Press Conference - Inauguration of the Thessaloniki Cinematheque
A press conference was held on Saturday, November 3, 2012, in Warehouse C, on the founding og Thessaloniki’s Cinematheque in the framework of the 53rd Thessaloniki Film Festival. Among the speakers were Festival director Dimitri Eipides, Thessaloniki mayor Yiannis Boutaris and internationally acclaimed filmmaker and President of the French Cinematheque Costa Gavras.
Mr. Eipides said: “It gives me great pleasure to see so many people here today, on this sunny day; something really important is being established for the city, the cinema and the Festival. We are now at a turning point. The establishment of a Cinematheque in Thessaloniki has long been a goal of mine. I believed it was a prerequisite for the advancement of culture and the cinema in a city that boasts a long tradition in supporting this art. During the last 15 years, both the Thessaloniki Film Festival and the Documentary Festival have been doing exceptionally well, proving that the audience wants to be educated in cinema and is interested in quality filmmaking. This is a defining characteristic of this city’ s audience”. Mr. Eipides went on to add, “This was no easy task. Besides, every new beginning is hard. However, our goal is to become organized and find the necessary ways and means. I am happy to announce today the establishment of the Cinematheque, which is a vital project for the city. I am confident it will be a source of cinema education, entertainment and culture for the ages”. According to Mr. Eipides, “The Cinematheque is perhaps only a small repayment for all the love the Festival has been given by the people of Thessaloniki. It was the least we could do - a small gift to the city for the 100th anniversary of its liberation”.
Taking the floor, Mayor Boutaris said: “I am also happy to announce that the dream Mr. Eipides mentioned is now becoming a reality. The Cinematheque will become a film museum, with the prospect of evolving into a cinema center operating all year long, strengthening the bonds between viewers and the Thessaloniki Film Festival, the Documentary Festival and cinema in general”. Mr. Boutaris added: “Thanks, in large part, to its two existing, established festivals, Thessaloniki has evolved into a city with cinematic culture and tradition. Our aim is to strengthen these qualities even more. We are completely of the same mind with the Festival on this issue. Cinema culture also goes hand in hand with the development of the professions involved in filmmaking. This initiative will also play an important educational role, keeping cinema history alive”. Mr Boutaris went on to say: “The Thessaloniki Cinematheque will keep in touch with all other institutions both in Greece and abroad; among the plans is also to screen classic movies and host tributes to contemporary filmmakers from the international cinema scene. The Cinematheque's program will be supplemented by exhibitions and open discussions, thereby offering a comprehensive approach to filmmaking and operating as an additional center of cinema in the city. Clearly, the Festival is growing and we are all here to help it grow”.
In his speech, Mr. Gavras noted: “I wish to congratulate those responsible for establishing the Cinematheque. I believe that a cinematheque is necessary not only for the film sector, but for the audience as well. The traditional role of Cinematheques has been the preservation, screening and promotion of films. This is a way to get to know how life and society were in the past, a way which is often more effective than reading books on the periods involved. A Cinematheque is a live museum, always evolving. The Cinematheque does not preserve only the films currently considered to have great artistic value, but also the ones that might be considered as such in the future. A cinematheque's artistic and historic role is a major part of its mission”.
Addressing a question on the Cinematheque's programming, Mr. Eipides explained: “There are ongoing talks about this. The programs will be announced on a monthly basis through the press and our own publications. We have been given the material and the opportunity to have those classical films by the company Studio - Parallel Circuit. We will do our best to keep the audience fully appraised of the Cinematheque’s activities, which will be ongoing throughout the year at the Thessaloniki Film Museum”. Asked about the entrance price, Mr. Eipides explained it will be 3 euros for members and 4 for non-members, while the membership card will cost only one euro”. Intervening on this matter, Mr. Boutaris said: “By law, for the duration of the Film Festival, the Festival can make use of the Port facilities. This does not apply in the case of the Documentary Festival, which rents the facilities from the Thessaloniki Port Authority. We want to broaden the application of the law so that the Festival can make use of the facilities all year long at its own discretion”.
Addressing the issue of the role of the Cinematheque, Mr. Eipides said. “Its role is complex. The major one is that of preserving the films. We want to be able to bequeath the cinema’s past and present to future generations. It is part of the global culture that belongs to our society. There are also additional goals, such as the promotion of cinema and transcending the limits of commercial American cinema - a goal that the Festival has already accomplished. Our aim is to advance the future of the cinema without abandoning its past”.
On the matter of the Cinematheque's budget, Mr. Eipides explained: “We have managed to establish the Cinematheque without burdening the state budget. The project was financed entirely by other means, mainly from abroad, and with some sponsoring from within Greece. This means we should work even harder, since there is no secure source of funding. I can say positively however, that thanks to enthusiasm and determination, we did a good job. I am really proud of what we have done with regard to financing - 70% of the 53rd TIFF budget was covered by financing from EU funds and programs”. Mr. Boutaris added: “The prudent management of a cinematheque and its collaboration with other similar institutions is the basis on which the cinema culture can bloom. The City of Thessaloniki pledges to support this effort in any way it can”.
Asked about how the French Cinematheque influenced his personal relationship with cinema, Mr. Gavras said: “In the 1952-1955 period, we were only watching westerns in Greece. When I went to France, they took me one night to the Cinematheque and the first film i saw was Greed. I was stunned that the cinema could produce serious films like the theatre. This touched me deeply and was perhaps is one of the reasons I turned from studying literature to cinema studies. After that initial experience, I kept visiting the Cinematheque every night. Admission prices were very low and the screenings included films from countries like Russia with Japanese subtitles or Finnish films with Russian subtitles, so we would not understand a single word. We could recreate the script however and figure out its structure. It was a great lesson. I believe that cinema historians attribute the birth of the Nouvelle Vague in France to the French Cinematheque. This shows that a cinematheque plays a very important role, in terms of both history and art” .
Filmmaker Antoinetta Angelidi, whose exhibition « Stitches Without Thread» is taking place under the aegis of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, thanked the people responsible for establishing the Thessaloniki Cinematheque, saying: “I would really like to thank them for this effort. The Cinematheque will support cinema’ s polyphony, which is of course also the aim of the only university level Cinema Department in Greece”.
Referring to the film archives of the Cinematheque, Mr. Eipides explained: “There is currently a stock of approximately 700 titles. This stock will be enriched by the films offered by producers and distributors, who will give them to the Cinematheque for preservation. Furthermore, the Cinematheque is a member of the international federation, which means that we are allowed to exchange material with other Cinematheques abroad. I am highly optimistic”.
The Thessaloniki Cinematheque Events are among the 53rd TIFF events financed by the EU Regional Development Fund for Central Macedonia and Thrace (2007-2013).
