Press Releases
Press releases 2009
Emotion Pictures Film Workshop
Emotion Pictures is organizing a creative improvisation workshop in collaboration with the British group of artists, Arty Party, director Ray Jacobs and cinematographer Jonathan Tritton. Arty Party helps people with disabilities to develop their artistic potential and create groundbreaking artistic activities. Ten children from the Society for the Protection of Spastics will participate in the workshop. The film that will be made will be screened at the closing ceremony and will be included in the cultural package of films that will be sent to 2000 schools in Greece and abroad with the kind assistance of the Stavros I. Niarchos Foundation and the support of UNESCO.
Welcome to EMOTION PICTURES!
For the third year in a row the International EMOTION PICTURES Festival "Documentary and Disability" opens its doors to the public. Revitalized and vibrant, it dynamically continues to present an alternative perspective on disability, an issue that concerns not only persons with disability but society as a whole and each one of us individually. The issue of disability is not presented as a detached social problematic but in connection with broader parameters such as war, environmental destruction, social and economic conditions, professions, motherhood, sexual orientation, etc. This year the basic thematic axis is preeminently political, the antiwar movement in connection with disability that is directly linked to the defense of human values such as peace, dignity and freedom.
From last year to this year the festival forged new bridges of communication with the provinces, traveling throughout Greece and organizing screenings and events in collaboration with local agencies. At the same time it enlarged its activities on an international level to a significant extent. Many film festivals have organized retrospectives of our award-winning films, while this year our communications sponsor will be the French television channel TV5. With children as the focus of its interest EMOTION PICTURES organized, with the support of the S. Niarchos Foundation and UNESCO, the delivery of educational packages (adapted to the different age groups) with award-winning films of the two previous festivals to 2,000 schools in Greece and abroad. At the same time we organize screenings in schools with the cooperation of teachers and professors. The famous multiple award-winning photographer Amy Lyne, whose film Hope is to be included in the educational package, the well-known poet Kiki Dimoula and other personalities are among the international figures who will address the students.
For this year the Festival sought and found the best documentaries from all over the world, so as to be in a position to present the most representative sample of avant-garde filmmaking in the field of disability. More than 200 participations flooded the festival offices from at least 20 countries (including Greece of course), of which, on the basis always of artistic quality, 30 were selected for screening and will compete from 19 to 22 June at the Benaki Museum on Pireos Street. The filmmakers themselves will also be with us to present their films and talk to audiences. Distinguished international figures will also be attending the festival.
Internationally renowned personalities have expressed their support for the goals of the Festival and the struggles of the global disability movement and talk to the EMOTION PICTURES camera sending their own message regarding disability. These include the President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias, the winner of the Nobel Peace Price and president of international organizations that promote the rights of children and women Betty Williams, acclaimed director Wim Wenders (Wings of Desire), Oscar-winning (for Slumdog Millionaire) director Danny Boyle, famous directors Patrice Leconte (Le mari de la coiffeuse) and James Ivory (Room with a view), multi Emmy-awarded TV host and writer Phil Donahue, popular Indian singer Remo Fernandes, popular Hollywood actors Richard Gere, Eva Mendes, Daniel Day Lewis et al.
In addition to the film screenings this year EMOTION PICTURES has prepared major happenings, aspiring to turn the festival into a true celebration of life and of art. With great joy we will be greeting at the closing ceremony the "child prodigy from Korea who was born blind", the charismatic Yoo Ye Eun who has been described by the international media as a "5 year-old Mozart", because of her ability to reproduce on the piano whatever melody she hears without any knowledge of music. Yoo Ye Eun will play the piano on stage performing her favorite musical themes as well as familiar Greek and international pieces.
"You don't need wings to fly" 25 year-old Jessica Cox, who was born without hands, reminds us with her inherent optimism and vivacity. Jessica has a degree in psychology and visits schools and organizations throughout America conveying her enthusiasm for life with her words. Jessica, who managed to acquire a driver's license not only for cars but also for... planes, will be coming to Athens as the official guest of the Festival. She will talk to audiences and cross the sky of Attica!
The 3rd EMOTION PICTURES Festival broaches the issue of disability not as an isolated phenomenon of private life but as a mirror that reflects the interaction of the social and the personal. At the core, the story of Tomas Young, a young soldier in the war in Iraq who was left paralyzed from the chest down after he was seriously wounded. Phil Donahue, an emblematic television personality in the USA who has won dozens of Emmy awards, produced and directed, along with Ellen Spiro, the multiple award-winning documentary Body of War, with Tomas himself as the protagonist. The documentary is a damning accusation leveled at the "hawks" in the White House who embarked on a war based on unconfirmed conjectures, sowing disaster. Tomas travels throughout America participating in protest rallies and constitutes the symbol of the anti-war movement in America. He will be with us at the 3rd EMOTION PICTURES to talk to us about the film and to convey to us his horrifying experiences from the front of the war and his life afterwards.
The 3rd International EMOTION PICTURES Festival "Documentary and Disability" raises the curtain and awaits you. Be there all of you.
Maria Hadjimichali-Papaliou
Artistic Director
Welcome to EMOTION PICTURES!
For the third year in a row the Emotion Pictures International Festival "Documentary and Disability" opens its doors to the public. With renewed zest it continues to present a forceful alternative perspective on disability, an issue that concerns us all. In the intervening year since the last festival it traveled throughout Greece, worked with international festivals and sought out the best films from all over the world.
The 3rd International Festival Emotion Pictures, which has now found a place in our cultural life as well as in our hearts, is drawing near. From 19 to 22 June at the Benaki Museum on Piraeus Street, more than 30 documentaries will be screened from the most distant corners of the planet. The festival will also play host to filmmakers and distinguished personalities and create the conditions for an open dialogue on the diversity that brings people closer.
We look forward to welcoming all of you to this unique celebration of cinema, to this unique celebration of life!
Maria Hadjimichali-Papaliou
Artistic Director
