Last Voyage for Theo Angelopoulos

“Angelopoulos can be counted

as one of the few filmmakers

in cinema’s first hundred years

 who compel us to redefine

what we feel cinema is and can be.”
Andrew Horton

World-acclaimed film director, and ambassador of Greek cinema abroad, Theo Angelopoulos died on the 24th January, after being hit by a motorcycle, while filming in Drapetsona, near Pireaus. Winner of several international film awards, Angelopoulos had started shooting his latest film, The Other Sea, earlier this month. His untimely death hit headlines around the globe.
Angelopoulos was born in Athens in 1935. He studied Law at Athens University, and at the beginning of the ‘60s he moved to France where he followed courses in ethnography and studied film at the Institute of Advanced Cinematographic Studies in Paris. Upon returning to Greece, he initially worked as a film critic and in 1970 he completed his first feature film Anaparastassi (Reconstruction).
His next three films make up a trilogy on the history of contemporary Greece: Meres tou ’36 (Days of ’36, 1972), O Thiassos (Travelling Players, 1975) and Oi Kynighoi (The Hunters, 1977), followeed by Megalexandros in 1980.
With these films some of the thematic and stylistic constants of Angelopoulos’ cinema were established – the weight of history, a clinical examination of power, a Brechtian theatricality, wherein the individual has no importance with respect to the group, a rejection of conventional narration in favour of an intentionally broken one, in which stationary cameras and sequence-length shots create an alternative sense of time.
Taxidi sta Kithira (Voyage to Cythera), in 1984, won the Cannes Festival International Critics’ Award for best screenplay, followed by O Melissokomos (The Beekeeper), in 1986, starring Marcello Mastroianni. With Topio stin Omichli (Landscape in the Mist) in 1988 he won the Silver Lion at the Venice Mostra. 
His filmography in the 90s included To meteoro vima tou pelargou (The Suspended Step of the Stork, 1991), followed by To vlemma toy Odyssea (Ulysses’ Gaze, 1995), starring Harvey Keitel – which won the Grand Jury Prize and the International Critics’ Prize at Cannes Festival. 
Then in 1998, he won the Cannes Palme D’Or prize for Mia eoniotita kai mia mera (Eternity and a Day) with Bruno Ganz. In 2003, he began another trilogy with To livadi pou dakryzi (The Wheeping Meadow) followed by H skoni tou chronou (Dust of Time, 2009). The film The Other Sea that he was currently shooting was to complete the trilogy.
(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)

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Kedzierzawska, Lechki win awards at Thessaloniki Film Festival

Poland’s film director Dorota Kedzierzawska was granted the honorary Golden Alexander award for lifetime achievements at the 51st Thessaloniki International Film Festival that ended on Sunday.
Marek Lechki won the Best Screenplay Award for “Erratum”, the film he also directed and produced.
On show during the festival were Kedzierzawska’s films “I am”, “Devils, Devils” and “Time to Die”. The films illustrate the Polish director’s original, outstanding style and her compassion for the people she portrays and profound respect she has for their choices, festival organizers wrote.
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is a top film festival of South Eastern Europe. Founded in 1960 as the Week of Greek Cinema, it became international in 1992.
(Polish Press Agency) 

Acropolis Museum receives British award

The Acropolis Museum in Athens (see Photo Gallery) has won the British Guild of Travel Writers (BGTW) prestigious global award for the Best Worldwide Tourism Project for 2010.
The prize was presented to Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister George Nikitiades, during a ceremony in London on November 7.
Nikitiades thanked the organizers and the travel writers who voted for the Acropolis Museum, noting that this distinction opens the door for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their home.
Nikitiades is currently in London with a Greek National Tourism Organisation delegation to participate at the World Travel Market fair, taking place from November 8 to 11.
Greek News Agenda (29.10.2010) Acropolis Museum: Best Overseas Tourism Project

Εκδηλώσεις “Ευρωπαϊκής Ημέρας Γλωσσών” (Βαρσοβία, 20-27/9/2010)- Συμμετοχή Γραφείου Τύπου Βαρσοβίας

Οι φετινές εκδηλώσεις της «Ευρωπαϊκής Ημέρας Γλωσσών 2010» πραγματοποιήθηκαν στη Βαρσοβία από τις 20 έως τις 27 Σεπτεμβρίου.
Το Γραφείο Τύπου, για μία ακόμη χρονιά, συμμετείχε στη διοργάνωση των εκδηλώσεων προβολής των ευρωπαϊκών γλωσσών, εκδηλώσεις που στοχεύουν στην ενημέρωση του πολωνικού κοινού για τον γλωσσικό και πολιτιστικό πλούτο των χωρών της Ευρώπης. Η Ευρωπαϊκή Ημέρα Γλωσσών θεσπίστηκε από το Συμβούλιο της Ευρώπης το 2001.
Διοργανωτές των εκδηλώσεων ήταν δεκατρείς χώρες, μέλη του EUNIC Cluster Βαρσοβίας (European Union National Institutes for Culture): Ελλάδα (Γραφείο Τύπου Ελληνικής Πρεσβείας), Εσθονία (Πρεσβεία Εσθονίας), Ιρλανδία (Πρεσβεία Ιρλανδίας), Μεγ. Βρετανία (British Council), Βέλγιο (Πρεσβεία Βελγίου), Δανία (Πολιτιστικό Ινστιτούτο Δανίας), Γερμανία (Goethe-Institut), Πορτογαλία (Ινστιτούτο Camoes), Γαλλία (Γαλλικό Ινστιτούτο), Ιταλία (Ιταλικό Ινστιτούτο), Αυστρία (Αυστριακό Ινστιτούτο), Ρουμανία (Ρουμανικό Ινστιτούτο), Ρωσία (Ρωσικό Κέντρο Επιστήμης και Πολιτισμού).
Στη διοργάνωση συμμετείχαν, επίσης, το EUNIC Cluster Βαρσοβίας, η Αντιπροσωπεία της Ευρωπαϊκής Επιτροπής στην Πολωνία, το πολωνικό Ίδρυμα για την Ανάπτυξη του Εκπαιδευτικού Συστήματος, το Πανεπιστήμιο Βαρσοβίας, το Εκπαιδευτικό Τμήμα του Δήμου Βαρσοβίας, το Κρατικό Εθνογραφικό Μουσείο στη Βαρσοβία, η Δημόσια Βιβλιοθήκη της συνοικίας Praga (Δήμος Βαρσοβίας), το πολωνικό Κέντρο για την Ανάπτυξη της Εκπαίδευσης, η πολωνική Κρατική Επιτροπή για την Πιστοποίηση της Επάρκειας της Πολωνικής ως Ξένης Γλώσσας. Οι εκδηλώσεις τελούσαν υπό την αιγίδα του πολωνικού Υπουργείου Εθνικής Παιδείας, του πολωνικού Υπουργείου Επιστήμης και Ανώτερης Εκπαίδευσης, της Δημάρχου Βαρσοβίας και της Πρυτάνεως του Πανεπιστημίου Βαρσοβίας.
Η απήχηση των εκδηλώσεων τις προηγούμενες χρονιές οδήγησε τους διοργανωτές στην απόφαση για την φετινή διοργάνωση πολυήμερων εκδηλώσεων, με ποικίλο περιεχόμενο.  
Το πλήρες πρόγραμμα, που περιελάμβανε, μεταξύ άλλων, ημερίδα, μαθήματα γλωσσών, σεμινάρια, φεστιβάλ ταινιών, street game, κ.ά., μπορεί να αναζητηθεί στην ηλεκτρονική σελίδα των εκδηλώσεων www.edj.waw.pl

Przemek Kordos, Maria Mondelou, Pantelis Gianoulis at the Greek stand

Η ελληνική συμμετοχή στις εκδηλώσεις, η οποία περιελάμβανε μεταξύ άλλων φεστιβάλ ταινιών, μάθημα ελληνικής γλώσσας, σεμινάριο για το ζεϊμπέκικο, ελληνικό περίπτερο κ.ά., διοργανώθηκε από τη Γραμματέα Επικοινωνίας, Μαρία Μονδέλου.
Αναλυτικότερα, η ελληνική συμμετοχή είχε ως εξής:

Poems on the Underground – Greek contemporary poetry

The Press Office of the Greek Embassy in Warsaw promotes the contemporary poetry of Greece and participates to   “Poems on the Underground” events (6-30 September 2010).
“Poems on the Underground” (Wiersze w Metrze) has been inspired by other similar projects  in many cities: Dublin, Paris, New York, Barcelona, Stockholm, Stuttgard and Moscow, organised for the first time in London in 1986.
Wiersze w Metrze promotes contemporary European poetry in public city spaces, through happenings, haiku competition, poetry city game and a performing poetry festival.
Many cultural institutes and embassies participate to the project, which takes place under the auspices of the the mayor of Warsaw, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.
Greek contemporary poetry will be represented by two acclaimed poets, Kiki Dimoula and Nasos Vagenas.
Kiki Dimoula has recently been awarded the European Literature Prize for 2010. Her poetry has been translated into English, French, German, Swedish, Danish, Spanish and many other languages.
Dimoula’s poetry is haunted by the existential dissolution of the post-world era. Her central themes are hopelessness, insecurity, absence and oblivion. Using diverse subjects and twisting grammar in unconventional ways, she accentuates the power of the words through astonishment and surprise, but always manages to retain a sense of hope.
Nasos Vagenas, professor of Theory and Critique of Literature in the Department of Theatre Studies of the University of Athens, in 2005 was awarded with the State Poetry Prize for his poetic collection ‘Stefanos’.
His poetic work includes the books: ‘Field of Mars’, ‘Biography’, ‘Roxani’s Knees’, ‘Wandering of a non-traveller’, ‘The Fall of the Flying’, ‘Barbarous Odes’ , ‘The Fall of the Flying B’, ‘Dark Ballads and Other Poems’, ‘Stefanos’.
His poetry has been translated into English, German, Italian, Dutch, Romanian, Serbian.
Two poems of Kiki Dimoula and Nasos Vagenas have been translated in polish language for “Wiersze w Metrze” by the professors and students of the Department of Greek Studies of the University of Warsaw (Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies “Artes Liberales”).

2nd “London Greek Film Festival 2009” Awards

The Press Office of the Greek Embassy in London, along with the

"London Greek Film Festival" Awards

Hellenic Centre and the London office of the GNTO supported and co-organised the second London Greek Film Festival. Among the people who followed the festival’s events were artists, film makers, producers, members of the Academia, reporters and so on.
The London Greek Film Festival is a unique opportunity for the Greek culture to reach the British public, while contributing in promoting Greek films as well as new film makers and actors.
On Sunday 1^st November the Odysseus awards ceremony took place at the Hellenic Centre. Key speakers at the ceremony were the Head of the Greek Press Office in London Mr Spyros Diamantis and the Head of the GNTO London Office Ms Sophia Panagiotaki.

The film director Stefanos Mondelos

The Script Award for short film at the 2^nd London Greek Film Festival 2009 was attributed to the script:  “Two Shoes on Wheels” of Stefanos Mondelos, based on the illustrated fairytale of Nikolaos Andrikopoulos (“Ellinika Grammata” editions).
This script was awarded for the second time recently, as it has received the 3^rd Award for Adapted Script for short film by the Hellenic Book Center.

Τα βραβεία του: «2ου London Greek Film Festival»

Με στόχο την προβολή του ελληνικού κινηματογράφου, αλλά και γενικότερα την προβολή της χώρας μας στη Μεγάλη Βρετανία, πραγματοποιήθηκε φέτος στο Λονδίνο για δεύτερη συνεχή χρονιά από τις 30 Οκτωβρίου έως την 1^η Νοεμβρίου το Φεστιβάλ Ελληνικού Κινηματογράφου, το οποίο συνδιοργανώθηκε από το Γ.Τ.Ε. Λονδίνου, το Hellenic Centre και τον ΕΟΤ.
Στα πλαίσια του Φεστιβάλ, το κοινό είχε την ευκαιρία να παρακολουθήσει 41 ταινίες μικρού μήκους – με αγγλικούς υπότιτλους – οι περισσότερες από τις οποίες παρουσιάστηκαν για πρώτη φορά στη Μεγάλη Βρετανία. Στις προβολές που πραγματοποιήθηκαν στις δύο ημέρες που διήρκεσε το Φεστιβάλ, συμπεριλαμβάνονταν ταινίες μυθοπλασίας, επιστημονικής φαντασίας, ντοκυμαντέρ, ταινίες κινουμένων σχεδίων (animation), ταινίες μικρού μήκους, και video art. Επίσης, παρουσιάστηκαν σενάρια για ταινίες επιστημονικής φαντασίας και για ταινίες μικρού μήκους.
Την πρώτη μέρα του Φεστιβάλ (Παρασκευή 30 Οκτωβρίου) παραγωγοί και σκηνοθέτες είχαν την ευκαιρία να λάβουν μέρος στο Informational Networking Event με τίτλο Shooting in Greece: Ένα εργαστήρι, στα πλαίσια του οποίου, οι συμμετέχοντες είχαν τη δυνατότητα να ενημερωθούν σε βάθος από τους αρμοδίους και να λάβουν κάθε είδους πληροφορίες όσον αφορά την κινηματογράφηση στην Ελλάδα, (επίσης πληροφορίες για ελληνικές εταιρείες παραγωγής, για σημεία ειδικού ενδιαφέροντος στην Ελλάδα, για χρηματοδοτήσεις κλπ). Το Φεστιβάλ περιλάμβανε επίσης συζητήσεις, παρουσιάσεις σεναρίων και διοργάνωση εργαστηρίων (workshops).
Την Κυριακή 1^η Νοεμβρίου, ημέρα λήξης του Φεστιβάλ, απονεμήθηκαν στο Hellenic Centre τα βραβεία Odysseus. Κεντρικοί ομιλητές στην τελετή απονομής των βραβείων ήταν ο Σπύρος Διαμαντής, επικεφαλής του Γ.Τ.Ε. Λονδίνου, η Σοφία Παναγιωτάκη, Διευθύντρια του Γραφείου ΕΟΤ και ο Διευθυντής του Φεστιβάλ, Χρήστος Προσύλης.
Το Βραβείο Σεναρίου μικρού μήκους ταινίας στο 2nd London Greek Film Festival 2009 έλαβε το σενάριο “Δυό Παπούτσια με Καρότσι”  του Στέφανου Μονδέλου, βασισμένο στο ομώνυμο εικονογραφημένο παραμύθι του Νικόλαου Ανδρικόπουλου (εκδ. Ελληνικά Γράμματα). Το συγκεκριμένο σενάριο βραβεύεται για δεύτερη φορά, μετά το 3ο Βραβείο Διασκευασμένου Σεναρίου για ταινία μικρού μήκους που έλαβε εφέτος, στον Διαγωνισμό Διασκευασμένου Σεναρίου που διοργανώνεται για πέμπτη συνεχή χρονιά από το Εθνικό Κέντρο Βιβλίου.

International Poetry Award to a Greek

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Journalist and poet Petros Kassimatis (in Greek) has been awarded the Argentine writers’ association (SADE) first international literature prize which was established together with the Greek cultural organization “Nostos.”  Petros Kassimatis received the top prize in poetry for his work “Samarkand, at the Ancient Observatory,” and a distinction for another of his works. The award will be handed out in special ceremonies in Buenos Aires and Athens.  Writers and poets from Greece, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Uruguay, Cyprus, Italy, Russia, Germany, the United States, Mexico and Spain competed in the international competition on “Hellenism and Alexander the Great.”

Greek Beautiful Minds

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias honoured Dr. Constantinos Daskalakis, a 28-year-old postdoctoral researcher, who was recently awarded the 2008 Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) for his work “The Complexity of Computing a Nash Equilibrium.”  Daskalakis’s dissertation provides an algorithmic perspective on Game Theory and the concept of the Nash equilibrium. In fact, Daskalakis examines whether rational individuals can arrive at a state where no single one of them would be better off switching strategies unless others did so as well.  Such a state is called ‘Nash equilibrium’, in honour of the brilliant mathematician John Nash, who defined it, and is traditionally used in Game Theory. Daskalakis managed to show that in complex systems the Nash equilibrium is computationally unachievable in some cases, answering an algorithmic question that has been open since John Nash’s definition of the concept in the 1950s.  A graduate of the National Technical University of Athens with a degree in electrical and computer engineering, Daskalakis is an assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a member of MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Bakoyannis Awarded by AHEPA

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis has been awarded the 2009 Pericles Award by the American Hellenic Educational and Progressive Association (AHEPA) during the latter’s 87th annual congress in San Francisco.  In a written message to the congress, Bakoyannis thanked for the great honour and expressed her profound regret for not attending the ceremony.  “AHEPA represents millions of Greeks from abroad and it has played a wonderful role in cultivating and strengthening bilateral relations between Greece and the United States” stressed Bakoyannis and reassured that Greece is really proud for the achievements of the Greek American Community.  Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Address of FM Bakoyannis at AHEPA’s 87th Annual Supreme Convention – Minister honored with the 2009 Pericles Award (photo from a previous meeting)

Greek the best Environmental Project 2008

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  The project GROUNDHIT “Ground Coupled Heat Pumps of High Technology”, coordinated by the Greek Centre for Renewable Energy Sources (CRES), received the Energy Globe Award – one of the most prestigious international environmental awards as the best environmental project in Greece in 2008.  The project Groundhit aims at improving the cost-effectiveness, competitiveness, and market penetration of ground coupled heat pumps, which are a reliable and environmentally friendly technology that utilises the soil temperature, and provides buildings with efficient heating, cooling and warm water. National Documentation Centre – “Innovation, Research & Technology” Magazine (Jan-Feb 2009)

Greece: Bodossaki Prize

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The Board of Trustees of the Bodossaki Foundation decided to award the “Bodossaki Aristeio” (Bodossaki Prize) for the year 2009 to John Hopkins University Professor Evangelos Moudrianakis for his pioneering studies in the field of Bio-Medicine.   The award ceremony will be held today (June 17) at the University of Athens in the presence of President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias.  The Aristeio Bodossaki – which is accompanied by the sum of €150,000 and is awarded every two years – was instituted to give recognition to Greeks who have devoted their lives to science and have made a distinctive contribution towards furthering their field of science.

New Onassis Prize: Environment Protection

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    The President of the Onassis Public Benefit Foundation Antonis Papadimitriou and Hamburg Mayor Ole von Beust announced in the German city’s Town Hall on Thursday (28.5) the establishment of a new International Onassis Prize which would bear the name “Aristotle Onassis Prize for the Protection of the Environment.”   The Prize will be awarded every two years for “outstanding contributions towards protecting and improving the environment, including the long-term economical use of energy.”  The first award will be handed out in autumn 2010 in Hamburg and will be accompanied by a cash prize amounting to €250,000.

Awarded Book: “Greece: A Jewish History”

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  K.E. Fleming’s history of Greek Jews, titled “Greece: A Jewish History”” published by Princeton University Press is this year’s winner of the Runciman Award for books published in 2008. The announcement was made at a special ceremony held at the Hellenic Centre in London on May 21.  The Runciman Award is a prize – named in honour of late Sir Steven Runciman, the distinguished historian- awarded by the Anglo-Hellenic League annually to a book on Greece or the world of Hellenism, published in English. See also: Athens Plus (22.5.2009): ‘Greece: A Jewish history’ wins Runciman Award  ( p. 20)

International Award for Italian Poetess Writing in Greek

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Italian poetess Cosmina Furchi Gliatas, who has been living and working in Athens for many years, received the international poetry award Tropea Onde Mediterranee for her poem written in Greek and titled “Afto pou epithimo” (That which I desire).

Prize for Greek-Australian Writer

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Prominent Greek-Australian writer Christos Tsiolkas is the “overall” winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book for 2009 for his record-selling book “The Slap“.  It was announced during a special ceremony at the Auckland Writers’ and Readers’ Festival in New Zealand over the weekend.  The prestigious Commonwealth award is accompanied by a cash prize of 20,000 dollars.  Tsiolkas, who lives in Melbourne, has written three novels and several plays, and is also a candidate for the 2009 Miles Franklin Literary Award, Australia’s top literary prize.  The Age (17.5) – ‘Blown away’ Tsiolkas takes prize

Alternative Tourism in Greece

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)       Dancing at the Waterfalls
The city of Edessa has launched an alternative tourist campaign by commissioning the Greek painter Giorgos Stathopoulos to produce a work of art which will be projected at nights at the city’s famous waterfalls. “We do not want to be just another tourist destination; we wish to offer our visitors such an experience that would render Edessa unforgettable and will bring them back to the city” said mayor Yiannis Sontras. His idea was to spend money on acquiring the rights to use the painting as the city’s symbol, instead of producing conventional tourist brochures. National Tourism Organisation of Greece: Greece’s tourist campaign
EDEN Awards
A number of projects aiming to promote alternative tourism opportunities in Greece has been funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Amongst these are projects related to the restoration of medieval castles, the construction of trekking routes and agro-tourism complexes. The region of Grevena – in northern Greece – won one of the 20 “European Destination of Excellence” EDEN awards last year at the European Annual Tourism Forum, launched by the European Commission to promote the development of alternative tourism, while the region of Florina won in 2007 an EDEN award as one of the “Best Emerging European Rural Destinations of Excellence.”
Green Passport
The “Green Passport Campaign” launched by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) aims at raising tourists’ awareness of their potential to contribute to sustainable development by making responsible holiday choices. To assist them, an online guide has been produced offering tourists useful tips on how to minimize the impact of their journeys on the environment. The guide will soon be available in Greek as the Hellenic Society for the Protection of the Environment and Cultural Heritage has undertaken its translation, showing that Greece is following a worldwide trend of growing ‘green tourism’ at rates that treble those of conventional mass tourism.   

Enterprise Europe Network

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The European’s Enterprise Europe Network is a network of integrated support for businesses throughout Europe. This year, the European Commission is launching the European Entrepreneurship Video Award 2009, for videos that explore any of the following subjects: “The entrepreneurial spirit,” “Innovative Entrepreneurship”, “Responsible Entrepreneurship.” The deadline for submission of short videos is March 31, 2009. The producers of the best videos will be invited to the opening event of the European week for small and medium sized enterprises on May 6, in Brussels, Belgium.  European Commission – Enterprise and Industry: European Entrepreneurship Video Award and Enterprise Europe Network in Greece Greek News Agenda: Enterprise Europe Network in Greece
1^st SME Week
The First European SME Week, taking place from May 6 to 14, 2009, is a campaign to promote entrepreneurship across Europe and to inform entrepreneurs about support available for them at European, national and local level. Throughout 2009, events are taking to help them develop new ideas and benefit from personalised information. The SME Week encourages and supports SMEs to reach their full potential. It also marks an opportunity to inspire potential entrepreneurs to ‘take the plunge’ and work towards achieving their aspirations.

Milos: Sustainability Award

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Milos island was the winner of the DAFNE Aegean Islands Network For Sustainable Development sustainability award for 2008. The island’s municipality was rewarded for its use of wind generators to desalinate water, its waste treatment and the reuse of water for irrigation. The projects were evaluated by the National Technical University of Athens.  Thirty seven municipalities from 30 islands in the Aegean belong to the Dafne Network that was set up in 2005 to promote sustainable growth in the Aegean by means of alternative energy sources, support for alternative tourism, protection of the environment and cultural heritage. The network is coordinated by the Interdisciplinary Institute for Environmental Research (INIER) – a non-profit organisation for the environment and sustainable development.

Actress Irene Papas Wins International Award

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Another international award will complete the collection of international distinctions for the renowned actress Irene Papas, who will receive the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 40th International Theatre Festival of the Venice Biennale on February 20. The Board of Directors of the Venice Biennale chose Papas upon recommendation of Director Maurizio Scaparro “for being one of Europe’s most famous artists who over her 50-year career has played important female roles in theatre and in film (many in classical tragedy), becoming, in the eyes of the world, the spokeswoman and symbol of the Mediterranean culture, the very incarnation of the power of Greek tragedy.” Irene Papas was born in 1926 and began her career in Greece (she was discovered by Elia Kazan), achieving widespread fame there, before starring in internationally renowned films such as “The Guns of Navarone,” (video) “Zorba the Greek” , Costas Gavras’ “Z” , and recent ones such as “Captain Corelli’s Mandolin” .

In Greece the Award for Europe’s Best Designed Newspaper

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   Athens Plus – the 48-page weekly newspaper in English published by Kathimerini and the International Herald Tribune – has won the award for Europe’s Best Designed Newspaper, in the category of weekly newspapers, at this year’s European Newspaper Award.  A total of 236 newspapers from 27 countries participated in the 10th European Newspaper Award, which aims at fostering an exchange of information about the concept and design of newspapers across Europe. The ten-member international jury was made up of journalists, scientists and designers from nine countries. Other prize winners include Sweden’s Svenska Dagbladet, (category: national newspaper) Spain’s Diari de Balears, (local newspaper), Switzerland’s Basler Zeitung, (regional newspaper). Kathimerini daily: Athens Plus wins award; Athens Plus: Past issues; Secretariat General of Information: About Greece-Mass Media