The Greek Ambassador in Prague, Mr. Konstantinos Konstantinou, was hosted on “Voice of Greece” and specifically on the show “distant conversations” today, Wednesday, February 26, and spoke about the events entitled: “A Sip of the Aegean” which will take place in the Czech capital from this afternoon until 7 March 2025.
This is an innovative action of Storydoc in the Czech Republic with the support and co-financing of the Hellenic Parliament and EKKOMED under the auspices of the Greek Embassy in Prague and the cooperation of ERT, with lectures on archaeological treasures, screening of Greek documentaries and promotion of Greek wine.
The innovation of the action consists in the combination of screenings of works of the creative sector in front of an international audience with educational activities, production of audiovisual educational content and knowledge dissemination processes with lectures by experts for the promotion of the Greek cultural sector.
Specifically, the selected documentaries have an organic thematic unity with the content of the Monoxylon event-exhibition at the National Museum of the Czech Republic about the first floating vessel in the Aegean in prehistoric times. Distinguished Czech and Greek archaeologists will speak at the event. Professor of Experimental Archaeology at the University of Hradec Králové Mr. Radomir Tichý will present the experiment-re-enactment, in which Czech archaeology students crossed the Aegean Sea with a replica of the MONOXYLON. The archaeologist Mr. Aris Tsaravopoulos, an official of the Ministry of Culture, will present the recent findings from Antikythera and the lawyer Athanasios Pantazopoulos will present the pioneering Greek legislation for the protection of antiquities from metal detection techniques.
An additional element of innovation is the promotion of the Greek wine culture. Viewers of the screenings and events will have the opportunity to taste Greek wines and appetizers, while a special master class event will highlight the Greek creative label design and digital advertising industry for Greek wines. The master class will be followed by a film on the history of Greek wine.
The final list of films selected for screening is :
- The Enigma of Kerou, by Kostas Machairas, duration 87’. Archaeological documentary about the discovery of a prehistoric settlement in Keros, destination of the MONOXYLOS
- The Antikythera Mechanism, by Yuri Averoff and Mike Beckham, (duration 58’). A film about what is considered to be the computer of the Ancient Greeks.
- The Secrets of the Labyrinth, by Nikos Dayada and Christian Bauer (duration 58’). The film is EPT's largest international co-production of a historical documentary with foreign TV channels, with recreations in the archaeological site of Knossos, as well as impressive computer animation.
- Little Land, by Nikos Dayadas. (duration 53’). Social documentary about Ikaria and the culture of the everyday life of Ikarians.
- Parvas, Barren Line, by Gerasimos Rigas (duration 75'). Creative documentary observation. Life in Amorgos through the daily life of Dimitris Giannakos, Parvas. Parvas' café is a meeting place and theatre of narratives from locals and visitors.
- I Lost my Way, by Panagiotis Rappas, animation, COVID EKK project, 2022
- Arcadia 1900, Campania of the East, (79 min) by K. Spyropoulos, program COVID EKK, 2022
- «We'll be back.» (29 min) Film product of the creative action HomeNew Home. Students in the role of director, cameraman, 2019
- «An Odysseus...» (32 min) Film product of the creative action «Make your own film». Students in the role of director, cameraman, 2017
The screenings and events are organised in different venues (Kralove University, Embassy Residence, Famu Amphitheatre, National Museum of Prague) and it is also worth noting that many of the documentaries will be attended by the directors or other contributors and will be followed by discussions with the audience after the screenings. In particular, ERT journalist Adrianna Paraskevopoulou and directors Nikos Dayadas, Kostas Spyropoulos and Gerasimos Rigas will be present.
Finally, Mr.Konstantinou spoke about the small but very dynamic Greek community in the Czech Republic, as well as about the Embassy's activities that aim to promote modern Greek culture, to attract mainly the new generation of Greek immigrants, who are not organized in homogeneous organizations, but also the Czechs who, as he stressed, are philhellenes and our country is their second holiday destination (about 600,000 Czechs visit our country annually).
You can listen to the interview here
Source: Voice of Greece, Embassy of Greece in the Czech Republic, Storydoc
