User:Alkinoos Pappas/sandbox

General
The Aegean Film Festival is an annual international film festival held on the islands of Patmos and Paros, Greece, every July for 12 days. The festival's programme features competitive and non-competitive screenings and premieres of fiction films, documentaries and short films.

The festival is under the auspices and support of UNESCO, the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Greek National Tourism Organization, the Region of South Aegean, and the municipalities of Patmos and Paros.

History
The Aegean Film Festival was founded in 2010 on the island of Patmos under the original name International Film Festival of Patmos (IFFP)..

The festival evolved over the years, expanding to the island of Paros, growing from 6 to 12 days and in 2017 becoming the Aegean Film Festival.

Since 2010 the festival has screened in 8 custom-built cinemas, presenting films, documentaries and shorts, many of which as a Greek or European premiere, hosting numerous invited guests, filmmakers and journalists.

Following the screenings, every year the festival is organising a series of events, seminars, workshops, panel talks, art exhibitions, galas, pop-up screenings and parties.

In 2017, a new permanent section was introduced, titled “Echoes”, focusing on climate emergency and inviting experts to join an environmental summit.

Festival Programme
The Aegean Film Festival curates an average of 8 film programmes per year consisting of fiction feature films, documentaries and short films. Each year, the festival introduces 30 premieres on both a national and an international level.

Since 2015, to support its programmes, the festival has developed long-term affiliations with film festivals such as Ivy Film Festival, London Short Film Festival, Barnes Film Festival, Valletta Film Festival, Ethnofest. In 2016 it introduced a collaboration with programmers from major film festivals such as Cannes, Berlin Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Rotterdam Film Festival, for the curation of a special short film programme titled “Best of Europe.”

Since 2010 the Festival has received 4880 film submissions.

Echoes Environmental Programme
The Echoes Environmental Programme takes place during the first 4 days of the festival, inside the Paros Environmental Park. The Aegean Film Festival organises a full schedule of events, including documentary screenings, panel talks with invited experts, Q&A’s, project presentations, workshops and a final round table in order to create environmental models that can be applied during the winter months.

Best International Short Film Jury Award
2019 - Tungrus, directed by Dir. Rishi Chandna

2018 - Neda, directed by Afagh Irandoost

2017 - Whale 52, directed by Thanasis Troubouk

Best Greek Short Film Jury Award
2019 - Patision Avenue, directed by Thanasis Neofotistos

Feature Film Audience Award
2019 - Yesterday, directed by Danny Boyle

Documentary Audience Award
2019 - When Tomatoes Met Wanger, directed by Marianna Economou

Festival Team
=== Aegean Film Festival Executive Board === Babis Tsoutsas (Festival Director and founder)

Anna Wenneker (Founding Member)

Timmy Timmers (Founding Member)

Dorotheos Samoladas

Maria Birbili

Advisory Board
Alexander Payne (Film Director, Producer, Screenwriter)

Alin Tasciyan (President, FIPRESCI)

Catherine Briat (Cultural Counselor, Public Affairs)

Dimitris Michalakis (Executive Director, COSMOTE TV)

Frederic Boyer (Artistic Director, Tribeca Film Festival, Les Arcs Film Festival)

Jesper Jack (Documentary Producer)

Joanne Sawicki (Journalist, Television p\Producer)

Marco Frazier (Head of Insight TV Studios US)

Nicolas Brown (Documentary Director)

Robert Dick (Festival Development)

Thanasis Karathanos (Film Producer)