November 6-15, 2015
ROUND TABLE
70 YEARS OF GREEK ANIMATION
The challenges that Greek animation producers face, the need to have co-productions with international companies and their penetration into the European market, as well as a new effort to raise funding for Greek animated films were among the issues discussed at the round table titled “Organized Animation Production – A Strategy for the Achievement of a Difficult Goal”, held on Saturday, November 14, 2015, at Warehouse C, in the context of the 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The event took place on the occasion of this year's tribute “70 Years of Greek Animation”, with the participation of representatives of ASIFA Hellas, the Greek chapter of the International Animated Film Society (Association Internationale du Film d’Animation).
The president of ASIFA Hellas and of Animasyros Festival Vasilis Karamitsanis opened the discussion and, in the shadow of the terrorist attacks in Paris, stated that ASIFA is against any act trying to silence the expression of diversity, freedom of speech and artistic expression either through animation or any other form and wholeheartedly offers its support to France, the French people and Europe, currently suffering such a blow.
Mr Karamitsanis went on to refer to the first Greek animated film Il Duce Narrates… by Stamatis Polenakis, a film which was made in secrecy under the German occupation in 1942 and presented in cinema newsreels. “This is the first satirical animation film that mocks the occupation forces. It starts in a playful way, apologizing for being the first “Mickey Mouse-type of film”. The term "animation" had just been born,” noted Mr. Karamitsanis. As he added, since then there has been great improvement in Greek animation production, in quantitative and qualitative terms, although the greatest shift is recorded from 2008 onwards. “Greek animation film production is taken to another level, thanks to the proficiency and creativity of Greek artists, but also due to the openness, which may have resulted from the crisis. As a result, the work by Greek artists residing in Greece or abroad is gaining recognition. This may be an indication that Greek animation films could be integrated in the international market,” said Mr. Karamitsanis. In the context of 70 years of Greek animation, ASIFA organized a series of events celebrating the history of Greek animation, aimed at a wider audience. “Now there are five Greek festivals focusing on animation, some of which comprise international sections, while Greek animation films are also being released internationally. At the same time, there have been tributes, hosted by major festivals in Egypt, Romania and Serbia, while others are planned to take place in Moscow and Hong Kong,” Mr. Karamitsanis said. He underlined that the new website of ASIFA Hellas will soon be launched.
In turn, Anastasia Dimitra, member of the ASIFA Board of Directors and head of the Animation and Interactive Media department of AKTO, read a letter by the honorary President of ASIFA HELLAS Mr. Giannis Vassiliadis, about the founding of the Society in 1960, which is now counting over 6,000 members from 58 countries. “The most important animation film festivals, such as in Annecy, Hiroshima, Zagreb, Belgrade, Ottawa, Brussels and the Animasyros festival, are organized under the auspices of ASIFA and promote international exchanges and creative collaborations,” as Mr. Vassiliadis noted in his letter, also informing that “ASIFA’s workshops for children were founded in 1971 and are now organized in 23 countries”. In his message Mr. Vassiliadis also referred to the lack of university education for animation and noted the lack of appreciation for animation films, stressing: “The audience often watches animation films with increased consciousness and attention and neither live action films nor speech in its oral or written form can replace the level of artistic experience an animation film offers”.
In turn, the floor was given to animation film director Angelos Rouvas, ASIFA HELLAS administrator and creator of the website greekanimation.com, who is in charge of coordinating the events for the 70 years of Greek animation. Mr. Rouvas, who has been active in animation filmmaking for 40 years, stressed that Greek animation films were unable to enter the European market and were treated with reserve and irony from foreign festivals. “We decided to have a new strategy. I took the initiative to record the data of the Greek animation film industry at a web portal. The portal created in March 2014 includes 700 Greek animation directors, 1700 works from commercials to feature films, as well as 70 production companies,” Mr. Rouvas noted. Professional bodies began to show interest a year after the creation of the portal, as Mr. Rouvas explained, underlying that ASIFA’s objective is the entry of Greek animation films into the international market. “The actions organized focused on the promotion of Greek works, through the screening of awarded films in Greece and abroad,” he added. In the context of the celebration of 70 years of Greek animation, workshops by professionals from abroad were organized, as well as the International Animation Day (October 28th). A major event in the same context is a retrospective exhibition of artistic works, including film sets, lectures and film screenings, taking place at the Athens School of Fine Arts.
For his part, Professor of animation in the University of the Aegean Panagiotis Kyriakoulakos presented a summary of the actions being prepared by ASIFA for the training, education and promotion of Greek animation production. “We will continue to organize events on the International Animation Day, as we do every October since 2007, and every November we will organize seminars for professionals and meetings with foreign producers in order to submit proposals to the European MEDIA program and attract co-productions,” Mr. Kyriakoulakos said, adding that efforts will be made to help Greek producers “work through the CARTOON MEDIA network, which is located in Brussels and promotes European production”.
Furthermore, Mr. Kyriakoulakos announced that ASIFA will make an effort to finance Greek producers twice a year, creating a fund in cooperation with professional bodies, such as the Secretariat General of Information and Communication, networks such as CARTOON MEDIA, ERT and the Greek Film Centre. “The objective is to help Greek producers find co-producers to create films with European standards and find the corresponding distribution,” he said. As far as education and networking are concerned, Mr. Kyriakoulakos noted that ASIFA is planning the creation of an animation hub at Technopolis of the Municipality of Athens, consisting of companies in the animation field, educational institutions and business consultants, in order to promote collaborations. “Regarding the educators’ training, we will organize visits to schools at national level to show educators how they can introduce animation in their course content, for example in mathematics, history, etc. Animations are not only an expressive tool, but also a platform for the expression and learning of new technologies, already successfully applied by the Canadian National Film Centre,” Mr. Kyriakoulakos explained. On a final note, he added that educational workshops for children on animation creative techniques will continue to take place.
