Ethnofest 2023
The Athens Ethnographic Film Festival - Ethnofest is an international film festival that showcases ethnographic documentary films from Greece and around the world. It was established in 2010 and has been held annually each November ever since. The Ethnofest was created as a non-profit civil society in order to organize the festival and promote the fields of ethnography and visual anthropology. Its goal is to further the influence of audiovisual media in social research.
The numerous short and feature-length film screenings constitute the main events of the festival. Each year, the festival includes different subjects, based on the edition’s themes, including cultural heritage, race, gender roles and the environment. Student films from Greek and international directors are always a part of Ethnofest, as the objective is to help newcomers make their debut. Another permanent part of the festival is the special screenings that mainly include older films that connect to the themes of each year. Most films are shown in specific cinemas in Athens, but a few online screenings have also been available in recent years, considering the state of social events.
Apart from the film screenings, other side events take place during the festival, as well. Exhibitions, presentations, lectures and workshops are organized every year either as standalone events or accompanied by the corresponding films. Talks with renowned guest directors from all over the globe and interactive discussions could not be missing from the program. During the last edition of the festival in 2022, accessible screenings of educational films were introduced, to facilitate and include people with visual and hearing impairment.
In addition to the festival, the Ethnofest civil society has initiated a few other events which take place throughout the year. The organization arranges many seminars and workshops and provides aid for academic research on ethnography. Finally, a 3-week summer school on visual anthropology is the collaborative effort of several European universities under the scope of Ethnofest. Thirty international students are selected and assigned groups that have to shoot a short film in different areas of Athens, the best of which are included in the screenings of the festival in November.
The featured dates are indicative and based on the 2022 Ethnofest.