CULTURAL OLYMPIAD - Cinemythology: Greek Myths in International Cinema 31 Oct 2003 - 13 Nov 2003 A huge undertaking that derives from the ambition to become a cornerstone of the cinema events organized by Greece in the country and abroad. Cinemythology, this multifarious retrospective tribute with 44 films from the whole spectrum of world cinema that refer to ancient Greek myths, spreads to six cities in Greece (Athens, Piraeus, Patras, Thessaloniki, Volos, Heraklion) and three abroad (Berlin, Madrid, London), from October 17, 2003 to March 7, 2004. The whole projects bears the signature of Cultural Olympiad and Thessaloniki's International Film Festival. The International Film Festival of Thessaloniki that was commissioned by the Hellenic Culture Organization SA administers the tribute. The films included in Cinemythology touch ancient Greek myths, either in their tragedy-inspired screenplays, or with their liberal adaptations in modern times, or because they use and deal with Greek mythological archetypes. This cinematographic retrospective features 44 films, 15 out of which are Greek productions. It is accompanied by a number of parallel events, like screenings of archived films of ancient drama performances -based on modern attempts to adapt ancient myths for the theater stage- screenings of videodance films, a photography exhibition and a dance performance. The presentation of the program starts from Athens (October 17-30, 2003), continues in Thessaloniki (October 30 - November 13, 2003), while at the same time it is being presented in Piraeus (October 17-23, 2003) and the three Olympic Greek cities of Volos (October 31-November 6, 2003), Patras (October 24-30, 2003) and Heraklion (Íovember 14-20, 2003). Following, the tribute is being presented as a Cultural Olympiad event in three European capital cities: Berlin (November 7-16, 2003), Madrid (February 16-22, 2004) and London (February 27-March 7, 2004), in cooperation with the Foundation foe Hellenic Culture and some Film Archives that are based in these cities. The concept of Cinemythology Greek myths, starting from their ancient Mediterranean matrix, survived through history up until our times and became ecumenical, influencing drastically our arts and culture. Greek mythology is today one of the strongest bridges between the spiritual antiquity and the modern world, since it created a durable semantic code and imposed the creation of common ways of expression in different peoples and cultures through all kinds of art. This richness of films that use myth not only as a base for their scripts, but also as a motive for personal interpretations, was the spark for the realization of Cinemythology. Within the context of the Cultural Olympiad, the tribute aspires to bring up the most valuable elements that our audiovisual culture collected from the Greek spirit and make them accessible to as many people -in Greece and abroad- as possible. Author : www.travelling-greece.com