At noon on Thursday, the area underneath the shady pergola with the wisteria in Athens’ National Garden was buzzing with excitement. The people in charge of the Thessaloniki Film Festival chose this green corner in the middle of the capital to present the Evia Film Project, which opens on June 15 in the areas of northern Evia that were hit by fires last summer. Five days of cinema and culture in Edipsos, Limni and Aghia Anna, with free admission for the public to all events.

The artistic director of the Festival, Orestis Andreadakis, stressed the importance of the event being “green,” which will signal the healing of wounds in the area, while at the same time bring good cinema to beautiful places. The ambassador of the event, Kostis Maravegias, who will give a big concert on June 18, is looking forward to the event.

The film “Green Planet” by Colin Sero will inaugurate the reopening of the Apollon Summer Cinema in Edipsos.

The film tells the story of higher being from a utopian planet who visits Paris, where he is shocked by the consumerism of humans, and attempts to bring about an ecological awakening. The “Apollon” cinema has been restored for the festival, after being closed for decades. A total of 12 films from Greece and abroad with ecological themes, both feature length and short, for children and adults, will be screened in a program that, as the organizers say, aspires to reignite our relationship with nature and redefine our priorities. Oscar and Golden Palm-winning German director Volker Schlendorf will screen his new documentary “The Forest Maker,” on the closing night, June 19.

But it is not only the screenings. During the five days there will be more open discussions, workshops and masterclasses, aimed at an even broader and more detailed conversation on different aspects of ecology. Among them will be the open discussion on how film productions can go “green,” with the participation of leading professionals in the industry, and a masterclass by journalist and documentary filmmaker George Avgeropoulos on the production of a documentary on the environment.

Detailed information about the program can be found at filmfestival.gr.

This article was previously published in Greek at kathimerini.gr.