Thessaloniki has now come back to its usual quietness (and shiny sun, today 29th november, 17 degrees), but for nearly two weeks of mid autumn (4-13 november) the city was transformed in a Cinema Mecca, crowded with Cinema freaks, journalists, artists, directors, producers and so on. The film festival was going.

More than 140 movies, 5 sections, 5 retrospectives, a selection of short movies, experimental screenings and screenings for youngsters and schools.

I personally watched nearly 40 movies, so i can give a detailed summary of the originality and beauty of this event, both from the organizing side, the illustrious guests and the public.

All the screenings were packed, no matter at what time, and queues of connoisseurs were forming in front of the cashiers to get the last tickets every day. With a card and some will, you could always enter.

There was no theme for the festival, but surely a big eye was given to new waves, new directors and with the Balkan Section, the cinema of Bulgaria, Turkey, Romania, Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia was shown.

Big surprise for the new wave of Bulgarian Cinema, represented in Thessaloniki by the movie “Ave’”, by Costantin Bojanov, at his first feature. An autobiographic story of pureness, adolescence, hitchhiking and more; portrayed with a light and dreamy touch.

And, among all the Latin American movies shown (thanks!), a mention goes to “El estudiante” by the young Argentinian director Santiago Mitre, present at the screenings; a witty critique on the world of politics in the universities, namely in the new world capital Buenos Aires.

So, good cinema to all!

THE AWARDS:

Golden Alexander: Twilight Portrait by Angelina Nikonova (Russia 2011)

Silver Alexander: Eighty Letters by Vaclav Kadrnka (Czech Republic 2011)

Bronze Alexander: Porfirio by Alejandro Landes ( Colombia-Spain-Uruguay-Argentina-France 2011)

Best director: Mark jackson for Without (USA 2011)

Best screenplay: John Mcilduff (UK 2011)

Best actress: Stefania Goulioti for J.A.C.E. (Greece-FYROM–Portugal-Turkey-The Netherlands 2011)

Best actor: Wotan Wilke Mohering for The fire (Germany 2011)

Audience awards:

The Flood by Guy Nativ (Israel-Canada-Germany-France- 2010)

Super Demetrios by Georgios Papaioannou (Greece 2011)

The Enemy by Dejan Zecevic (Serbia-Bosnia&Herzegovina-Croatia-Hungary 2011)

Tyrannosaur by Paddy Constantine (UK 2011)

It ended last week the 25th annual Film Festival that Amnesty International Thessaloniki dedicates to Human Rights.
A project born as a rib of the biggest Thessaloniki International Film Festival, it has the same minds behind.
Activist and intellectuals of this city that have been operative for years since the miliary regime. And that at the end of the regime founded the local section of Amnesty International and, after , this Film Festival, that following a previous long season in Olympus Cinema is now hosted in the Port, at the Cinema Museum.

9 days of movies, 2 per nights, aimed at debating the issue of Human Rights on a global level.

We saw movies from all over the world, some tough to digest, as the latest Ken Loach’s movie “Route Irish”  about the exploitation of contractors ( armed bodyguards payed to protect privates in wars) in Irak; or the documentary “Everlasting Sorrow, Life after the Death Penalty” by David Andre and Jerome Mignard: an interview with Sean Sellers, condemned to death penalty at 16 years old that we see after 13 years of captivity, weeks before the execution. We will also see what happens next, with interviews to the other protagonists ten years after the execution: what has it brought to them?

The aim of this tribute festival is to sensitize and discuss internal controversies in our democracies and Amnesty International has been active for 50 years to defend and promote Human Rights.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/greece

The Manifesto contains Intentions and Beliefs of Youth Workers and Youngsters regarding Media and Media Literacy:

01. Media is images, sounds and text or a combination of them, created by people for people.

02. Media is a tool that people communicate with.

03. Media is connecting people and can facilitate relationships between people.

04. Media is an opportunity to share a message worldwide.

05. Media has a direct and everyday effect on our lives.

06. Media Literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.

07. A media literate person:

- is able to understand how and why people produce media
- is aware of manipulation and reacts to it out of personal choice, using critical thinking
- chooses what media to use, see, hear in daily life
- uses media creatively to express ideas and share information, in an accountable respectful way
- participate in society using media
- uses media to promote and claim human rights for himself/herself and others

08. We understand media as teaching and learning process

09. Everyone must have the opportunity to become media literate, through formal, informal and non-formal education, regardless of gender, disabilities, status, etc.

10. By developing media literacy we want to empower youth to take action in using media.

I, undersigned, fully agree to the above Manifesto

http://www.slideshare.net/globalsoma/3b-final-manifestoformatted

vimeo

“A flash mob (or flashmob) is a term coined in 2003 to denote a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment and/or satire. Flash mobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. The term is generally not applied to events and performances organized for the purposes of politics (such as protests), commercial advertisment, publicity stunts, that involve public relation firms, or paid professionals.”  (wikipedia.org).

Flashmobs are a way to communicate, break schemes and make free and public art. They give expression to the desire of people to be free and have a purpose at the same time, the desire to  be visible while self-expressing, together with people,  in an easy, positive and funny way. They dont need money or equipment, just the willingness of the participants and our (and your) camera to film it.

Flash mobs are a new way to join and be active.

You can have the chance to experience it here in Thessaloniki, this June, as a Global Soma’s local action, so stay tuned for more informations or register in our mailing list

vimeo

A media literacy training developed by Global Soma

Title:    Media training for educators, trainers and youth workers
Date:    6-14 May
Place:    Prepes, Greece
Countries: ESP, GR, IT, HU, SLK
Places available:    5
Costs:    30% of travel and 50 euros participation fee

Online Prep Training: 5 April – 5 May

What is this training about?

Goal: To increase the quality and quantity of youth work by adding or improving the use of media as a tool in youth work.

This training is intended for experienced youth leaders from European countries interested in introducing media as a tool in their organizations and in their work with young people.

You will:

• learn new media by creating media
• discover what is your personal visual culture
• create a mental & physical state that supports your learning style
• be equipped with basic audiovisual competences
• draft and add recommendations to the New Media Literacy Charter for Youth
• develop your online and physical marketing skills
• learn to deal with difficult issues
• transform yor ideas into a product, presentable at the end of the Training Course

Practical information about costs, arrival-departure  & accommodation

Content & Programme

Download the Application form!

This training course is part of the 18months long-term project Video Volunteers – Solidarity in the Age of Social Media.

This meeting is the first event, then there will be four more:

• a flashmob organized in Greece in June
• a media exchange in Hungary
• video productions in Greece for six months and
• a meeting in Spain in October

Participants of this long term project will practise to organize flash-mobs, media workshops and to lead groups of less opportunities youngsters successfully.

Bring video activism in youth work!

Yes, the first Fast and Furious Video Challenge closed last midnight. According to rumours, in some countries the clocks were turned back in order to make it on time.

Enjoy, share, contribute.

Press Like in order to select the winning productions.

vimeo

“Our civilisation doesn’t have adequate images… That’s what I’m working on: a new grammar of images.” (W. Herzog)

Global Soma Youth Association in cooperation with Egyesek (HU), Radvila (LT), YMCA Parthnope Onlus (IT) and the Olde Vechte Foundation (NL) is proud to present:

21 June – 30 August 2010

Be the Change you Want to See

Online Media Competition for all European Youth

“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result”.

How to become the change you want to see?

We invite you to bring on your creativity and express it using social media and audio-visual tools.

Supervision is an online media competition for all Europeans aged 15-30 years. You are invited to submit your photos, graphics or videos on the theme Be the change you want to see.

1. Who can participate?
2. How to enter the competition?
3. Call for New Images
   

Training Course in the Netherlands  :: 12-17 July 2010

The aim of this basic training is to exercise and learn to use media for youth work.

By creating media, people not only realize the power and limitations of each medium, but also their role in contributing to what is there in the media.

“Social and audiovisual media is a communication channel not a theme, an available technology, not a philosophy of life. This allows youth workers to work with any theme or content by looking at audiovisual media as a “language” (analyzing media), platform (accessing media) or as a form of expression (creating media content).”

For a sample of the kind of youth work we do with media, you can visit our Vimeo Channels: Birth of Image and Global Soma:

http://www.vimeo.com/birthofimage/videos

http://www.vimeo.com/globalsoma/videos

Key Information on What and How

For information on the Training Course contact miki [dot] ambrozy [at] gmail [dot] com

For registration fill in the APPLICATION FORM Ommen 12-17July and send it online to oldevechte [at] hotmail [dot] com !