SCHOLARSHIPS FOR IMMIGRANT CHILDREN
The Press Conference held on Friday, March 19, 2010 during the 12th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century was on two scholarships of € 5,000 Euros each for immigrant children, students at the Cross-Cultural Thessaloniki High School. Present were the Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Mr. Spyros Vougias, the Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival Ms Despina Mouzaki, and the Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Mr. Dimitri Eipides.
The Ministry will provide € 5,000 Euros a year to each of two students at the Cross-Cultural Thessaloniki High School, while the students will have the option, if they wish to, to enroll at the IEK ACME, which will cover their tuition for audiovisual studies.
Ms Mouzaki stated: “This collaboration is an honor for us, showing the social dimension of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which, in its year long activities has initiated educational actions and programs which give students from grade school to university the chance to acquire a deeper knowledge of cinema and its different expressions,” she said, referring to the collaboration between the Ministry and the Festival. She also spoke about the initiative undertaken by Dimitri Eipides, Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival so that these scholarships can be given out starting this year, “to give these children the opportunity to be educated, to find career opportunities, for a better life”. She also expressed her thanks to the Ministry which “embraced this initiative right from the start”.
Mr. Eipides referred to the role of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, noting its social character: “When we began this festival 12 years ago, we made a huge wager: to create, for the first time in Greece, a festival which could fill a large gap in the screening of documentary films, as well as to create a community of artists, professionals and audience who could share ideas and questions. We believe we have achieved our initial goals: 12 years later, the Festival has grown, it includes conferences, round table discussions, workshops and publications, it has proven its worth in the international festival circuit. Better yet, it has won over its audience. But we are not resting on our laurels. The Festival continues the constant effort to remain an institution that acts not only on an artistic, but also a social level. It justifies the meaning of its existence”. Mr. Eipides also declared himself proud of the telemarathon organized in 2003 by the Thessaloniki Documentary in collaboration with ERT3, thanks to which money was collected for the creation of a school for refugees in Iran. “Our new intervention, the instituting of the two scholarships for child immigrants is not political, it is charitable. Our goal is to give them a chance for a better life”, the Artistic Director said, thanking Mr. Vougias as well as IEK ACME.
Mr. Vougias declared that he felt honored and happy, as he can combine his duties at the Ministry on immigration issues with his love for the city of Thessaloniki, film, and the Festival. “I grew up with the Festival, I followed its history, as I’m now following its adventures over the last while. I hope the difficulties are overcome and that the Festival will regain its cosmopolitan and Greek character”. Then Mr. Vougias spoke about the policy on the reception and assimilation of immigrants: “In spite of great financial problems, we have opened up other issues which have been pending for years. We have already voted in a law on citizenship. Our goal is for these people to live a descent life from the first day they arrive at the reception centers, where humane living conditions will apply, until the moment they apply fore asylum and their children will go to school. With this in mind I welcomed Dimitri Eipides’ idea for the two scholarships”.
The Director of IEK ACME of Northern Greece, Mr. Stavros Kapeliotis thanked the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival for the excellent collaboration and noted that the scholarship given by the educational organization is an expression of its social sensitivity.
Olympic champion and Volunteer Coordinator for the Hellenic Red Cross Ms Voula Patoulidou stressed that we mustn’t’t have the attitude of “why not for our own children”, since “all children must be seen as belonging to us, especially those that have greater need”, she said.
Finally, the principal of Pylaia Cross Cultural High School, Mr. Nikos Mihailidis thanked the Ministry, the Festival and IEK ACME, calling the gesture a “gift” for the students. It should be noted that in selecting the scholarship recipients, teachers will keep in mind the students’ achievement and behavior, as well as the ability to remain in Greece and continue studies.
