Camera Zizanio

May economical crisis has arrived and everyone says that there is no future for us, that we are standing in front of  the perspective of the huge attack in our living standards and consequently we will face the shrank of the artistic- cultural creation, but we don’t stay impassive.

Culture is life and, through culture, we can pump optimism and open new ways of creation. We gather all of our means and forces to kick away misery and fatalism.

Youth Plan, the organization that mounts, the unique for their kind in Greece, Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People and the European Meeting of Young People’s Audiovisual Creation – Camera Zizanio, with our well- known sensibility regarding youth, organizes a counterattack of optimism at multiple levels.

In Greece:

–          Pyrgo’s offices are converted into a club of creativity. Every second Thursday, new artists present their work and have fun with their friends in a night titled «We Spread or We Speed».

Supports, with its all, two new and important topical initiatives

–          Α. “Cine- Mornings”, which substantially integrate in educational activity cinema for children, with screenings in Apollon’s theater at Pyrgos.

Β. The independent cinematographic and cultural team “CinephILIA”, which organizes screenings for the Technical Educational Institute of Pyrgos.

– The small distribution office of Youth Plan, in the frameworks of the conscious political support of Quality Greek Cinema, undertook the distribution of Vasilis Douros latest film  “The mountain in Front”, a film about the fear of the unknown, racism  and arrogance … And we will continue.

– Cine Philip, managed by Youth Plan, will hospitalize a 4- days Festival -organized by the creational team named “Tsiritsantsoules” regarding to their 10th anniversary- from Thursday 4^th to Sunday 7^th of March.

– “Cinematographic Evenings at Cine Philip” continues with low price tickets offering quality films for children, parents and teachers, at the most crowed and abandoned area of Athens, Kipseli.

– We also promote the educational activity “Lessons in the dark”, which we organize in collaboration with the General  Secretariat of Youth, including high quality film screenings, cinematographic workshops and seminars for children.

Next day’s program includes:

Α. On 26,27 and 28 of February at Koriso (Kastoria), during a three-day period, Youth Plan’s films will be presented:  “Desmond and the Swamp Barbarian Trap”, by Magnus Carlsson, Sweden (animation, dubbed film), «Tahaan, a boy with a grenade” by Santosh Sivan and “Mr. Leonard and the travelling cinema» by N. Theodosiou (documentary with street cinematographers). Moreover, cinematographic workshops for high school and lyceum students will be realized.

Β. On 2^nd of March in Aridaea, a seminar about the birth of cinema and cinema language will be realized, for high school and lyceum students, through screenings of rare films titled “From Mr. Edison’s miracles to Melie’s magic”. The same day, in the frameworks of Greek Documentary Week, organized by the theatrical team Pro- Thesi, N. Theodosiou’s film «Santa Barbara- Ghosts at Kerinia” will be shown.

Abroad:

Dimitris Spyrou, the artistic director of Olympia Film Festival:

–          Travelled to Berlin, just to participate in ECFA’s – European Children’s Film Association– meeting, as he is a board member. There, the distribution of children’s and young people’s digital films was also discussed.

–          Tries to transfer in the big screen the masterpiece of Menelaos Loudemis “A child counts the stars”, an international co-production, in which Greek Cinema Center unreasonably refused to participate.

Camera Zizanio, with Greek youth creations, travels:

–          In April, at Belgrade where, in the frameworks of the Balkan Kids for Kids Festival, in two hours many films -created by Greek children and adolescents- will be presented.

–          In May, at Spain where, in the frameworks of Youth Films Festival in the province of Extremadura, will present its work through films and speeches.

–          The awarded films of 2009 will be shown in Larissa in the frameworks of the 2^nd Artfools Video Festival.

–          This year Camera Zizanio, unique event in Europe, celebrates its 10^th anniversary and won’t let anything or anyone ruin this celebration.

It’s obvious that there is an economical cost in all of our activities. But, doing nothing means death.

We ask for the substantial financial support from government agencies.
We ask schools to organize screenings at Cine Philip with films from YOUTH PLAN’s rich film archive, with even lower cost.
We invite everyone to participate in the counterattack of optimism and cooperate with us.

February 2010

YOUTH PLAN
Creative Group for the Development of Young People’s Audiovisual Communication & Expression

www.neanikoplano.gr

youthplan@olympiafestival.gr