The International Film Camp will take place in July 15-25, 2024, in the Taygetos mountain range, a majestic landscape with abundant biodiversity and natural beauty in South Peloponnisos, Greece.
It is organized by the Creative Documentary Center of Kalamata (Peloponnisos International Doc Film Festival).
The aim of the program is to create a meeting and coexistence space for film students from all over the world with the aim of promoting short documentaries and encouraging networking and the exchange of knowledge and experiences through work in multicultural collaborations.
Workshops will be held within the framework of an intensive program by renowned European filmmakers that will allow participants to improve their knowledge and skills in documentary filmmaking through masterclasses, discussions, film screenings and Q&As.
During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to meet a wide range of film professionals who are willing to share their knowledge of research, directing and the perception of documentary as a tool for social change and environmental awareness
The film camp and workshops will be held in the communities of Alagonia and Artemisia in Taygetos (altitude 800m). The participants will be accommodated in Alagonia village.
The duration of the workshop will be 10 days, during which the students will have the opportunity to visit various places of interest in Messinia and Laconia. There will be a range of multicultural events, including programs, screenings, excursions, concerts, and parties happening at the same time.
Working in small teams, participants will be tasked with creating 4 to 6 short documentaries with guidance from the program's instructors.
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS AND COSTS
The International Film Camp will select twenty participants, ten Greek and ten international, from the fields of film production, directing, cinematography, sound recording, and editing.
The workshops/seminars will be conducted in English.
Criteria:
- Studies on film directing, cinematography, sound recording, editing, or film production.
- Applicants must be fluent in English.
- Optional (but will be given special consideration during the selection process): Applicants must have participated in the production of at least one short documentary or fiction film.
ATTENTION: Applications from self-taught individuals in the field of interest will be accepted, however, in their case, the submission of their production will be mandatory.
Cost:
The participation fee is €600.
The organizers will provide:
- Food and accommodation
- Transportation from Athens and Thessaloniki to the village of Alagonia in Taygetos
- The necessary filming equipment
Participants are responsible for:
- Bringing their own personal computers
- The following potential expenses:
- Transportation (round-trip ticket) from the participant's country/city of origin to Greece, and to the designated meeting and departure point of the group, in Athens or Thessaloniki.
- International health insurance (for participants residing abroad)
- Visa issuance costs (if required for entry to Greece)
To apply to the International Film Camp, interested parties must:
Complete and submit the online application form by May 31, 2024.
The form requires the following information:
Personal information and contact details
School/Department of Study
Short biography
Statement of interest
Link to the film
Program Leader - Iakovos Panagopoulos
Dr. Iakovos Panagopoulos is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Audio & Visual Arts, Ionian University. His field is: “Film Production Specializing in Creating Audiovisual Narratives”.
Iakovos’s first degree in Audio Visual Arts at the Ionian University, was followed by an M.A. in Cinematography at Bournemouth University. At 2019 he completed his Ph.D. on the work of Theo Angelopoulos at the University of Central Lancashire. The title of his thesis is: “Reshaping Contemporary Greek Cinema Through a Re-evaluation of the Historical and Political Perspective of Theo Angelopoulos's Work”. He also completed his post-doctoral research in Panteion University of Social and Political Science . The title of his research was: “Suspended spaces of memory: Heterotopic historical narratives and contentious politics in contemporary cinematic practice”.
He is an active researcher, counting numerous international publications. He is an official researcher in StoryLab (Skills Training for Democratised Film Industries) and scientific collaborator in InArts (Interactive Arts Lab) of Ionian University.
In addition to being an academic researcher, Iakovos also deals with cinema in practice. He is an award-winning director and also a member of the Scriptwriters Guild of Greece and the Greek Directors Guild.
Instructors:
Erik Knudsen
Erik Knudsen is a Professor of Media Methodology at the University of Central Lancashire in the UK. He has previously served as Professor of Visual and Digital Culture at Bournemouth University, Professor of Film Methodology at the University of Salford in Manchester, UK, and Head of the School of Media, Music and Performing Arts at the University of Salford. He frequently visits international film schools to conduct workshops.
Robert Rombout
Robert Rombout was born in Amsterdam. He is an independent filmmaker, speaker, teacher, and jury member. He was a professor at the LUCA School of Arts in Brussels and co-founder and staff member of the DocNomads program (international master's degree in documentary filmmaking). He is a professor at the INSAS school in Brussels and a speaker in France at the University of Paris 8 and the University of Marc Bloch in Strasbourg. For many years, he has been conducting workshops all over the world (Brazil, Vietnam, China, Canada, USA, Lebanon). He has been a documentary filmmaker for over 30 years. In the last 5 years, he has been using other ways to exhibit his work with solo exhibitions and retrospectives (Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, France, Australia, Azerbaijan).
He recently completed his film "Amsterdam Black & White," a portrait of two places with the same name on the north and south sides of the planet, one in the Netherlands, in the province of Drenthe, and the other in South Africa, in the province of Mpumalanga (90', 2021).
Luke Blazejewski
Luke Blazejewski is a Manchester based photographer and filmmaker who works across a wide variety of genres, including broadcast TV, documentary, short form video and digital communication. His clients include BBC, ITV, NHS, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts, as well as local authorities and universities across the North West.
He uses film and photography to engage people with ideas to facilitate wider positive action, and seeks to capture people's imagination by revealing new perspectives on the world we live in.
Masterclasses
Cinematography - Katerina Maragoudaki
Katerina Maragoudaki studied cinematography at film schools in Greece, Italy, and Australia. Since 1990, she has worked as a cinematographer on feature and short films, many of which have won awards at Greek and international festivals (Drama, Thessaloniki, Alexandria). She has also worked in television on documentaries, series, and commercials. Since 1992, she has been responsible for the lighting design of over 300 theater performances (operas, concerts, musical performances, and dance theaters in Greece and abroad). In addition, in August 2004, she was responsible for the lighting design of the closing ceremony of artistic gymnastics at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Since 2005, she has been teaching cinematography and camera work in the Film Studies department at New York College. The courses aim to specialize and develop students in contemporary cinema and television.
Film Editing - Chronis Theocharis
Chronis Theocharis was born in Athens in 1961. He studied cinema, directing, and editing in Athens and Paris. He has worked on several important and award-winning documentaries as well as feature films. He is a member of the Greek Film Academy.
Sound Design - Apostolos Loufopoulos
Apostolos Loufopoulos, composer, sound designer, Associate Professor at the Audio&Visual Arts of the Ionian University, City University, London (PhD). He creates sound and music for film, video, theatre, installations, audiovisual apps and autonomous electroacoustic music.
His music has received 19 international awards (Αrs Electronica, Bourges, Noroit, SCRIME etc) and appeared in renown festivals and venues and his published work includes discography by INA-GRM, Musiques & Recherches, Ionian University, CyberArts, Touch Records etc. His research focuses on soundscape composition via international research projects, conferences and symposiums. He is a founding member of HELMCA and the Greek Society for Acoustic Ecology.
* Upon completion of the workshop, participants will receive certificates of participation.
From Fiction to Documentary: Faraway, So Close | Dimitris Bavellas
A masterclass dealing with the similarities and the differences between the two genres. Albeit both being credited as "cinema" in general, essentially the two genres are two worlds apart. How do we function respectively when writing a script, setting up the production, approaching the direction, how do we work during the editing process and how do we proceed with the distribution of the final film.
Dimitris Bavellas was born in Dourgouti. He studied directing at the Stavrakou School and attended acting seminars by Dimitris Mavrikios at the “Theater of Changes.” He has directed both feature-length and short films, documentaries, music videos, television shows, corporate videos, and more. Additionally, he has worked for several years as a music producer on radio stations such as “Flash 96.1” and “Melodia”, as well as more recently on the online platform Strummerradio. His two feature-length films, “Runaway Day” (2013) and “The Search for Laura Durant” (2019), have received awards internationally and continue to be screened both within and outside Greece.