PRESS RELEASE
4th International Festival “Reflection of Disability in Art” of University of Macedonia
3-10/12/2021
Thessaloniki, 11 November 2021
The University of Macedonia organizes from 3 to 10 December 2021 and in online form the 4th International Festival "Reflection of Disability in Art" with the acronym iRoDi. The Festival is held under the auspices of H.E. the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, with the support of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and of the Region of Central Macedonia. The aim of the Festival is to support and promote the social inclusion of people with disabilities through their participation in cultural events in any role they wish, as actors, directors, volunteers or simply as spectators.
The artistic program of the Festival, which has already been posted on the website of the Festival, https://rodi.uom.gr/en/programme, includes movie screenings, Greek and foreign producers, musical performances, art exhibitions and many other actions.
As part of the above actions, the 4th International Festival "The Reflection of Disability in Art" has addressed an "Open Invitation to Music Composition" to interested composers, in order to immortalize with their musical composition the meaning of limitation in contemporary society and today. The competition, which is part of the activities of the 4th International iRoDi Festival, aims to highlight art through the perspective of disability. The musical compositions that have been distinguished, are included in the program and in other related activities that will take place during the Festival period.
In addition, in the context of social contribution and sensitivity, the 4th International Festival "The reflection of Disability in Art" organizes "Voluntary Blood Donation" from 3 to 10 December 2021 at the U.G.H.Th. ΑHEPA. The Festival, recognizing the difficulties of meeting the blood donation needs and feeling the offer of volunteering, appeals to those who wish to respond to the blood supply.
Regarding the Film Competition Section of the 4th iRoDi International Film Festival, of the fifty ninety seven (597) films of all genres, submitted from all over the world, will be screened forty two (42) in number, while the Committee consists of the following:
1) Georgia Fyka, Social worker, MA in Disability Studies at the University of Leeds and Health Services Management. She has been involved for many years in supporting the rights of people with disabilities with a key interest in disability policies and the Movement for Independent Living. She has worked as a General Manager at THE DISABILITY NOW and the www.disabled.gr in a series of programs and studies on disability, such as employment, tourism, independent living, education, etc. She participates in voluntary disability organizations such as the association ALLI OPISI, www.alli-opsi.gr, which is a founding member and former president, the Movement of Disabled Artists and the Movement for the Emancipation of disabled people: ZERO TOLERANCE (https://www.facebook.com/DisArtMove/)
2) Eleni Androutsopoulou, Programmer, Head of the Greek Department of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival while she also coordinates the implementation of the EU programmes that the Festival undertakes. She has been with the Festival since 2005. As part of her current role she overviews all films which are eligible for the Greek programs of the two festivals, liaising with the local film community and supporting the film selection process. Eleni holds a B.A. in Business Management from University of Patras and an M.A. in Cultural Policy, Management and Communication from Panteion University.
3) Matjaz Debevc, Associate Professor at the University of Maribor, Slovenia, at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Informatics (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Matja_Debevc). He is an internationally recognized researcher in the field of information and communication technology for the deaf and hard of hearing people and has recently held the position of coordinator at the World Accessibility Association of the Deaf.
4) Maria Tsakiri, Lecturer at the European University of Cyprus with 16 years of experience in teaching and supporting students and children with disabilities at all levels of education (https://euc.ac.cy/el/faculty-profiles/maria-tsakiri/). Her current research interests lie in inclusive education, disability policies and activism, cross-sectoralism, as well as cultural representations and film festivals on disability.
5) Stratis Chatzielenoudas, Screenwriter / director, lives and works in Athens. His short films have been presented at international festivals. He is an alumnus of the programs for emerging directors Sarajevo Talents and IDFAcademy. His debut feature documentary Back to the top won the Audience Award and the ERT Award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and has screened in many international film festivals (Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Tirana International Film Festival, Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, BOSIFEST International Film Festival). He is currently developing his first feature fiction film and his second feature documentary film (https://www.art-works.gr/fellows/stratis-chatzielenoudas/).
For more information, those interested can contact:
University of Macedonia
(Office Κ-123, 1st floor)
156 Egnatiastr, PC 546 36, Thessaloniki
Contact phone: 2310891437
Ε-mail: rod@uom.edu.gr
Website: http://rodi.uom.gr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rodifestival/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/rodifestival
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodifestival/
