who Open Cultural Center Open Cultural Center () is an association from Barcelona that supports and promotes culture and education in the realm of international development regarding the refugee crisis in Greece. Over the last couple of years, has set up four educational and cultural centers in different refugee camps as well as urban areas (Idomeni, Sounio, Cherso, Polikastro). participates in the different working groups and national forums that are active in the North of Greece regarding the coordination of humanitarian and aid work for the refugee community. The association was founded in Idomeni in March 2016, registered in Barcelona and Thessaloniki with the support of the Greek ministries of migration and education. Within Spain, coordinates a program aimed at creating awareness regarding the refugee conflict from an artistic, educational and linguistic perspective. Polikastro Cultural Center Polikastro Cultural Center was created in February 2017 in order to offer educational, cultural and integration support to the new housing initiatives implemented in Greece and the refugee community in urban areas. More and more refugees have abandoned the camps and are being re-settled to houses and apartments in order to facilitate their integration and take a weight off the Greek economy. The goals for these projects are the following, amongst others: Give support to the Greek public schools joining refugee families and the teaching staff at the schools, helping the children register as well as promoting their going to school. Complement the schools activities by providing help and assistance with their homework as well as offering informal classes to children that aren t registered at the school Cultural & social activities for refugees of all ages 1
what KILKIS Open Film Festival Skills, Participation & Integration Kilkis Open Film Festival is an event based on the participation of the refugee and local Greek community. Both parties will be active in the creation of contents that will be projected during the festival as well as act as the jury by taking part in screenings and selecting the final pieces that will make up the event s program. Whilst creating their own contents, scholars of the cultural centers will learn technical skills such as filming or editing, as well as how to create a script or improve their language skills by creating subtitles or viewing material in the languages they are learning. The participants will follow all the different processes involved in organizing the festival, from its creation over to the final screenings. The festival will take place in Kilkis October 2017 (tentative dates are 13-15 th of October) and is open to the general public. Participants in the process will be both from Polikastro as well as Kilkis. 2
how Program & Workshops The program will include short films, animations and documentaries.* During a two week session of workshops in Polikastro, participants will view material that has been preselected from different collaborating film festivals, discuss the contents and vote for their favourite options. The festival will feature three different categories: Youth (short films & animation), Docs (women & social) and Originals (self-produced material during the workshops). All materials will include at least two of the following languages (aided by subtitles): Greek, Arab, English. The Originals workshops will be conducted by professional film makers where participants will be able to explore different filming techniques according to their age group and interests. Partnering NGOs will be encouraged to create their own pieces in different camps and centers in order to include them in this category. The festival will take place in film theatres in Kilkis as well as an open air presentation event featuring a local theatre group. *All material shown will be adecuate for the general public and taking into account potential sensitive issues. 3
team Team The organizing team is made up on the one hand of key members of as well as professionals who are collaborating on this specific project and include the following profiles: event producers, film festival producers & programers, film makers, communications officers, AV & subtitles technicians. The team is made up of professionals based in Thessaloniki, Kilkis, Polikastro and Barcelona. Collaborators OMNES.gr is a voluntary association that coordinates housing for marginalized local and refugee families, promoting inclusion and educational activities. They are our main partner in the direction and local production of the festival. TISFF is the leading short film festival in Greece and in the top 45 short film festivals worldwide. will include a Best Of selection from TISFF within its program. Further collaborators include local departments of film studies as well as the Thessaloniki Cinemuseum. 4