:: MIRFESTIVAL :: ARCHIVE

MIRfestival sprung out of VIDEODANCE festival, a festival which deeply influenced the way experimental art and video related art was seen in Greece during the past eight years. Based on their experience and being now ready to expand through a new creative adventure, its organizing team have decided to update VIDEODANCE, this already established yearly event, synchronised with the new demands of the audience in Athens.

VIDEODANCE started seven years ago as an international dance film festival, but soon it widened up to include more kinds of experiment on movement and the moving image. Having celebrated its 7th edition in 2007, VIDEODANCE used to present a showcase of the latest experiments on media and movement or, in other words, at the crossroads of visual arts, enhanced cinema and performing arts. VIDEODANCE was all about the experiment at the meeting point of audiovisual media and performing arts.

VIDEODANCE was taking place in both Athens and Thessaloniki from 2000 to 2007. It started in 2000 and it was the first fesival on movement and the moving image in Greece. It was founded by Christiana Galanopoulou, who was its artistic director throughout its 7 editions. It was funded and organised since 2000 by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (www.filmfestival.gr), one of the major film institutions in Greece.
VIDEODANCE was a festival which deeply influenced the way experimental art and video-related art was seen in Greece during the past eight years. VideoDance has gained in popularity year after year and has achieved to attract a large number of aficionados among the young audiences of Athens and Thessaloniki thanks to its original and multifaceted programming and unique identity.
It supported and encouraged the production of dance films in Greece, through a funding scheme, project|exchange, through which it became the co-producer of 12 short dance films.
More than 20.000 viewers visited VIDEODANCE during its 7 editions.
More than 6000 films from all over the world were screened.
More than 50 projects, performances and installations were presented during the past 4 years.
It was highly acclaimed by the Greek press.
It was being held in industrial spaces especially re-designed for the festival by young Greek architects and designers.
VIDEODANCE is part of a big network of other festivals, archives and organisations in many countries and it is one of the funding members of Media and Dance festivals network.

For more information on the 7 editions programme and photos choose one of the screen on the left.

From 2001 to 2007, within the frame of VideoDance festival an ongoing scheme for the reinforcement of the production of dence films in Greece, project|exchange, was running under the direction of Christiana Galanopoulou
project|exchange was intending to bring choreographers, filmmakers and visual artists in contact, so as to encourage dancefilmmaking. Supported by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, VideoDance was co-producing two films each year, after the contest of the project. Interested artists were submitting their proposals, two of which were selected by a jury consisting of choreographers, filmmakers, producers and important personalities of both dance and film communities. project|exchange was aiming to create a real exchange platform between artists and genres, and also to contribute in every possible way to supporting and educating a scene of dance and film in Greece. The amount of money it was offering to the winners of the contest was small, but the motivation to participate and win was proven to be great.
During the period 2001-2007, VideoDance became the co-producer of twelve experimental short films, some of which were screened in festivals in Greece and abroad with great success. The films were the following:

9:00 AM, 2001/ 9’, director Yiorgos Lanthimos, choreographer Katerina Papageorgiou.

Frida, 2001/ 12’, director Dimitris Koutsiabassakos, choreographer Eleftheria Rizou.

Just before, 2002/ 10’, director Dimitris Emmanouilides, choreographer Daphne Stefanou.

Wannabees, 2002/ 10’, director Dimitris Markantonatos, choreographer Nikos Lagousakos.

Nightmares, 2003/ 12’, director Kostas Fourkiotis, choreographer Spiros Bertsatos.

Short programme, 2003/ 6’, animation & director Dimitris Papadopoulos. choreographer Marilia Chrysospathi.

αω, 2004/ 13’, director Konstantinos Hadjinicolaou (Kine group), choreographers Iris Karayan, Marilena Petridou, Sania Strimbacou and Ioanna Toumbakari.

Three times, 2004/ 11’, director Yiannis Leontaris, choreographer Katja Savrami.

Body wall, 2005/8’, director Manolis Iliakis, choreographer Ioanna Toumbakari, Philippos Mendes-Lazaris.

Cicha, 2005/6’, director Tereza Papamichali, choreographer Olia Lydaki.

Voices, 2007/ 10’, director Dionysios Tsaftarides, choreographers Dionysios Tsaftarides, Evdokia Veropoulou and Anna Daskalou.

DOWNLOVE, 2007/10’, film with stereoscopic projection. Concept, script: Marios Sergios Iliakis and Euripides Laskaridis. Director Euripides Laskaridis, choreographers Euripides Laskaridis, Lina Sakka and Aris Servetalis.