What are the effects of cinema in society? How can the difficulties that one faces when creating a film be transformed into creative opportunities? How can the audience engage in a more interactive way with a film? What is the relationship between cinema with the visual arts? These are few of the questions raised by filmmaker and member of our selection committee Menelaos Karamaghiolis during the talk he gave for our current cohort of Fellows last Friday at Romantso!
—
Menelaos Karamaghiolis is a filmmaker who works in Athens producing feature films, documentaries, video art and radiomovies and video installations starring real-life neglected heroes and transcending frontiers and stereotypes to serve as an essential tool for dialogue and social change. His films have been screened globally and won many awards. His filmography includes the feature documentary ROM, 1989, that was considered “a turning point for Greek documentary films” and “a masterpiece that must become a classic of the history of cinema”, the fiction films BLACK OUT (p.s. RED OUT), 1998, considered to be “the first post-modern Greek film” and J.A.C.E. – Just Another Confused Elephant, 2011, participated in 48 international festivals (including TIFF Toronto International Film Festival) and won 11 awards and the first greek interactive documentaries, MEETING WITH REMARKABLE PEOPLE (12 feature films, 180 short films). His video installations have been shown at the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, the Venice Biennale, the Rodeo and the Geneva Contemporary Art Center (mini retrospective) etc.