Sixty students from Skopelos and eight professional filmmakers from America, China, England Hungary, Korea and Spain will create films about the history of clay.
The theme “Clay “was created to give the students some understanding of the usages of clay for utilitarian and decorative purposes. The students must take three four hour classes with Professor Kostas Siros to study the old pottery on the island, visit the ceramic workshop of Mr. Nikos Rodios, the Folklore Museum and the archeological site Asklipeiio. As a part of the classes, students will be asked to obtain an oral history from their parents, family or friends who lived during a time when things like clay pitchers for water, canters for wine, and clay pots for olives existed. As an example, at the turn of the century, there is a wonderful photograph of Skopelos with many water pitchers laid out at the dock for people to purchase and fill up so that they can bring water to their homes. These are the stories will teach the students to appreciate what life was like at a much simpler time. The oral histories will then be told the first day of SIFFY 2013 and then the students will take what they have learned and develop an idea to create a short film.
Funding was made possible through donations from Kickstarter that was raised by The Skopelos Foundation for the Arts www.skopartfoundation.org. SIFFY 2013 will also be sponsored by Hellenic Seaways and Skopelos tavern owners. This would not have been possible without many extremely generous people wanting to support this project.
It is imperative that we keep this festival alive so that we can give the students an education in film which can also boost their self-esteem and possibly allow them to have a more positive outlook on life.
You can see one of the award winning films from SIFFY 2012 at http://vimeo.com/48310047; for more information about the festival go to http://skopelossiffy.wordpress.com or contact Jill Somer at info@skopart.org.