International tributes at Drama film festival
«All human beings are born free and equal.» This statement, from Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, is also the title of a tribute at the Short Film Festival in the city of Drama, which begins today and runs to September 20. Organized in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, the tribute brings together 26 award-winning short films on the issue of human rights to be shown in the northern city before coming to Athens for screenings at the Trianon cinema (21 Kodriktonos & 101 Patission) from October 30 to November 5. In celebration of 60 years since the charter was drawn up on December 10, 1948, the German institute Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft (Memory, Responsibility and the Future), in collaboration with the Goethe Institute, announced an international competition for short films. A total of 292 entries were submitted by film students in Germany, Estonia, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and the Czech Republic and the winning films were later screened at the International Festival of Film Universities in Munich in 2007 as well as at the Berlinale in 2008. Another theme at this year’s Drama Short Film Festival, which comprises over 60 films in the various competition sections, is a tribute to Irish cinema, with 16 films that will be screened on September 17 at the Olympia movie theater (8-10 p.m.) and on the following day at the Municipal Conservatory (3.30-5.30 p.m.). Also, on September 18, there will be a tribute to Francophone shorts running at the Olympia and at the Municipal Conservatory from 9-11 a.m., and at the Olympia only from 8-10 p.m. United International Pictures has also thrown its weight behind the festival screening films awarded the Prix UIP in collaboration with the European Film Academy. The award-winning entries will be screened at the Olympia on September 16 and 19 from 3.30-5.30 p.m. For more details on the program and screenings, log on to www.dramafilmfestival.gr.
