – the unofficial leader of the group – will have to compromise or face that 'Reality Doesn't Exist' once again.

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=554KN-tIE04

 

Friday, October 14

 

16:00 – 17:40    The Music of Things / 90΄/ Menios Karagiannis

 Three people totally focused and dedicated to what they do. A musician, a carpenter and a photographer invite us into their personal world and reveal to us the most sensitive aspects of their work. Without words, images and sounds take on another meaning, while music is born alive, in encounters with things. The film takes us on a journey without a destination, to the details where the universe is hidden.

Trailer:https://vimeo.com/391577242

 

17:45 – 18:00    Greetings from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, GFC, Thessaloniki Festival, Filmmakers for Ukraine/Crew United.

 

18:00 – 19:30    Debt / 77΄/ Stavros Psyllakis

'Every person we meet in our life is a journey and many times we feel from the beginning whether we will travel with them first class or without luggage and with empty pockets.'

Alekos Zoukas is a very lovable, fun-loving and at the same time deeply thoughtful person who is hard to forget if you meet him. In the film, Alekos' trips, with his friends and the director, to Pirsogianni are alternated with his confessions from his experience with cancer and he is treated as a literary 'hero'. It is not a biography of Alek.


Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfc8QZqiUkQ&t=2s
 

19:30 – 22:00    Tribute to Roviros Manthoulis

 

The Castaways of History / 52΄/ Roviros Manthoulis

 

Greece, the shipwrecks of History (1977, 49'). The documentary, filmed for French and Swiss television, searches for the identity of the Greek, after the contractions that Greece suffered from the Asia Minor Catastrophe and the internal migration from various poor areas to the outskirts of the big cities. A typical example is Maniatika, the neighborhood of Piraeus that arose from the internal migration of residents of Mani, where most of the film was shot. It contains testimonies from Pontic and Turkomeric songs, from maniacal obituaries as well as a lyrical commentary by Dionysis Savvopoulos, as he himself is from a refugee family in Asia Minor.

 

Cinema of the real (LE CINEMA DU REEL 1981, 48 min)

 

A documentary film about creative documentary and its history:

Flaherty, Vertov's 'cinema-eye', the British school of the 1930s, cinema verité in France in the 1950s. Interviews with: Jean Roux, Edgar Moren, Henri Stork, Joris Ivens, Nagisa Oshima et al. For Anne Andrieux's 'Cinematic Glimpses' series.

Background, excerpt from the show about Robiros Manthoulis / 13΄/ Kostas Machiras

 

22:00 – 00:00    Dimitra K / 73΄/ Eva Stefani

 

Dimitra is a sex worker and for many years the president of the Greek Sex Workers union. She loves her job and was the owner of one of the oldest houses in Athens. The film outlines the portrait of Dimitra over the course of twelve years. At the same time, the camera records aspects of the changing city, marked by the effects of the financial crisis. Knowing Dimitra we come face to face with our stereotypes about sex, female desire, individual freedom, but also the way trials change us at critical historical moments.
Trailer:https://vimeo.com/563347547

 

Saturday, October 15

 

16:00 – 18:00   Vidisova / 10΄/ George Panagopoulos

Mr. Tasos rebuilt the house of his childhood memories with his own hands, in a small village that was massively destroyed by its own inhabitants in the late 60s, in order to subsidize themselves as earthquake victims and build a new village. A documentary about memory, the passage of time and collective trauma.

 

 Broken Boats / 19΄/ Dimitris Tamvakakis

The European Union in order to reduce overfishing began to subsidize the destruction of traditional boats. In the crisis, over 12,500 traditional caiques were destroyed, and the ancient art of shipwrights is slowly disappearing. Broken Boats records this event from the perspective of the people affected.

 

Thalia with Iota / 33΄/ Thodoris Ioannidis

 

The diplomatic film 'Thalia me yota' presents moments from the life of Takis Moschopoulidis. Takis immerses us in his world which consists of alcohol and wooden constructions corresponding to those of modeling craftsmen. Full of glue sticks in his hands and with unrolled cigarettes, he shows absolute devotion to his artistic creations and tells stories from his life. His stories are dominated by the phrase 'Sex, drugs and rock'n'rol' in the context of the Greek countryside of the 90s, a phrase that he is now paying dearly for.

 

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AKwoI2SwpA

 

18:00 - 19:30   Return to Earth / 60΄/ Chrysa Tzelepi, Akis Kersanidis

 

Hector Mavridis is a ceramist. Devoted in recent years to the ongoing project of svoloi, he investigates the imprint of the primordial form in the public space. The clods he collects from the plowed field are the raw material. Their form, the smell of the wet soil awakens memories for him. He observes them, touches them. He wants to transform them. He works with fire, water, time. The body carries the energy, the soul the deep blue color. Now the lumps are weightless, floating above the ears, along with a piece of the memories and identity of their creator, Hector.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4gVHIunbvQ

 

19:30 – 22:00   Home Games / 86΄/ Alisa Kovalenko
 

Home Games is a 'disintegrated' fairy tale depicting a critical moment in the life of Alina, a 20-year-old girl, a 'million dollar baby' from Kyiv, whose passion for soccer gives her a chance to escape from poverty.

The trailer of the movie    https://youtu.be/tKCID-GxBh8

 

***Masterclass by Alisa Kovalenko, on the subject of the conditions and difficulties she encounters making films in wartime conditions.

 

22:00 – 00:00   Through the Window / 83΄/ Christos Barbas

In May 2020, during the country's first two-month lockdown, in a nursing home in Agios Stefanos, north of Athens, staff and guests experienced an additional confinement, after sealing the unit for precautionary reasons. The documentary records this act, which at the time was unique at the national, European, and perhaps global level.

 

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x6JNF3k1HA

 

Sunday, October 16

 

16:00 – 18:30  Films from previous years workshops.
     

In Omonoia /10΄/ Olga Bakopoulou

Dreams on Wheels / 33΄/ Sofia Liulia

Rooms with a view / 22΄/ Nicoleta Parashi, Nikos Papadimitriou

What the Rain Washed Away / 14΄/ Ioanna Tsilili
The talking walls / 21' / Vassiliki Mylonas

The Notes behind the Rule / 15΄/ Lazaros Asmis

 It's not about bikes / 8΄/ Vasilis Lolis

 D΄ Lyceum / 14΄/ Emilia Vakoufari

 Dresscode / 10΄/ Susan Chrysovitsinou

  

18:30 – 19:30  Fossils / 51΄/ Panos Arvanitakis

The activities of PPC in the area of Eordaia are transforming a place that looks  unfamiliar. A perpetual process that never stops. Humans and machines set the stage for an ominous Future. Toil and the hope of escape humanize this place.

 

Trailer:https://vimeo.com/300277240

 

19:30 – 22:00  Golden Dawn – Public Affair / 117΄/ Angelique Kourounis

 

Five years after the release of the much-discussed and award-winning film Golden Dawn, A Personal Affair, Angelique Kourounis is back with her new film. The documentary Golden Dawn, Public Affair. Which resistance?, is the continuation and completion of the multi-year investigation on the Golden Dawn and runs through the five and a half years of the historical trial against this Nazi formation. At the same time, the documentary discovers the inner workings of Golden Dawn through the readings of the trial and focuses on Magda Fyssa, who forced Greek society to stop turning a blind eye to the rise of Golden Dawn.

 

Trailer:https://vimeo.com/559034571

 

22:00 – 00:00  The Flowers Are Missing / 16' / Ilma Tyrpetari, Alexandros Kantoros

 

In a small village called Drist there are few residents left, due to emigration. Among them is an old woman, who lives her own daily life away from those she loves. While the village and the people seem abandoned, nature flourishes seamlessly, enriching their lives.

 

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rvpk-JIno0E
 

 Where the Dead Once Lived / 71΄/ Marios Kleftakis, Isabella Alopoudis

 

Cairo, Egypt: a megacity of 25 million tries to find its rhythm again. About a decade ago, the Arab Spring shook the country's political scene. The overthrow of the regime brought substantial changes to the already troubled everyday life. Adjacent to the center of the chaotic city is a vast necropolis. Half a million homeless find shelter inside the graves. They try to survive in the quietest neighborhood of the city, also known as Arafah, the city of the dead.

 

Trailer:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJw_fUYg6sg

Buy Tickets & Schedule Schedule:http://www.tainiothiki.gr/el/aithouses/programma

20/9/2022


DOCUMENTARY PRODUCTION FILE REINFORCEMENT WORKSHOP FOR NEW DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS IN THE CONTEXT OF THE 7TH OPEN EYES GREEK  DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL  2022
         

October 8-9 and 15-16 at Stavrakou School 

Registration here: https://forms.gle/NZVQBXTRAMx877ep6
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 2/10/2022

  

As part of this year's 7th EYES OPEN event, the Greek Documentary Association  will implement a four-day workshop aimed at new documentary filmmakers and producers, whose proposal is in an intermediate stage of processing:

 

• They have prepared a 2-page summary 

• And an early script design (treatment) with description of possible scenes, characters and theme development 

 

The Workshop will be taught by experienced professionals from the creative documentary field with the aim of participants creating a strong production portfolio. 
 

 

TUTORS

 

Antonis Tolakis director / producer / director of studies at the Stavrakou school (treatment / synopsis / directorial approach) 

 

Christos Karakepelis director / teacher at the Stavrakos School (treatment / synopsis / directorial approach) 

 

Fotini Economopoulou producer (Budget, Financial plan) 

 

Jan Rofekamp – Films Transit international (Distribution) The presentation will be in English. 

 

Giorgos Angelopoulos – Director of Production and Development at YKK  (KYKK Financial Programs) 

 

Stavros Psyllakis director (screenplay analysis of works by Robiros Manthoulis) 

 

Nikos Theodosiou director partner of Robiros Manthoulis (screenplay analysis in works by Robiros Manthoulis) 
 

 

The responsibility for the planning and organization of the Workshop has been taken on the part of EEN by Angelos Kovotsos director, Dionysia Kopanas director and Maria Leonida director in charge of Karpos educational organization. Coordination will be undertaken by Angelos Kovotsos. 

 

From the applications - proposals that will be submitted, the 14 best ones will be selected in principle. The selection of participants will be based on the application, CV and sample film/television/audio-visual work. Accepted as sample and graduate  films.  

 

Workshop Program 

 

The participants will form two groups and attend the seminars offered over 2 weekends, October 8-9 and 15-16 at the Stavrakos School. 

 

Each of the four workshop days will be divided into two sessions: the morning 4 hours (10.00-14.00) will be dedicated to the construction of the narrative, the development of the characters and the visual expression of the selected designs. 

 

The afternoon two-hour sessions (15.00-17.00) will feature specialist presentations focusing on production direction, production, distribution, pitching the production portfolio and script analysis. 

 

Finally, the participants will present their completed projects in a Pitching panel with the aim of one of them being selected as a reward for participation in the Agora Pitching Forum of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival in March 2023. 
The costs participation and hospitality will be covered by the Festival. 

 7/9/2022 

 

 

 

PRESS RELEASE  

 

 

  With eyes open

7th Tribute to the Greek Documentary 

by the GREEK DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION  

in the Film Library of Greece 

We renew our appointment for the 7th year  

From 13-16 October 2022, every day from 16.00 – 12.00 

Four days of movies full of real life images! 

Tribute to Ukrainian filmmaker ALISA KOVALENKO 

Special tribute to Roviros Manthoulis 

5th Documentary Workshop for young professionals  

 

At the end of each screening there will be a 10-minute discussion with the creators and the audience 

 

NEXT PRESS RELEASE WITH PROJECTOR SCHEDULE DETAILS TO FOLLOW 

 

   

With eyes open

Because reality writes the best scenarios  

 

The Greek Documentary Association, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and the Film Library of Greece are co-organizing the  7th Tribute to the Greek documentary With eyes open. 

 

From the 13th to the 16th of October, the heart of the Greek documentary will beat at the Film Library of Greece, giving us the opportunity to watch some of the most important films of the past year and not only to talk to their creators.

This year's program consists of short and feature-length documentaries, which will be screened with the presence and participation of the contributors with a 10-minute Q & A after the end of each screening. 

On Saturday 14/10, it is dedicated to the Ukrainian filmmaker Alisa Kovalenko with the screening of her award-winning film, Home Games. 

 Alisa, an official guest of the Greek Documentary Union, after the end of the screening, will give a master class on the conditions and difficulties encountered when making films in war conditions.

 

Ticket price: 5 euros / day 

FILM LIBRARY OF GREECE,  

Iera Odos 48 and Megalou Alexandrou 134-136, Metro Kerameikos 

Documentary Workshop "Creating a Production Folder" 

In the framework of the ME TA MATIA ANOICHTA 2020 Tribute with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture and in collaboration with the Lykourgos Stavrakos Film and Television School and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, will organize the 5th Documentary Workshop on the theme ''Creating a production file'' on facilities of the Stavrakos School. 

*** A special announcement/invitation will follow  

Join : Free 

Workshop days: 8-9 /10 and  15-16/10 

Workshop hours: 10.00 am – 14:00  and 15.00 – 17.00 pm 

Film and Television School Lykourgos Stavrakos

 

65 Patision, Athens 10433, Metro Pl. Victoria 

23/4/2022

Announcement of the Greek Documentary Association about the death of Roviros Manthoulis

 

For Roviros

Our beloved Roviros,

In your face, the Greek Documentary Association sadly bids farewell to a great Creator and Teacher of the documentary (and not only). A wonderful person, for those of us who knew you closely, always available and by our side in everything we needed.

In your ephemeral passage from this world you left us a great, eternal, legacy with your cinematic creations, your writings and your attitude that always accompanies and will illuminate our path. As a minimum tribute at present and with the promise to come back much more substantially to pay tribute to your memory, we deposit, instead of a wreath, in our "common fund", two excerpts from your upcoming book Montage and magic:
 

 

Magic is a construction. Like an ancient temple. Each of its columns is a composition of pieces. But because the composition is successful, we do not see pieces. We see columns. We do not see montage, we see temple. The montage is the seams. And the seams should not be visible in the films. ... except for the absence of actors, there is only one difference between documentary and fiction. It is much more difficult to create magic in the documentary than fiction. As it is just as difficult to build a temple. The Parthenon is a magical documentary in itself, isn't it?

If the Cinema is alive, it owes it to its shadows on the white wall. Both fiction and documentary. The only difference is that if in the documentary the person in the scene we are shooting dies, he can not be replaced. So we can claim that a living documentary is the antidote to death.


Warm condolences to your family and loved ones.

(text: Stavros Psylakis for GDA)

27/2/2022

 

LETTER OF SOLIDARITY TO UKRAINE ON BEHALF OF THE GDA

Putin's authoritarian regime, under false pretenses, has launched a total invasion of the territories of the peaceful republic of Ukraine, starting a fierce war and seriously threatening Europe and world peace.  

 

As people of Culture, we Greek documentary filmmakers are particularly sensitive to the abolition of the basic principles of democracy and freedom, to which this shameful invasion amounts. 
 

Together with our Ukrainian colleagues, whose freedom and lives are under immediate threat, but also with our colleagues in Russia and Belarus, who have dared to express their opposition to the war, we demand an immediate end to the deadly "war operation" of Russia. 

The Hellenic Documentary Association calls on the Greek Government to make a substantial contribution to the strengthening of humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people.  

 

The Ukrainian people need our support and practical assistance. 

In Ukraine people do not  only defend their country, they fight for freedom and real democracy.  

 

Our Ukrainian colleagues in a letter request:  

 

  • Immediate measures for the protection of the civilian population and a complete commercial embargo 

  • Medical and humanitarian aid  

  • Complete isolation of Russia at all levels. 

  • Immediate imposition of personal sanctions (travel ban and seizure of assets) on all Russian oligarchs and not just the close circle around the Putin regime. 

  • Extensive funding in Ukraine  

 

The firm position of the Hellenic Documentary Association is the support to our fellow colleagues, wherever they are in the crosshairs, all over the war-torn world and especially at this moment, in Ukraine.  
 

We stand in solidarity with them as well as with each individual civilian who is a victim of this irrational conflict. 

Practical solidarity for us, means help to every victim of the war, inside and outside Greek borders!  

 

We must act immediately. Unless effective action is taken, we will be remembered in history as passive accomplices in the horrific crimes now being committed against freedom, democracy and humanity.  

 

The Board of Directors of the GDA 

 

      Chairman:  Anneta Papathanasiou

Vice President: Meletis Miras

Secretary: Ilia Papaspyrou  

     Treasurer: Andreas Siadimas

     Members:  Dionysia Kopana  

             Giannis Misouridis  

         Maria Leonida 

18/2/2022  

 

PRESS RELEASE OF THE GREEK DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION  

ELECTION OF A NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF GDA 

 

On Sunday, February 13, 2022, the annual General Assembly of the Greek Documentary Association was held online, with parallel elections for the election of the new Board of Directors and the Audit Committee of our Union. 


The following were appointed as members of the new Board of Directors based on the results of the voting, but also after the internal voting of the elected body concerning their responsibilities:  

 

President: Anneta Papathanassiou 
Vice President: Meletis Miras
Secretary: Ilia Papapyrou 
Treasurer: Andreas Siadimas 
Members: 
Dionysia Kopana 
Maria Leonida 
Giannis Misouridis  

Members of the new  Audit Committee are:  

Mark Gastin 
Angelos Kovotsos 
Spyros Tsiftsis  

 

Yours sincerely 

The new Board of Directors of the GDA

1/1/2022

24th THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL
 

Invitation for submission of Greek films

Deadline: Wednesday 12 January 2022

 

19/1/2022

 

Dear friends,

 

The 7th Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival "Beyond the Borders", extends an open invitation to documentary filmmakers from all over the world to participate in 2022.

 

Please, find the Submission Form and the terms of participation here: https://beyondborders.gr/forma-symmetoxis?view=form

 

Please follow the link to watch the Movie Invitation Trailer: https://youtu.be/Dx9W-7KmEN8

 

"Kastellorizo - Where documentary film meets History and Culture"

 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: APRIL 30, 2022

 

1/14/2022

OPEN CALL-DRAMA FESTIVAL

(JANUARY 15-MAY 15)

25/2/2021

ΔΕΛΤΙΟ-ΤΥΠΟΥ-ΑΝΑΚΟΙΝΩΣΗ-ΤΗΣ-ΕΕΝ-24022021
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