Through meetings, guided tours in Northern Evia, outdoors yoga sessions in nature and a tailor-made inner resources workshop, the Agora of the 3rd Evia Film Project, the Thessaloniki Film Festival’s green initiative, is focused on our need for decompression and introspection.
The Agora of the 3rd Evia Film Project is developed around four segments: Mind, Body, Spirit and Discovery. Guided by the notion of sustainability, Agora puts into motion an innovative model of circular economy, inviting professionals to discover or reconnect with Greek projects that have been presented in the TIFF and TIDF Agora in the previous years.
Evia Film Project provides Agora’s professionals and accredited guests with the space and time to connect with each other and with the environment, and take delight in the “slow networking”, in effort to offer a professional yet human-oriented experience. They will have the chance to get together amidst the relaxed ambiance of Northern Evia, attend open discussions and project presentations, as well as a workshop delivered by the holistic therapist Elena Christopoulou, titled “Calm amidst the storm: An inner compass at times of conflict”.
Let’s take a look at the projects presented in Northern Evia:
HOME COURT
Full-length documentary
Directors: Elpida Nikou & Rodrigo Hernández, Producers: Elpida Nikou & Rodrigo Hernández, Production Company: SVg, Co-producers, Rea Apostolides & Yuri Averof - Anemon Productions, Kellen Quinn - Hedgehog Films (USA), Countries: Greece, Spain
IN THE SHADOW OF LAZIKA
Full-length documentary
Director: Nikos Kostopoulos, Producer: Viki Zioga, Production Company: PHENO, Country: Greece
MIGNON
Full-length fiction film
Director: Sofia Georgovassili, Producer: Antigoni Rota, Production Company: Foss Productions, Country: Greece, Romania, France
STATION ATHENS
Full-length documentary
Director: Yolanda Markopoulou, Producer: Dafni Kalafati, Production Company: Savefrag Productions, Co-producers: Polyplanity Production, Country: Greece
THEY COME OUT OF MARGO
Full-length fiction film
Director: Alexandros Voulgaris (The Boy), Producers: Nicholas Alavanos & Christina Stavropoulou, Production Company: Filmiki Productions, Country: Greece
TRUE TO OUR INNER DAEMON
Full-length documentary
Director: Tassos Gkoletsos, Producers: Tassos Gkoletsos, Vangelis Papoutsis & Klodiana Camati, Production Company: Das Paradiso Films, Country: Greece
YIANNIS
Full-length fiction film
Director: Kyros Papavassiliou, Producers: Maria Varnakkidou & Kyros Papavassiliou, Production Company: Drytree FilmHellenic Film Commissions, Co-producers: Konstantina Stavrianou & Rena Vougioukalou - Graal, Countries: Cyprus, Greece
YOUR DELICATE FRIEND
Full-length documentary
Director: Alkistis Efthimiou, Producer: Mina Dreki, Production Company: Marni Films, Country: Greece
Every night, once the Evia Film Project events have called it a wrap, a by-the-sea happy hour will offer Agora’s guests the chance to get into a networking mood, with film professionals (producers, sales agents, festival programmers) from all over the world.
Moreover, Evia Film Project is making one more step towards the building of an optimal and sustainable film industry, offering one-on-one private meetings with the creative producer and freelance consultant Ieva Ūbele, experienced on green film productions.
The Greek Film Centre will host a special panel on green film productions titled “For a certified and environmentally sustainable filming”, an educational and formative action held by the GFC’s Hellenic Film Commission with regard to sustainable filmmaking. The event includes a presentation of Green Film as the European rating system and certification for sustainable film production, accompanied by a mention of the applied practices and the Greek experience. Speakers: Stavroula Geronimaki (Hellenic Film Commission - Greek Film Centre), Linnea Merzagora (Green Film, Trentino Film Commission), Dimitra Tenta (Sustainable filmmaking expert).
CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator 2024
The 3rd Evia Film Project hosts for the second time the CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, a one-of-a-kind documentary development workshop addressed to women-identifying film producers and directors.
CIRCLE is a unique international training initiative and safe space for women-identifying filmmakers working in both documentary and fiction. It consists of Women Doc Accelerator, a year-round training initiative, open to projects and professionals in all stages, and Fiction Orbit, an intensive residential workshop dedicated to mid-career filmmakers developing scripted projects. Both programs support projects with strong international appeal in various stages of the filmmaking process, and also acts as a springboard for instigating transnational collaborations, and, through this, empowers women and woman-identifying AV professionals, particularly those from under-represented communities or backgrounds, to achieve their full creative potential and international network-building.
The main mission is to empower women in the film industry and increase the visibility of women-identifying authors and filmmakers in broader Europe and worldwide. CIRCLE promotes film development, focusing on sharing and building knowledge and professional skills, connecting program participants with the rest of the film industry, and granting them access to world-renowned mentors.
Ten [10] participants from all over the world will attend Evia Film Project to work with acclaimed professionals and receive guidance from experts regarding their projects’ and career development. Within the framework of the program, CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator will also host several masterclasses addressed to the workshop participants and a case study during EFP, open to the audience.
Heidi Fleischer (producer and consultant), Brigid O’Shea (president of the Documentary Association of Europe, consultant), Joanna Solecka (film marketing strategist) and Dana Bunescu (film and sound editor) will serve as tutors.
Filmmaker Lin Alluna (Twice Colonized) will be present in Northern Evia as a guest of the CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator for an open discussion on her film, which will be screened within the context of the 3rd Evia Film Project.
CIRCLE is supported by the Creative Europe MEDIA program and is held under the auspices of EURIMAGES.
The Evia Film Project of the Thessaloniki Film Festival aims at promoting circular economy practices and bringing forth issues of environmental interest. The Evia Film Project is the Festival’s third pillar of activities, adding its name to the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, held in November, and the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, held in March. Its goal is to consolidate Northern Evia, a region severely hit by the 2021 calamitous wildfires, as an international hub of green cinema. This year, the Evia Film Project focuses on water as its core theme. The sea, rain, all water resources, and their pivotal and life-defining ties with mankind take center stage, along with the agony triggered by their destruction.
The Evia Film Project is carried out thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture. Valuable is the support of COSMOTE TV, the Festival’s Grand Sponsor, PPC, the Festival’s Strategic Partner and Fischer, a steady companion of the Festival. The 3rd Evia Film Project is held in collaboration with the Greek Film Centre, the Municipalities of Istiea-Edipsos and Mantoudi-Limni-Agia and the Port Authority of the Regional Unit of Evia. We would also like to thank the Association of Volunteer Forest Fire Fighters Rescuers of North-Central Evia.
