The Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the AKMI Educational Group gave a press conference on Wednesday, November 9, at Warehouse C, to present their cinema scholarships initiative. Representing TIFF and AKMI were TIFF director Dimitris Eipides and the president of AKMI Institute of Vocational Training (ITV) Constantine Rodopoulos.
The Thessaloniki Film Festival and the AKMI Educational Group are broadening their partnership, which was first established by granting 2 scholarships to immigrant children by the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. The 52nd TIFF is now granting 4 scholarships for cinema studies to young people in need of financial support.
Mr. Eipides offered his sincere thanks to Mr. Rodopoulos and expressed his satisfaction about the collaboration between the Festival and AKMI ITV. “These scholarships are one of the most important events of the Festival”, said Mr. Eipides, adding: “I am glad that the Festival’s collaboration with AKMI Group is not only established but expanding, allowing young people in need of financial assistance to receive an education and have an opportunity for professional achievement. Our desire, especially in these times of crisis, is for the Festival to be active not only on an artistic level, but in society in general, playing a positive role in creating opportunities for a better future for young people. Also counting the 2 scholarships to immigrant children, we now have 6 scholarships in the field of audiovisual media. These will allow the recipients to find their own path and assert their place in the world“.
Mr. Rodopoulos said: “Social as well as educational institutions should be in the frontline. We might be unable to help people get out of their economic hardships, but we are here to support our educational and social mission. It would be unthinkable for AKMI, the largest educational group in the country, to turn a deaf ear to the demands of our times. Our Cinema and Theater department has been active since many years, in cooperation with Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh. We have already started to harvest the first rewards from our efforts: for example, one of our alumni, Thanos Tsavlis, is presenting his film at the 52nd TIFF, while another of our graduates, Giorgos Fourtounis, was recently awarded at the Film Festival of Drama. This is the essence of our initiative. We stand in support of TIFF in its effort to assist young people in need to study in the filed of audiovisual media. I wish to express my sincere thanks to the festival once again. On our part, we will continue to support all such efforts”.
