Youthful film festival
The Seventh Olympia Film Festival, which runs to Saturday, this year features screenings of films from 29 different countries and created by artists aged 6 to 20, a tribute to Greek comic actor Thanassis Vengos, art exhibitions and concerts. The event, though centered mainly in Pyrgos and Amaliada, also embraces other cities in the prefecture of Ileia, with events aimed at children and young people in an effort to acquaint schoolchildren with the medium of cinema and show them what other art lovers their age are doing in other countries around the world. Greek filmmakers are participating in the film contest with six entries: a full-length feature film titled «Love at 16,» directed by Costas Haralambous, and five short films – directed by Vangelis Maderakis, Thodoris Papadoulakis, Irina Boiko and Katerina Vyssouli – including one short animated picture by Constantinos Katrakis. The other films come from countries around the world though mainly from Europe, including the UK, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Iran, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Italy, Norway, South Africa, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden and Finland. The highlight of the festival’s parallel program is the screening of films created in the context of a program titled «Camera Zizanio,» organized since 2001 by the European Meeting of Young Audiovisual Artists. The films in this section were created either as part of school film workshops around Europe or by independent solo or group initiatives. Other parallel events are a painting exhibition presenting works by Greek book illustrators, 32 literary events scheduled to take place at various schools around the prefecture of Ileia with the participation of writers of children’s books, and workshops on cinema, theatre and the visual arts. From Friday to December 16, the films comprising the program of the Olympia Film Festival will travel to Athens to be screened at the Phillip cinema.
