Since 2019, the festival has been closely collaborating with the Postgraduate Program in 'Creative Writing, Theater, and Cultural Industries' at the University of Peloponnese. Students actively participate in the organization, attend masterclasses by renowned artists, such as the Italian director Lia Beltrami, and evaluate films, awarding prizes. This collaboration encourages the students' artistic creativity and critical thinking.
Since 2019, a memorandum of cooperation has been signed with the Department of Theatre Studies at the University of Peloponnese in Nafplio.
As part of this collaboration, during the festival, postgraduate students creatively engage in the entire organizational process. The festival organizes educational seminars and events in which students can actively participate. They also have the opportunity to attend sessions with renowned international artists, interact with them, and coordinate presentations, as well as evaluate their work as part of special award committees.
The official guest of the festival, Italian director Lia Beltrami, will screen 2 of her films as part of the official program in Nafplion. She will also conduct a three-hour masterclass for students of the Department of Theatre Studies on the topic “Documentary and Human Rights.” The Italian filmmaker delves into the profound impact of documentary films on society and their role in advocating for human rights. Through powerful storytelling, documentaries educate, inspire, and promote social change by bringing real-life issues and personal stories to light.
The seminar aims to inspire participants to recognize the potential of documentaries to promote social justice and to explore how they can contribute to the fight for human rights through their own work.
Also, groups of students each year evaluate documentary films that compete and award a special quality award that we have established as a festival for five years. This year they have undertaken to give the prize for the best documentary of the tribute which is "Cities of the World”.
This year's jury is made up of the following students in the "Creative Writing, Theater and Cultural Industries" Master's Program: Niki Kavoura, theater expert, Dora Kehagia, dramatist, writer, Evita Meimaridou, actress, Meropi Papastergiou, performer, writer, Menaya Syriani Anna, writer, Christina Tsioulou, dramatist.
Additionally, each year, student groups evaluate documentary films in competition and award a special quality prize that has been a festival tradition for five years. This program of the Jury is overseen by Angeliki Spyropoulou, Professor of New European Literature and Theory and Director of the PMS "Creative Writing, Theater and Cultural Industries" and Yiannis Leontaris, Professor of Direction and Dean of the School of Fine Arts.