The "Beyond Borders" International Documentary Festival of Castellorizo, opened its gates yesterday, Sunday, August 23th, 2020, with an impressive Opening Ceremony which for the fifth consecutive year welcomed artists, creators, journalist and spectators to the island with an incredible celebration focusing on the love for documentaries, history and culture.
The ceremony was presented by the Festival’s flow manager Tasos Giapoutzis, while the Festival’s Artistic Director Irini Sarioglou, its co-organizer Michel Noll and the Deputy Mayor of culture Stratos Amugdalos addressed a greeting.
Castellorizo ,a place not only of idyllic beauty but also of rich cultural heritage is the ideal point, where documentaries meet history said IriniSarioglou, while Michel Noll stressed that despite of the difficult conditions caused by the unpredictable pandemic, the Festival managed to give its participants the opportunity to exchange experiences and share their common visions. Stratos Amugdalos expressed his gratitude to IDISME, the co-organizers, the sponsors, the participants and the volunteers for their efforts so that for another year we can all enjoy a high artistic result.
Welcoming the opening of the Festival, the General Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Greeks Abroad Ioannis Chrysoulakis who was in Castellorizo as a representative of the Prime Minister, warmly congratulated IDISME for this great cultural initiative.
Subsequently, the representative of the USA Embassy in Athens, David Burger, expressed his warm congratulations for this year’s extremely rich, as he quoted, program of the Festival.
As part of the opening ceremony, a special tribute was made to the "patriarch of Rebetiko", Markos Vamvakaris with the projection of the documentary "Marcos"in the presence of the director Nikos Skarentzos.
The evening came to an end with a concert-tribute to Marco Vamvakaris and "our own foreigners" Rosa Eskenazy, Stella Haskil and Marika Ninou from the most authentic singer of rebetiko, Sofia Papazoglou.The musicians that accompanied Sofia on the stage where Spyros Patras (bouzouki), Daso Kourti (accordion), Vassilis Ketentzoglou (guitar) and Nikolaos Gyras (contrabass).
The exhibition of Christos Simatos "Where the time stops" was inaugurated in the Municipal Hall of the island.
Until Sunday, August 30th, 2020, the idyllic Castellorizo will become the epicenter of cultural interest for film lovers and beyond.
«Beyond Borders» is organized by the Hellenic History Foundation, in co-organization with Ecrans des Mondes (Paris) and the Society for the Restoration of Megisti, Castellorizo (Sydney), held under the auspices of the Secretary General for Public Diplomacy and for Diaspora Greeks of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, of the Municipality of Megisti, and the Embassies of Australia, the U.S. and Israel in Athens. The main sponsors are the Hellenic Parliament, the Secretary General for Public Diplomacy and for Diaspora Greeks of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Secretariat General for the Aegean and Island Policy, the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME Media), the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation and the Greek Film Centre.
For more information, please visit the Festival's official website: www.beyondborders.gr/en or contact the Festival directly at info@beyondborders.gr
Click here to watch the advertising spot of the 5th "Beyond Borders" 2020 at https://youtu.be/Qir-laO8vJw and the snapshots of last year's edition at https://youtu.be/DZC7gacfCAM