The leading venture Live Streaming Project was launched with great success on Monday, March 12, 2012 in the framework of the 14th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Magnus Gertten’s Harbor of Hope was the first documentary to be live-streamed from the Olympion theater.
The 14th TDF runs the specific project for the second year, in collaboration with Electro-Acoustic and Television Systems Laboratory at the Polytechnic School of Thessaloniki’s Aristotle University and under the supervision of Professor Georgios Papanikolaou. Thanks to new technologies, the Festival is able to travel to other cities and the periphery: Corfu, Patra, Rethymno and Iraklio, as well as in Nicosia of Cyprus, in collaboration with the local Universities (Ionian University, University of Patra, TEI of Rethymno, Cretan University and Frederick University). The screenings that are streamed are the ones taking place in the Olympion Theater at the 20.30 zone and will last until Friday, March 16.
Festival director Dimitri Eipides spoke at the opening and commented that the project started in the framework of the 13th TDF and was a big success, as technology made it possible for the Documentary Festival to travel to other cities apart from Thessaloniki. “This project turned out to be a very useful tool for the Festival and that was achieved with the support of Georgios Papanikolaou, Professor at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki”, stressed Mr. Eipides. He also welcomed the audience watching the screening from the Olympion and from all the other cities.
Mr. Papanikolaou, from his side, underlined that: “The first live streaming experience for me was during the Olympic Games of 2004, when we used the High Definition transmission technique. I have participated in transmissions from Philadelphia, USA, and then on the Festival’s behalf, when along with Mr. Eipides, we decided to make this experience possible for people living far from Thessaloniki. The project is no easy thing as, unfortunately, there aren’t sufficiently developed structures to support a venture like this”. In addition, Mr. Papanikolaou explained the way the simultaneous transmission is achieved, mentioning a forthcoming technology. “Thanks to an optical fibre net that connects the Universities, we managed to further connect the Olympion, creating an interactive experience. This way, I believe, we bring people together in one community”, said Mr. Papanikolaou. Finally, he underlined that his students were more that supportive during this project.
Magnus Gertten, the director of Harbor of Hope, was present at the opening, along with the film’s producer. The documentary focuses on the story of the Jews that survived the concentration camps and found shelter in the town of Malmo, Sweden, where the Red Cross transported them. Introducing the film, the director noticed: “It is an honor for me to be here. It’s the first time I participate in a multiple simultaneous screening happening in many cities and two countries. I thank all of you for being here and the Festival, in the framework of which my film is screened for the first time as an international premiere. The documentary takes place in Malmo, my birth town and even though the story is about events that took place in 1945, I believe it has a lot to say for our era”. The director concluded his speech wishing that everyone, in every city, enjoys the screening.
In the Q&A that followed, the audiences from the Olympion and from the other cities streaming participated. Viewers from Nicosia asked the director about the production period and how long it lasted, as well as if he interfered with the exquisite archive material. Mr. Gertten made clear that the material he used is totally authentic and its quality is indeed impressive, but again that is a characteristic of Sweden’s national archive. “Some high definition scans were the only thing we did, simply to achieve the best quality possible”, he explained. As for the length of the shoot the creator said: “It took us tree years, as we always tried to find the most precise archives that matched the dates the narration would refer to. I don’t like using archive material to just serve the purpose of building a picture”.
Finally, the director answered a viewer’s question from Rethymno concerning the level of the emotional burden that the film triggers and revealed a personal parameter of his way of working: “Making a documentary means a lot to me. Even though it looks like I make a documentary of a journalistic sort, I put my emotions in it. When a story has to do with concentration camps, it will definitely raise emotions. My goal is to find the emotions through many different ways. Indeed, I believe this is what I’m searching for in a film, emotions”.
