Farewell to Iakovos Kambanellis

Iakovos Kambanellis, one of the most prominent figures of post-war Greek literature, died yesterday at the age of 89.

Kambanellis was born on the island of Naxos and studied design in Athens. During the Nazi occupation of Greece in WW2 he became actively involved in the Resistance movement. He was arrested by the German occupying forces in 1943 and was sent to Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, from which he was liberated by the Allied Forces in 1945.

His legendary Mauthausen novel, which describes his experience as a concentration camp survivor, was set to music by Mikis Theodorakis and became one of the most influential works in Greek culture.

He wrote more than twenty plays and twelve film scripts, including Stella by Michael Cacoyannis and The Dragon by Nikos Koundouros. In an announcement, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism expressed deep regret for Kambanellis’ passing, noting that the deceased defined the style of post-war Greek theatre, adding that his works were deeply loved by the Greek audience, as they soberly and truthfully depicted the reality of life in Greece, its difficulties and joys.

ERT Digital Archive: Iakovos Kambanellis – Part 1& Part 2 (in Greek) [VIDEO]
(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)

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Eminent Greek Authors Digitised

Tributes in the form of cultural events and publications prepared over the last few years by the National Book Centre to commemorate birth or death anniversaries of eminent Greek writers now take a permanent place in the Centre’s digital archive.

Authors such as Stratis Tsirkas and M. Karagatsis, as well as poets like Nikos Kavvadias have their own website in the progressively increasing Book Centre’s electronic archive of Modern Greek literature. The latest addition bears the name of poet Yiannis Ritsos, whose 100-year birth anniversary was observed in 2009.
National Book Center: Modern Authors Archives in Greek

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)

Academy of Greek Filmmakers

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA) Costa Gavras, Michael Cacoyannis, Nikos Koundouros and Dinos Katsouridis are honorary members of the newly established Academy of Greek Filmmakers (December 2009).
The Academy – which includes members of the different professions related to filmmaking – will primarily assume the responsibility of bestowing awards for Greek productions.
The Greek version follows the example of other countries (U.S.A., Germany, Spain, etc.) where the Academy has established itself as an independent body with successful work in promoting local productions. Besides awards, the 108 founding members of the Academy of Greek Filmmakers will contribute to the international promotion of Greek cinema and filmmakers’ training.
Visit Greek Film Centre’ Digital Archive of Greek Cinema; Greek Film Centre: www.gfc.gr

Athens Digital Week

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)   The City of Athens is organising Athens Digital Week for the second successive year at the Technopolis venue, from October 14 to 18. The organisers promise to young and old visitors alike the opportunity to live an unforgettable interactive experience through the 9 thematics of this year’s event: gaming, robotics, space, digital music, open source, visual art, social networking, telecoms, and modding.  The latter term is derived from the verb “modify,” referring to the act of modifying a piece of hardware or software or anything else, to perform a function not originally conceived or intended by the designer.

Greece: Challenges in the Digital Era

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)     A conference on the “Digital Dividend” took place (February 24) organised by the Hellenic Communications and Post Commission. Minister of Transport and Communications Evripidis Stylianidis, Deputy Interior Minister responsible for the media Konstantinos Gioulekas, President of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Christos Panagopoulos, directors of regulatory bodies across Europe, corporate executives and experts in the field of telecommunications  addressed the event.  The conference focused on Greece’s regulatory framework and  elaborated on the technological applications, as well as the prospects in terms of business opportunities. The ‘digital dividend’ is the part of the radio spectrum which will be freed up when analogue television (occupying large part of the spectrum) is switched off and replaced by digital (which utilises far less).  Greece has declared 2009 “Year of Broadband, Telecommunications and Mass Media Convergence.” Ministry of Transport and Communications: ww.yme.gr; Secretariat General for Communication-Information: Legislation and Audiovisual Policy & About Greece- Mass Media   EETT: Radio Spectrum Availability for New Mobile Telecommunications Services   European Commission- Communications: EU Member States on course for analogue terrestrial TV switch-off & Digital Broadcasting- National Switchover Plans

Greek Cinema Goes Digital

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)  The Greek Film Center has completed the digitalisation of Greek films made between 1950 and 2000 – the first project of such scope ever to be launched in Greece. The Digital Archive of Greek Cinema – a multifaceted project that aims at preserving, digitalising, documenting, and disseminating through the Internet a significant number of Greek films- was presented to the public on January, 29. The archive is available to the public, in threes languages (Greek, English, French) through the portal www.gfcdigital.gr. The website allows free access to its content by all Internet users who can view selected scenes from each film, for up to approximately 15 minutes from each.

Greece: Space Travelling Through Science

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    Travelling through space and time, exploring oceans and active volcanoes, sightseeing around the planet billions of years ago, as well as other interactive experiences that bring science closer to society are available in research centres and museums all over Greece. Initiatives to communicate research and science to a wider public are increasing, in number and variety, in Greece and the other European countries. Some important scientific attractions that Greeks can enjoy are the GAIA Centre for Environmental Research and Education at the Goulandris Natural History Museum (www.gnhm.gr), the Digital Planetarium at the Eugenides Foundation (www.eugenfound.edu.gr), “Tholos” the new dome-shaped Virtual Reality “Theatre” of the Foundation of the Hellenic World (www.tholos254.gr), the Thessaloniki Science Centre and Technology Museum NOESIS (www.tmth.edu.gr) and the CretAquarium Thalassocosmos in Crete (www.cretaquarium.gr).

Greece: “Fibre to the Home” Technology

(GREEK NEWS AGENDA)    Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis and Transport and Communication Minister Kostas Hatzidakis discussed on July 30 the basic guidelines regarding the access of two million households and businesses to “Fibre to the Home” (FTTH) technology. FTTH is a network architecture that uses optical fibres to replace all or part of the usual copper local loop used for telecommunications. Past technologies, in order of an increasingly longer fibre loop, are fibre to the neighbourhood and to the building. The project is incorporated in the framework of the “Digital Strategy 2006-2013” and will help extend already existing digital structures and broadband network. On February 5, Hatzidakis said that Greece will invest €2.5 billion in fibre-networks, while the project will be implemented through the Public and Private Partnership. Fibre to the Home Council Europe: www.ftthcouncil.eu; see also: 3rd International Conference on Broadband Internet; Secretariat General for Information: About Brand Greece, Public and Private Partnerships in Greece 

Greece’s Television and Radio Frequency Charts

On July 24 2008, Greek Minister of State Theodoros Roussopoulos and Transport and Communications Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, held a press confrence for the presentation of the frequency chart for digital television tranmission and the frequency chart for analoque radio broadcasting in Greece. The digital broadcast trial period will be launched on November 1, 2008 with digital integration completed by 2015 at the latest, Roussopoulos said, adding that the EU is urging members to adopt digital technology by 2012. The digital frequencies chart is a serious attempt to put the broadcast sector in order, Roussopouloos said, stressing that consultations will be held with all interested parties before any joint ministerial decisions are issued setting the necessary preconditions. Read the transcript of the press conference in english