"Cinema and History - Children in Greece during the ‘40s."

March 2 and 3, 2001 - City of Pyrgos

2001 was the year the agreement between the Greek Film Centre and ERT S.A. was signed in order to encourage and boost the production of films addressed to children and young people, with an annual budget of 100,000,000drs (~293,470 €). It is the first time, in the Greek Film Centre's regulations, that a project dealing with filmmaking for children and young people is treated as a separate category. The program is called ZIZANIO, in honour of the children who publish the daily ZIZANIO newspaper, for the duration of the Olympia International Film Festival. Acknowledging the contribution of the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, the agreement for the ZIZANIO project was signed - on March 2001 - in the city of Pyrgos, the Festival's base, by ERT S.A.' s President Panagiotis Panagiotou and Manos Efstratiadis, the then president of the Greek Film Centre and present General Director of ET-1. Thus, on the occasion of the signing and official opening of the ZIZANIO project, the retrospective, "CINEMA AND HISTORY - Children in Greece during the ‘40s" took place.

Within the framework of the retrospective, the following movies were screened:

"The Children of Athens" by Takis Bakopoulos.

"The Bootless Company" by the Greek-American director Greg Talas (Grigoris Thalassinou)

"Bloody Christmas" by Giorgos Zervos

"The Truth about Greece's Children" by Manos Zaharias

The screenings were accompanied by introductions, made by historians, directors and sociologists.

Charlie Chaplin retrospective

December 1 to 8, 2001

The American cinematic wizard's retrospective included lectures by cinema experts and, of course, screenings of his films. The Greek Film Archives and the company STUDIO-Parallel Circuit made a considerable contribution to this retrospective. The following films were shown: "The Circus," "Modern Times," "City Lights," Charlie Chaplin's burlesque on "Carmen," "The Immigrant," "The Count," "The Vagabond," "Easy Street," "Behind the Screen," and "The Adventurer.”

Poster exhibition entitled "Children in Greek cinema"

December 1 to 8, 2001 - City of Pyrgos

For the first time in Greece, posters of Greek films, in which children have a leading role, were exhibited for the public.

Most of the posters - many of which are rare and others quite unique - were found after a meticulous search in private collections. The exhibition also included giant posters from the collection of Lefteris Sklavos. The Greek Film Centre and Greek Film Archives contributed greatly to this exhibition, as did the "miracle kids" of the 50s and 60s, as many of them have kept private collections. The posters were included in a special edition, compiled by researcher and writer Nikos Theodosiou.

Twelve contemporary children's books, presented by their writers

December 1 to 8, 2001 - Cities of Pyrgos, Amaliada, Zaharo, Krestena, Lehaina

On a daily basis during the Festival, in the city libraries of Pyrgos and Amaliada, as well as in schools of other towns (Zaharo, Krestena, Lehena, etc.), writers of children's books presented their most recent works and talked with students and teachers. The participating writers were: Manos Kontoleon, Vangelis Iliopoulos, Galateia Grigoriadou-Soureli, Litsa Psarafti, Anna Gerstou-Sarri, Voula Mastori, Kostia Kontoleon, Angeliki Varela, Foteini Fragouli, Poly Vassilaki, Philippos Mandilaras and Eleni Dikaiou.

Art Exhibition "Games of our Childhood"

December 1 to 8, 2001 - City of Pyrgos

The art exhibition entitled "Games of our Childhood" - comprising paintings from the collection of Nikos Adamopoulos - was accompanied by a special publication, including directions on how to play the games.

Painting exhibition: "Children in Greece of 2000"

November 7 - December 20, 2000 - Cities of Pyrgos, Amaliada, Patras.

The Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People, in collaboration with the Patras International Film Festival and the Greek Chamber of Visual Arts, organized an art exhibition entitled "Children in Greece of 2000". The exhibition was hosted by Patras in the Old City Hospital (Hansen Room), by Amaliada at the Papachristopouleio City Library, and by Pyrgos, in its Municipal Art Gallery.

Paintings by 17 Greek artists were displayed at the exhibition.

Nikos Koundouros

December 2 to 9th 2000 - City of Pyrgos

The Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People honoured film director Nikos Koundouros, by awarding him the "Golden Olive Branch" and screening 11 of his feature films. At the same time, the Festival published a catalogue featuring the great Greek director's works.

Valery Priemykhov

December 2 to 9, 2000 - City of Pyrgos

The Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People honored the Russian movie director Valery Priemykhov.

Children in Italian Neo-realism

May 13 to 16,1998 - City of Pyrgos

Eight feature films by prominent Italian directors from the main period of the neo-realist movement (1943-1952), as well as from subsequent periods, were screened: "Germania, anno zero", "Bicycle Thief", "Miracle in Milan", "Bellissima", "The Scream", "The Position", "Mama Roma", "In the Name of the Father."

Children in the Scandinavian Cinema

September 24 to 25, 1998 - Athens

September 27 to 30, 1998 - City of Pyrgos

The following films were screened:

International Meeting "Cinema and Education"

December 7 to 13, 1997 - Ancient Olympia

In its first year of operation, the Olympia International Film Festival for Children and Young People organized an International Meeting entitled "Cinema and Education"

The following topics were discussed: