With beloved actor Fanis Mouratidis as the host, the opening ceremony of the 3rd Evia Film Project, Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s green initiative, took place on Tuesday 2nd, July at "Apollon” open-air movie theater of Edipsos. The audience was welcomed by the Festival’s General Director Elise Jalladeau and the Artistic Director Orestis Andreadakis, who went on to address a greeting, and on behalf of the Festival’s Board of Directors, President Eleftheria Thanouli, Vice-president Gregory Vardarinos, and board member Maria Kriara.
Fanis Mouratidis welcomed the audience to the third edition, saying: “Evia Film Project began in the summer of ’22 with the aim of supporting and strengthening the region affected by the devastating fire a year earlier." He added: "We continue our efforts to support the community of Northern Evia, but we also want to highlight the beauty and love for nature and life that this gorgeous place inspires.”
“Evia Film Project is an event organized by the Thessaloniki Film Festival, funded by the Ministry of Culture, and carried out with the support of the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communications, and the Greek Film Centre. But of course, it would not have become a reality without the warm and close cooperation of the local government,” Fanis Mouratidis stressed. At this point, he also mentioned his role in the popular series Maestro: “As you know, in the series I play a mayor who invites a conductor to organize a music festival. And as you may remember, it doesn’t end up going very well. I hope things here will go much better,” he added in a humorous mode.
The ceremony’s host invited the Mayor of the Municipality of Istiaea-Edipsos Mr.Giannis Kontzias to the stage, who took the floor and jokingly said that he hopes he won’t have the same fate as the mayor in Maestro. Then, he welcomed the audience to Northern Evia: “Together we organize this beloved action and you lend your support actively to this region that was severely tested three years ago. We do not gather here out of a fixation to the misery and introspection surrounding a disaster, but because we believe that this persistence, effort and hard work will advance our region. Of course, the difficulties did not end in August 2021. The threads of the disaster are still unraveling, with the latest reminder of the danger being last September’s tragic floods.”
He thanked the Ministry of Culture, which actively supports Northern Evia, and stated that the world of culture and more specifically, cinema has been on Evia’s side from the very first moment. He also referred to the core theme of this year's Evia Film Project: “Water is a crucial parameter to maintaining environmental equilibrium. As the first level of government, we are called upon to manage its sufficiency daily and ensure its sustainability. It is our body’s principal component and it has preoccupied not only science but also philosophy and religions," he emphasized.
He continued on, reflecting on the mythological origins of tourism of the spa town of Edipsos, saying that it constitutes "one of antiquity’s busiest sea routes." Concluding, he stated "these waters were the ones that attracted Jacques-Yves Cousteau in 1975-1976 to explore the shipwrecks of the seas of Edipsos and the iconic Battle of Artemisium, as a guest of the Greek government." He also expressed his hope that Evia Film Project will continue its activities for many years to come.
Next, Fanis Mouratidis touched on Evia Film Project’s activities and presented this year's spot for the event, created by the 23-year-old Psychology student at Panteion University, Panos Arvanitakis (Entelechus), who was self-taught in the art of animation from an early age.
He invited on stage Thessaloniki Film Festival’s General Director, Elise Jalladeau and the Artistic Director, Orestis Andreadakis, who thanked the mayor, welcoming the guests and the audience to the 3rd Evia Film Project, the third pillar of the Thessaloniki Film Festival’s activities.
“Following the devastating fires of 2021, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival decided to contribute actively to the reconstruction of Northern Evia. And it was decided that it will do it how it knows best: through cinema, through art. Thus, from 2022 onwards, we have the pleasure of meeting every summer in North Evia and sharing with its residents and visitors a wide range of films and activities aimed at a green, sustainable cinema," they emphasized. They also referred to the actions of the Agora, the development sector of the Festival that plays a crucial role in furthering sustainable cinema.
"Our goal is set: to turn North Evia into a hub of international green cinema. But also, to showcase its beautiful landscape, its hospitable people, and the island’s true potential. Evia Film Project is a platform intended to be used as a wake-up call to the consequences of environmental destruction and climate change, but also as a catalyst for the revival of a beautiful region that carries deep wounds, both on a symbolic and a practical level" Ms. Jalladeau and Mr. Andreadakis pointed out.
They expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of Culture and the minister Lina Mendoni, the deputy minister Iason Fotilas, as well as to the event’s sponsors and supporters: COSMOTE TV, the Festival’s Grand Sponsor, PPC, the Festival’s Strategic Partner, Fischer, the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communications, the Greek Film Centre, the Municipalities of Istiaea-Edipsos and Mantoudi-Limni-Agia and the Port Authority of the Regional Unit of Evia, CIRCLE Women Doc Accelerator, Agora’s partner, and ΕΡΤ, ΕΡΤ3 and Kathimerini, the Festival’s media sponsors. They also thanked the Association of Volunteer Forest Fire Fighters Rescuers of North-Central Evia. Then, they thanked the Board of Directors, as well as all the employees of the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Finally, they referred to the core theme of this year's Evia Film Project, water, inviting the audience to discover the power of the region, as well as the power of cinema. The opening ceremony was followed by the screening of Jerome Salle’s film, The Odyssey, which immersed the audience in the world of the pioneering engineer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, set against the backdrop of the waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
