Master Placement Report

Master Placement Report

Student: Panos Achtsioglou S3025950

Arts, Culture and Media

Placement supervising lecturer:

d. M. (Miklós) Kiss

Placement Providing Organization:

Name: Thessaloniki International Film Festival Supervisor: Tellos Filis

Address: 10 Aristotelous Square Postal Code: 54623

City &Country: Thessaloniki, Greece Phone nr.: +30 2310378400

Email address: filis@filmfestival.gr, tziola@filmfestival.gr

Table of Contents

1. I

... 3

2. D

... 4

3. L

... 6

4. P

I

,

... 7

4.1.

R

F

’

P

O

... 8

4.2.

A

F

’

C

... 10

5. E

... 15

6. A

... 17

Internship Report

Panos Achtsioglou

S3025950

1. Introduction

Since the beginning of my Master in Arts Culture and Media, and more specifically in the Film and Contemporary Audiovisual Media track, my

objective was clear: to be able to guarantee a Ma placement in a prestigious film festival in Europe and more preferably in my country of origin, Greece. Being a professional film critic and working in Greek film magazines for the last 5-6 years, I had the opportunity to meet and collaborate with many important agents in the Greek and international film distribution circuit. Also, I was able to attend to some of the most important film festivals in the world, for example the

Berlinale, Cannes Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival and Venice Film Festival, just to name a few. Additionally, I also had the opportunity to work, even for a short period of time - because my studies in Groningen did not allow me - as a staff member for two of the most acclaimed film festivals in Greece: Athens International Film Festival (also known as “Premiere Nights”) and more importantly Thessaloniki International Film Festival. I worked there as assistant producer or (more frequently) as a reporter of the Press Office of the Festival. Since the first semester of my Master program, I tried to contact various film institutions in order to achieve the best opportunity possible for my internship. Knowing personally (from my previous working experience) the artistic director of Thessaloniki Film Festival mr. Orestis Andreadakis, I contacted him via email and we scheduled an appointment during the Christmas holydays, in order for me to convey my request for an internship at this organization and ask for his advice. My joy and honor were immense, when the organization via an

official letter granted me permission to do my internship at the most important and most culturally influential film festival in Greece, which in 2018 arrived at its 59th edition. Moreover, I was extremely happy when the festival offered me a “double position”: to start as a Press Office reporter during the 21st _{edition of}

Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival and continue as assistant programmer for the Festival’s annual screening activity and Cinematheque. After talking to my supervisor dr. Kiss and also to my study advisor dr. Lucia van Heteren, to whom I presented my placement plan and also stressed the importance of the opportunity given, they both gave me permission to arrange all technical details, sign the placement contract and start my internship on the 1st _{of March 2019,}

until the 7th of June of the same year.

2. Description of placement provider

Thessaloniki International Film Festival is an organization supervised by the Hellenic ministry of Culture and gradually has become one of the South Europe’s primary showcases for the work of both new and emerging

filmmakers and already acclaimed international auteurs. The event features the International Section, a panorama of Greek films, the New Horizons program, the Balkan Survey, and numerous retrospectives and tributes to leading figures in the world of film. The Festival is competitive, with the International Section jury awarding several prizes each year, most notably the “Golden Alexander” for Best Feature-Length Film. The organization supports and features two equally important film festivals: in November 2018 was scheduled the 59th

edition of Thessaloniki Film Festival and in March 2019 was organized the 21st edition of Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. Since 1992 the festival

became an international film festival, acknowledged by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF). Nowadays Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Thessaloniki Documentary Festival are both annual events focused on the discovery and promotion of new directors from all over the world. For ten days in mid-November and also for ten days in the

beginning of March, audiences numbering approximately 70.000 for each event, as well as hundreds of Greek and foreign Festival guests, attend screenings of more than 150 films in the city’s cinemas.

Apart from the two aforementioned venues, the organization manages the Film Museum of Thessaloniki, the Thessaloniki’s Cinematheque and also hosts a regular activity program, organizing daily screenings in four cinemas of

Thessaloniki that belong to the organization itself: Olympion Theatre (one of the most emblematic buildings in Thessaloniki, hosting nearly 600 spectators),

Pavlos Zannas Cinema (250 spectators), Stavros Tornes and John Cassavetes

Cinemas (hosting 230 spectators each). Lastly, it is worth to mention that Thessaloniki Film Festival is a member of Europa Cinemas, the first film theatre network focusing on European films which was founded in 1992 with funding from the MEDIA Program (Creative Europe) and from “Centre national du cinéma et de l’ image animée” (CNC).

3. Learning goals and outcomes

Although working in the Festival’s Press Office during a festival event was not a new working experience for me, being part of the programming of the annual activity and Thessaloniki’s Cinematheque was a very intense but also

fascinating experience. Given the fact that one of my main professional

aspirations is exactly to be able to work as a programmer in a big and important film venue, this placement was an excellent opportunity for me to test both my academic and already acquired professional skills. While working as a Press Office reporter sometimes seems a dull and uninspiring job (which actually turns out to be false), being a professional programmer requires both creativity and attention to detail. One need to be able to understand the audience’s needs, but at the same time has to preserve a good relationship and partnership

between the Festival itself and the distribution companies that the organization collaborates with. It is pertinent to be able to maintain a delicate balance

between artistic innovation and commercial value of the films screened, without altering the Festival’s quality, its artistic prestige and its cultural capital. It was my desire, since the beginning of this internship, to experience this profession at its fullest by playing an important role in this organization which I admired since I was a child. To have the opportunity to program the films that people of Thessaloniki are going to watch, to conduct QnA’s and present thematic

cinematic tributes, to get in contact with important players in film industry and to enhance my writing skills related to professional film reviews and summaries for official film catalogues. This desire was fulfilled in its totality, even though sometimes it resulted a bit overwhelming.

4. Program of the Internship, tasks and outcomes

After some discussions with both my supervisor at Thessaloniki Film Festival and the study advisor (and also my supervising lecturer) we decided to divide the placement periods into two distinct parts: one smaller of 10 days and one longer of nearly 3 months. It is important to mention that the amount of

workload was established in 4 hours per day, in order for me to be also able to properly research and write my Master Thesis and submit it on time.

Nevertheless, especially during the second period of my internship, I found myself staying in my office much longer because, on the one hand, my

supervisor entrusted me with very important and demanding tasks and on the other because I found myself in an environment which treated me not as a student but as a co-worker. Given the fact that there still is a possibility of a proper employment there, I tried to present myself as available as possible and demonstrate that I obtain not only the academic substrate but also the will and enthusiasm for a position such as a programmer at the Festival. The first period of the internship consisted of me working as a reporter in the Press Office, during the 21st _{Documentary Festival of Thessaloniki for its entire duration:}

from 1st _{until the 10}th _{of March 2019. During the second part of my placement I}

worked as assistant programmer of the annual activity of the organization but also as a programmer of the Cinematheque of Thessaloniki, from 11th _{of March}

4.1. Reporter at the Festival’s Press Office

As mentioned previously, I was already familiar with this working experience. It was already my fifth time working in that environment, hence, there was barely nothing new. Working as a reporter of the Festival’s official Press Office means that you have to be “the eyes and the ears of the Festival” outside its offices. I collaborated with a group of other 10 reporters and almost 15 volunteers. Our purpose was to cover all the events of the Festival and then prepare (in collaboration with the heads of the department) the official press releases which consequently will be given by hand, send by e-mail or

communicated through the Festival’s website and social media platforms to all professionals of the film industry (distributors, filmmakers, sales agents, film journalists, actors and many other guests) which visited the Festival or others which were not available to come to Thessaloniki. Our texts had to be

professional but engaging at the same time, providing all the necessary (and of course, accurate) information that will be used as a substrate for more articles or as a guideline for those who were not able to attend all the aforementioned events. That is the reason why, before the beginning of the Festival, we had a group meeting and we divided the tasks, based on the official schedule provided by the Press Office. Being a relatively experienced reporter, I chose to cover some of the Festival’s most important events, such as the official opening ceremony, the press interviews with the Festival’s most prestigious guests and some of the most interesting (and long lasting) masterclasses. I received an official invitation and thus I had the opportunity to be on the first row of

Olympion Theatre covering the opening ceremony, in which the Greek Minister of Culture, the Mayor of Thessaloniki and other important political and cultural figures announced the official opening of the venue and the artistic director

ceremony was ended with the European premiere of Nick Bumfield’s evocative documentary Marian and Leonard which is partially shot in Greece.

During those ten very intense days I was able to cover many interviews with important filmmakers, but the one that impressed me the most was the interview with the American-Greek director of The Cove (2009), Louis Psychogios. He was the Festivals’ guest of honor, receiving the Golden Alexander for his entire career and his devotion to social, political and (most of all) environmental issues which are skillfully reflected on to his art.

Apart from other, utterly interesting coverages that I had to accomplish, I took the opportunity to cover and create a press release for the most important masterclass of the Festival (which lasted 5 days) named “EDN docs in Thessaloniki 2019”. The Docs in Thessaloniki, running since 2001 in

collaboration with the European Documentary Network, gives documentary professionals the opportunity to have their projects pitched to a panel of international financiers, commissioning editors and representatives of the international audiovisual media. The first 3 days focused on project

development and polishing and the last 2 days were reserved for pitching. Furthermore, between Monday the 4th _{and Tuesday the 5}th _{of March were}

presented 20 documentary projects in total, providing the opportunity for fruitful discussions, comments, notes and remarks between documentary professionals. The program was coordinated by Ove Rishøj Jensen (EDN film and media consultant, Denmark). During the introductory section Mr. Jensen argued about the importance of bringing fresh and new ideas into the

documentary circuit, which will revolve around new and talented filmmakers from all around the world, infused with varied approaches and perspectives. Without further ado, the projects were presented through 7 minutes slots and after each one of then there was also a 7-minute slot for comments remarks and suggestions by the agents. This release, along with all the others accomplished by my work as a journalist, can easily be found in Thessaloniki’s Film Festival

official website (both in English and in Greek):

https://www.filmfestival.gr/en/professionals-b2b/media-press

Fig.2. Louis Psychogios’ Golden Alexander Honorary Ceremony

4.2. Assistant programmer in Festival’s annual activity and Cinematheque programmer Since 11th _{of March, after the end of the Documentary Festival, I moved to Mr.}

Filis’ office at the 5th _{floor of Olympion Complex and I received my Staff Pass}

in order to be able to enter and exit the office, but also to enter freely into various cinema halls. A desktop computer was assigned to me, and after a brief tour around the different departments I started my second (and more substantial) part of the placement, as assistant programmer in the Festival’s annual activity. During that time, I was assigned varied and specific tasks, including:

Probably it was the most creatively engaging aspect of this internship. I assisted Mr. Filis in selecting the films which every Thursday would premier in 4 cinema halls of the Festival. After that, we had to create together the program concerning which film will be projected in which cinema, for how many screenings per week and in what hours. Usually, the screenings started around 17:00 and ended around midnight. In order to form the program, we had to be in contact with both all the distribution companies (during the internship Mr. Filis gave me the opportunity to meet all of their CEO’s) and also with other departments of the Festival. Each week we had to be informed through an online and shared Global Calendar for any event of the relevant section or department of the Festival that preceded our screenings. For example, during these months my placement also coincided with the European elections. Thus,

sometimes the halls were rented for political speeches. In that case we had to be informed in advance and communicate this change of the program to all distributors. After the program was compiled and checked I had to send it to the press office (no later than Monday morning) for further approval and then I had to inform by e-mail all other departments. Obviously, in order to select the films, each distribution company

provided screeners to the programmers (because of my work as a film critic, I already watched many films of these season in various Festivals) that we had to watch and discuss in order to arrive at a conclusion.

Usually this meeting was taking place each Saturday morning.

- Check of the materials in collaboration with the technical department. Each Tuesday, I had a meeting with the colleagues of the technical department (projectionists, sound designers, production managers) in order to check the films arrived to us (in DCP form), and confirm that each projection of the new film week (which also in Greece starts on Thursday) runs smoothly. We also controlled all KDM (digital “keys”

sent from the world sales and distribution companies in order to be able to play an encrypted film) and chose the trailers which would be played before the screening. Usually the screenings did not have any

intermissions, but in some cases - such as in the evocative 4-hour Chinese film An Elephant Sitting Still by Hu Bo - we had to plan and organize also the intermissions. If everything was in order, I communicated via e-mail to all distributors and Festival departments that we were ready for Thursday. In general, we did not encounter serious problems, although (as easily imaginable) there were moments that this procedure was extremely stressful.

- Communication with distributors about future releases.

A programmer’s job is strictly connected to a continuous communication with various distribution companies. Thus, we had to be weekly informed about the future releases, and we asked them to send us trailers, posters and lobby cards, in order to display them in our halls, providing also this form of communication to our viewers. Obviously, the program was printed and distributed every Monday and it was also communicated via the Festival’s website, social media and some Tv commercials as well. Additionally, we had to be informed about the filmmaking run per screen (number of tickets sold each day) and we had to send our own unofficial report every night to those who needed to know it. This also helped us to shape our next week’s program.

- Creation of “movie sheets”

One of the tasks assigned to me by Mr. Filis was the creation of the so called “movie sheets”, that is, Word documents for each one of the films released in our cinemas, containing basic information such as the title (both in original and in Greek), the various contributors (director, main actors, cinematographer, composer, editor and production company), what sort of awards it achieved, in which of the four cinemas was

released and for how many weeks, in what form was projected and the total amount of tickets sold. In that way it would be easier for the Festival to have a complete database of the films played, with all the necessary information, in one Microsoft Word document per film. It is worth to be mentioned that all previous placement students have done the same thing, hence the database of the films turned out to be quite big.

- Develop the screening program for “Cinema me Thea” venue.

Although this venue started right before the end of my internship, the entire programming was organized during these months, almost completely by me. “Cinema me Thea” (translated as “cinemas with a view”) is an open-air screening program which the Festival organizes in collaboration with Thessaloniki’s Music Hall (also called Megaron). After the end of the film season, the Festival programs and screens - in a beautiful open-air cinema constructed at the Music Hall’s patio - 2 films per week for the entire summer. Mr. Filis gave me the opportunity to program the entire venue myself, in communication with the director of the Music Hall. Therefore, I had to select the films, ask for screening rights from the distributors, collect them and check them one-by-one (they were 20 in total), acquire the KDM and propose them to Megaron. Although the director asked me for “light” and enjoyable “summer films”, which would please the audience and reinforce a relaxed viewing experience, I tried to find filmic creations that are both enjoyable and artistic, in order to preserve the venue’s prestige. Moreover, I had to be careful not to exceed a very specific budget, because this venue was payed 50% by the Festival and 50% by Megaron itself. In the end, both organizations were very pleased and the audience of Thessaloniki will have the opportunity to watch films such as Sean Baker’s The Florida

Project, Gus Van Sant’s Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, Matteo

Fig. 3. Cinema me Thea 2019

- Programming and presenting Thessaloniki’s Cinematheque

Another very interesting task consisted of programming and presenting every “special screening” venue of the Festival, mostly those of

Cinematheque’s. Each two weeks, in Stavros Tornes cinema, the Festival organized some thematic screenings concerning tributes to important filmmakers, actors or film agents of cinema history, films belonging to an important genre, tendency or trend, or creations which reflected important social, artistic, historical or political periods. Although the program of Cinematheque 2018-2019 was already scheduled, I was able to assist in other ways, which were proved to be both fruitful and engaging. Apart from performing my usual duties as a (assistant) programmer, which consisted of checking the films in advance, I had the chance to give sort (or longer) presentations related to the thematic tribute and interact with the audience after each screening by doing QnA’s (Questions and

Answers) which sometimes were so interesting that lasted for more than an hour. I was very lucky to be able to present an utterly interesting

Cinematheque’s tribute to Jean-Pierre Melville, coordinate the discussion and reflect together with other guests (such as Dr. Gousios, assistant

professor in the University of Thessaloniki’s Film Department) upon films such as Bob le Flambeur (1956), Le Silence de la Mer (1949), Le

Circle Rouge (1970) and others. Upon various tributes, one that remained

impressed had to do with the screening of O. Welles’ last complete film,

Histoire Immortelle (The Immortal Story, 1968). It was an immense

pleasure to present a film that was projected for the first time on a big screen in Greece and also having the opportunity to write a 2.000-word text which was both released in the Festival’s website and was distributed manually to each one of the spectators who came to watch this

undervalued masterpiece.

Fig.4. Presentation by Panos Achtsioglou in Cinematheque

5. Evaluation and conclusion

Apart from working as a film critic, I have always wished to pursue a career in film programing, especially in the Festival Section and ideally in an

intercultural setting. My main goal was to experience first-hand how an annual activity programmer works, alongside experienced professionals. Without a doubt, I can say that this internship has concretized my wish and allowed me to understand the immense creative possibilities that this job has to offer. The

working environment has been delightful and empowering: my feedbacks have been taken into consideration; I gained more confidence due to Mr. Filis

immense support and also to Ms. Jalladeau’s (Festival’s director) guidance which consisted in mini meetings nearly each week. The moments of frustration were really few, as being Greek also helped me understand the peculiarities of a film marked which now starts to flourish again, but had to endure an extreme crisis for the past 7 years. I also recognized some of my weaker points during the internship period, for instance, the lack of experience in this specific field as well as my negligence regarding financial issues. Undoubtedly, these (and others) are to be improved.

In retrospect, and without any doubt, this internship proved to be everything I ever wanted from a Ma placement experience. It did not only provide a hands-on, invaluable experience of the ways an important cultural organization is coordinated and functions but also both opened new horizons and at the same time consolidated my desire to search and apply for a position as a Festival programmer. In fact, being a programmer is a polyvalent job which requires both creativity and deep knowledge of the filmic material but also skills in understanding the cinema’s audience, capacity to preserve good relationships with every distributor that you are collaborating with and clear perspective in providing an artistic identity to the institution you are working for. I sincerely hope to be able to continue as an employee in this Festival, it would be both an honor and a great opportunity to continue my work there in the next season and provide my (small) contribution to such an important cultural organization. Finally, I would be also very glad to give feedback or useful information to anyone that would be interested in this internship, being aware that the Festival had many international trainees in different departments all these years.

6. Acknowledgements

First of all, I would like to thank Orestis Andreadakis, Elise Jalladeau and Maria Tziola (artistic director, general director and director of human resources of Thessaloniki Film Festival, correspondingly) for giving me this great

opportunity, Lucia van Heteren and Miklós Kiss for guiding me, helping me and supporting my decision to be in Thessaloniki. For this reason, I tried to work as hard as I could during this internship and combine both the Ma placement and the writing of my Ma thesis. I am especially grateful to Mr. Tellos Filis for being there for me every time I needed him, for encouraging me to take responsibility, for valuing my input and for promoting my work to internal and external collaborators of the Festival. Thank you for being patient, diligent and open-minded. Thank you for all the efforts that you put in to keep me informed with and involved in all aspects that regard the institution. You have been an ideal tutor, leader and friend during this internship. I also want to show my high regards to all the departments and the agents of the Festival for their patience and politeness at me. I sincerely have made new friends. Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents and my sister for being always there and for making my dream come true. Expressing once more my gratitude to the entire film department of the University of Groningen, I would like to close this report quoting one of my favorite directors, Martin Scorsese, who so eloquently reflects upon the passion for the moving images: “Movies touch our hearts and awaken our vision, and change the way we see things. They take us to other places. They open doors and minds. Movies are the memories of our lifetime. We need to keep them alive”.