Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices | Summer Screenings

In collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Ethnofest once again organises the Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices 2026, an intensive programme dedicated to ethnographic, research-based and socially engaged audiovisual practices. This year’s edition will take place in Athens from June 29 to July 19 and will include three weeks of lectures, workshops, and hands-on practice. Students from around the world, under the guidance of the programme’s tutors, will have the opportunity to produce short films in various neighbourhoods of Athens.

Within this framework, Ethnofest launches a new cycle of summer screenings in Athens, presenting works by filmmakers connected to previous editions of both the Festival and the Summer School.

Through these screenings, our aim is to expand our public-facing activities, strengthen audience engagement and further enhance the outreach of the Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices by encouraging student participation. At the same time, we seek to create a summer meeting point where screenings are accompanied by discussions with the filmmakers.

ETHNOFEST XTENDED

Ethnography and Extended Reality | Immersive Cultural Experiences through VR

Ethnofest further strengthens the connection between education, research and digital innovation by expanding its educational activities to include new digital cinematic storytelling forms through virtual reality tools.

This autumn, our activities extend into the world of XR (Extended Reality), exploring ethnographic documentaries that adopt this narrative medium.

By utilising Extended Reality (XR) technologies, and particularly Virtual Reality (VR), audiences will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in ethnographically informed environments and narratives, encountering cultural practices, communities, and places beyond their own lived experience. The initiative proposes a new way of engaging with contemporary multimedia ethnography and creative documentary, transforming them into immersive digital experiences.

ETHNOFEST INITIATIONS – International Student Documentary Festival

After a rich and creative journey within the cultural landscape of Athens, we are moving towards a redefinition of our festival activities. As mentioned last December, we decided to reshape the framework of our events, choosing to adopt a more focused and meaningful form of intervention in the city. This transition also contains an essential return. It nods to the organisation’s early years, full of enthusiasm, by looking back to our roots: the support of emerging filmmakers and their fresh, research-driven perspectives.

We are therefore delighted to announce that, from this year onwards, the INITIATIONS section becomes an autonomous International Student Documentary Festival, taking the form of a three-day screening event every December.

Our focus once again turns exclusively to student films. We return to where we began, creating a new, focused space for expression, visibility, and dialogue for the filmmakers of tomorrow, offering them the platform they need at the start of their documentary filmmaking journey.

The award of the competition section will be accompanied by a cash prize of €1000, while further information regarding the open call for film submissions will be announced very soon.

Winter School | Athens Winter School in Visual Ethnographic Practices

With great excitement, we present Ethnofest’s new initiative: the Winter School in Visual Ethnographic and Research-Based Audiovisual Practice.

The Winter School is a hybrid, intensive educational programme functioning as a natural continuation and extension of the Summer School. Combining elements of a film lab and a training programme, the Winter School aims to support participants in developing or initiating research-based film projects, while also offering a structured environment for experimentation and practical engagement.

As a pilot initiative, the programme will adopt a focused and flexible format, allowing space for evaluation and future development. The Winter School will combine in-person sessions with optional extended participation and online feedback sessions, ensuring accessibility for international participants and working professionals alike.

The programme is addressed to participants with previous experience in filmmaking, visual anthropology, or artistic research, including alumni of the Ethnofest Summer School and emerging professionals wishing to deepen their practice. Participants may join either with an existing project or by using the lab to develop and realise a new idea from scratch.

Ethnofest opens a new cycle of activities, returning to its core values while redefining its role and form of cultural and social intervention. Through a new, more focused and outward-looking annual programme, it invests in supporting emerging filmmakers, disseminating knowledge, and cultivating communities of dialogue and artistic exchange in Athens and beyond.

The detailed programme of activities and screenings, along with all information regarding applications, open calls for film submissions, and educational programmes, will be gradually announced through Ethnofest’s official communication channels and website.

Ethnofest Official Website

Contact:
info@ethnofest.gr
edu@ethnofest.gr
press@ethnofest.gr

Five films from different countries and historical periods come together to create a journey through the complex realities of work. Exploring women’s experiences, the often-invisible dimensions of everyday work, gender inequalities and the forms of resistance, solidarity and collective action that emerge within workplaces, the programme offers a multifaceted perspective on women’s labour across time and space.

The starting point for the programme is Ethnofest’s most recent production, Craftswomen (Mastorisses) by Gabriela Gerolemou. The film premiered at the 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival and was screened as the sold-out closing event of the 16th Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival. The documentary follows three women carpenters in Athens as they attempt to transform a community of friends and collaborators into a professional woodworking workshop. Through a subtle observational approach, the film documents their entry into a traditionally male-dominated profession, challenging stereotypes surrounding labour, expertise, and competition.

Taking Craftswomen as its point of departure, the programme opens a broader dialogue around women’s work across diverse social and cultural contexts. From strippers in 1970s Chile to migrant domestic workers in contemporary Lebanon; from women labourers in a small Mexican workshop in the 1980s to female Tuk-Tuk drivers in 21st century India, the films highlight the contribution of women filmmakers in shaping a distinctly female cinematic gaze; one centred on lived experience, care, collaboration and social reality.

The summer screenings coincide with the Ethnofest Summer School and aim to encourage student participation in the organisation’s activities while strengthening the Summer School’s public engagement and outreach. More broadly, they seek to establish a new summer gathering space where audiences, students and filmmakers can come together through cinema and discussion.

Film Still from Craftswomen (Mastorisses) by Gabriela Gerolemou

Screening Programme

Friday, July 3 | 21:00

Craftswomen | 73’

2025 | Directed by Gabriela Gerolemou

Maria, Stavroula and Magda decide to open their own woodworking workshop and relocate to a new neighbourhood. Gabriela Gerolemou quietly observes this transition, documenting the relationships that develop within and around the workshop. The film offers a compelling counterpoint to gender stereotypes in the workplace, exploring alternative forms of collaboration, craftsmanship and professional identity.

Friday, July 10 | 21:00

A Dream as in Colours | 10’

1972 | Directed by Valeria Sarmiento

In her debut film, Valeria Sarmiento follows a group of women working as striptease dancers in two of the most well-known cabarets of 1970s Chile. Offering a rare female gaze on a profession marked by social stigma and contradiction, the film sheds light on the complexities of women’s labour, representation, and agency in a deeply gendered social landscape.

*This screening is presented in collaboration with the Film Archive of the University of Chile (Cineteca Universidad de Chile).

Fake Fruit Factory | 22’
1986 | Directed by Chick Strand

An intimate documentary set in a small papier-mâché workshop in Mexico, where young women craft fruits and vegetables by hand. While the factory is managed by an American expatriate and owned by his Mexican wife, the film’s attention remains firmly on the workers themselves. Through vibrant imagery, music, movement, and the constant flow of workplace gossip, the documentary offers a lively and revealing portrait of the women’s daily lives, friendships and candid reflections on men and relationships.

Like a Spiral | 28’
2024 | Directed by Lamia Chraibi

Like a Spiral unfolds as a dialogue between Beirut and five migrant domestic workers living under the Kafala system. The women’s voices emerge through grainy, intimate images, bearing witness to lives marked by exploitation and dispossession. Through memories, reflections and everyday acts of resilience, they speak of freedoms denied and identities continually negotiated. Moving to the rhythms of oppression and survival, the film traces their determination to endure, resist and assert their existence against the forces that seek to render them invisible.

Auto Queens | 30’
2025 | Directed by Sraiyanti

Set in the bustling streets of Chennai, Auto Queens chronicles the rise of Tamil Nadu’s first women-led auto-rickshaw union, Veera Pengal Munnetra Sangam. At its heart is the enduring friendship between Mohana, the union’s visionary president, and Leela Rani, her fellow driver and closest ally. As they confront the daily realities of gender-based discrimination, their differing responses reveal both the challenges and strengths that sustain their collective struggle. Through their story, the film captures a movement built on courage, sisterhood and the determination to claim space in a profession long dominated by men.

Stella Open-Air Cinema (34 Tenedou St., Kypseli)

Tickets: more.com & at the cinema box office

Screenings will be presented with English subtitles

Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices

In collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA)

June 29 – July 19 

Apply here

Deadline: Friday, April 3

Interviews: Friday, April 16 – Saturday, April 17

Notification of Successful Applicants: Monday, April 20

Ethnofest, in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA), invites applications for the 2026 Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices, an intensive, practice-based programme dedicated to ethnographic, research-driven, and socially engaged audiovisual practices.

Taking place in Athens, the summer school offers participants the opportunity to work with the city as a living field, engaging with locally grounded practices, domestic contexts and everyday realities, while situating their work within broader international dialogues in visual anthropology and multimodal ethnography.

Still from our Athens walk in 2024 © Christina-Thalia Pappa

About the Summer School

Visual ethnographic research and multimodal practices have become essential tools for exploring contemporary social life and for expanding how situated knowledge can be produced, shared and experienced. The Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices foregrounds practice as research, bringing together theory, fieldwork and creative experimentation.

The programme is designed for those interested in exploring how ethnographic thinking can take shape through moving image, sound, writing and hybrid forms. Working in small groups, participants will collaboratively design and develop their own small-scale research projects, engaging closely with fieldwork, creative inquiry and collective decision-making. The summer school emphasizes process, hands-on learning, situated research and critical engagement over the production of a polished or industry-ready film.

Structure & Methodology

Over three intensive weeks, participants will:

• Attend courses, masterclasses,

• Workshops and film screenings.

• Plan and conduct small-scale ethnographic fieldwork.

• Work in small groups and engage in collaborative research.

• Engage in feedback sessions.
• Work with audiovisual tools through hands-on exercises.

* The programme is practice-based. Final projects may take different forms, including (but not limited to):

• A short documentary

• An audio work
• A treatment or project dossier

Tutors

The summer school is led by an international team of researchers, filmmakers and educators, an example of whom are the following (more names to be announced soon):

 International collaborators

Lana Askari

Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam, visual anthropologist and documentary filmmaker focused on political anthropology, migration, futures and the SWANA-region.

Philip Cartelli

Media anthropologist and filmmaker, whose work bridges sensory ethnography, experimental documentary and academic research.

Alexandra D’Onofrio

Research Associate at Granada Centre for Visual Anthropology/ University of Manchester. Visual anthropologist and documentary filmmaker specialising in participatory, collaborative and community-based methodologies.

Zacharias Mavroeidis

Award-winning film director and screenwriter. Established scriptwriting instructor and consultant. 

Summer School Team

Konstantinos Aivaliotis

Assistant professor at the University of the Aegean, festival expert and visual anthropologist with extensive experience in ethnographic cinema, film festivals and film markets.

Andreas Anastasiades

Researcher and documentary filmmaker, whose work spans feature-length and short nonfiction films, with a strong focus on contemporary social realities and collaborative production.

Konstantina Bousmpoura

Anthropologist, filmmaker and human rights activist, working at the intersection of dance, politics, and transfeminist social movements through long-term ethnographic practice between Athens and Buenos Aires.

Who Can Apply*

The programme is open to final-year BA students, MA students, and PhD candidates. 

Any candidate not listed in the categories above but associated with a research or audiovisual project can email us at edu@ethnofest.gr.

The working language of the summer school is English.

Applications must be submitted via the online form here.

Please ensure all required materials are submitted by the deadline.

Timeline

Application Deadline: Friday, April 3

Interviews: Friday, April 16 – Saturday, April 17

Notification of Successful Applicants: Monday, April 20

Students are encouraged to bring their own equipment and laptops in order to make their training process smoother; however, the summer school will provide in-rotation cameras and audio equipment. Please fill in the relevant section of the application form.  

Costs and subsidies

The total cost of the course is 950€ for EU and international students. Greek students are eligible for a concession fee of 700€. Students are expected to cover their flights from their country of residence to Athens and back, as well as the costs of accommodation, lunch, and dinner. Upon confirmation of the participants, the selected students will be contacted to discuss the prospect of sharing accommodation. 

What to expect

Participants can expect an intensive and collaborative learning environment designed as a unique, potentially life-changing experience that combines deep immersion in local cultures with rigorous academic and creative challenges. The programme places a strong emphasis on ethnographic process and situated practice, encouraging participants to engage critically with their surroundings and with one another. Through sustained discussions, experimentation, and peer exchange, students will work with Athens not simply as a backdrop but as an active field of inquiry. Throughout the programme, supportive supervision and collective reflection create the conditions for meaningful learning, personal growth, and the development of thoughtful, research-driven work.

You can find the application form here.

Deadline: Friday, April 3

For further information, please contact: Leda Dialyna | Summer School Coordinator | 📧 edu@ethnofest.gr | 🌐 www.ethnofest.gr

The post 2026 Call for Submissions | Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices first appeared on Ethnofest.]]> https://www.ethnofest.gr/extension-for-application-deadline-summer-school-2025/ Mon, 17 Mar 2025 12:32:45 +0000 https://www.ethnofest.gr/?p=6196 You asked, we delivered! Deadline Application Announcement! The deadline is now extended until April 4th! 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟰 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀: 𝟭𝟭 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 You may find the call here: https://bit.ly/sschoolcall

You asked, we delivered!

Deadline Application Announcement!

The deadline is now extended until April 4th!

𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲: 𝟰 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀: 𝟭𝟭 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹

You may find the call here: https://bit.ly/sschoolcall

The post Extension for Application Deadline | Summer School 2025 first appeared on Ethnofest.]]>

7 – 27 July 2025

Applicants: 

Students from the last year BA, Master & 1st year PhD 

in Social/Political Sciences, Humanities, Fine Arts & Film Studies

The Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival, in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA), organises the intensive “Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices”. 

We are excited to welcome you to Athens from July 7th to July 27th. During your time here, you will immerse yourself in the city’s rich offerings, spark your creativity through the visual stimuli of your urban surroundings, participate in collaborative practices, and enhance your skills in ethnographic methods.

About the School

Visual anthropology and multimodal ethnography are increasingly crucial for those engaged in ethnographic research, visual analysis, or material culture studies, as well as for critical discussions about cinema and various forms of cultural expression. By exploring the methodologies available and reflecting on their application in urban settings, we aim to highlight the significance of visual ethnographic practices and documentary filmmaking.

The city of Athens offers an excellent setting for participants to explore what camera-based research can accomplish. During summer school, we will concentrate on visual theory and the practical application of audio-visual tools, while the courses will examine historical and contemporary examples of ethnographic documentaries. 

Structure of the school

The school will run from Monday, July 7th, 2025, until Sunday, July 27th, 2025. 

During these 3 weeks, the students will be:

Attending lectures

Planning small-scale research

Conducting fieldwork

Receiving supervision for their ethnographic projects

Filming 

Editing

Students will collaborate in teams of three to explore the process of creating a 10-minute short film. This project will provide them with valuable hands-on experience and creative skills. A selection of these films will be showcased in a special section called “Initiations” at the Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival in November of the same year.

The seminars and group meetings will run daily in a space situated at the centre of Athens, where the participants will be able to participate in the programme while taking inspiration from their urban surroundings. Field research will take place in selected areas and locations around the city. The seminars will provide students with a general framework of visual anthropology/ethnographic theory and methodology and a basic knowledge of all the steps of ethnographic video production. At the same time, the seminars will introduce them to contemporary approaches to field research in an urban setting through lectures, practical exercises, and guided walks. Students should expect to have one or two sessions per day (e.g. 3h- 6h), while, they will conduct fieldwork and filming in parallel.

Students are encouraged, though not required, to read the literature before their arrival in Greece to prepare for the seminars.

Aim

The school aims to provide the opportunity for students to experience filming in a highly diverse and multi-layered urban setting and obtain an overview of current debates and research topics in visual anthropology and multi-modal ethnography. By learning and participating in the film production process, the students gain practical experience in a new context, develop their skills, work in a team, make new contacts, and present their research topics.

Methodology

The summer school expects students to participate actively in all the courses and conduct visual ethnographic field research in group teams. Their small-scale ethnographic projects could focus on diverse research objects such as life stories,  popular beliefs, urban legends, material culture, performative practices, and intangible culture (music, dance, crafts, etc.). Students are encouraged to contact various people to discuss, interview, and materialize their topics, focusing their filming ethnographic process on specific neighborhoods, social networks, civil society organizations, etc. Broader societal questions/approaches that include politics, identities, gender perspective, immigration/migration, religious beliefs, social class, and human rights, among others, can be addressed and framed in concrete ethnographic filming projects. 

Participants will record and edit original filming material, which will be discussed under the guidance of experienced staff and presented/screened in the format of a short documentary at the end of the school. The supervisors will guide and encourage students to follow a clear idea and an ethnographically meaningful narrative plot to create their storytelling.  

Course requirements, language, and evaluation

The course is open to students from the last year of their BA to Master’s degree and first year PhD. All lectures will be delivered in English. The participant’s performance during courses, their final product (short film), and a one-pager presenting the film will be discussed at the end of the school. The student groups also have the opportunity to submit their films – with minor revisions and corrections – to the special section of Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival titled “Initiations.”

Courses period, dates, and times

The school consists of 21 intensive days with lectures, field research, filming, and editing. Classes, including breaks, are daily for the first half of the school term. The rest of the time, students will conduct fieldwork research, filming, and editing under the supervision of their tutors. 

Participation – application

Students can apply using this online application form. 

Application Timeline

Application Deadline: Friday, 21st of March 2025

Notification of Successful Applicants:  Friday, 4th of April 2025

Confirmation of Participation: by Friday, 11th of April 2025*  

*Note: Failure to confirm will result in the position being offered to the runners-up on the waiting list.

Zoom Call with Final Participants:  Thursday, 24th of April 2025

Students are encouraged to bring their own equipment and laptops in order to make their training process smoother; however, the summer school will provide in-rotation cameras, audio equipment, and laptops for editing per group of students. Please fill in the relevant section of the application form.  

The number of participating students is limited (max. 18 to 21). 

Costs and subsidies

The total cost of the course is 850€ for EU and international students. Greek students are eligible for a concession fee of 600€. Students are expected to cover their flights from their country of residence to Athens and back, as well as their accommodation and lunch and dinner costs. Upon confirmation of the participants, the selected students will be contacted to discuss the prospect of sharing accommodation. 

Important information for candidates applying to the Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices

As the programme takes place during the summer season, when the temperature in Greece is relatively high, we recommend that the participants keep this in mind while preparing for their stay. Lightweight clothing, portable fans, water bottles, and hats would be of great use.

What to expect

Three intensive weeks of theory courses, stimulating discussions and critical engagement, introduction to technological media to facilitate your filmmaking process, and consulting sessions with your tutors. Also, walks and cultural visits. These days will be heavily loaded to give the participants a complete sense of what visual ethnographic practices entail. For the smooth flow of the programme, it is essential to acknowledge the importance of team bonding, cultivating safe spaces for collective discussions, troubleshooting, and horizontal decision-making in the working groups. 

What not to expect

This is an ethnographic documentary filmmaking programme. Our primary concern is that the participants leave feeling richer in ethnographic documentary filmmaking rather than necessarily acquiring technological novelties to create a highly professional visual product. Prior knowledge of technical skills such as editing and shooting is appreciated and will be considered when forming teams to ensure skill diversity in each group. The equipment used will complement these goals but is not our main priority. 

Further announcements will follow at the end of the selection procedure around mid-May.  

For more information regarding the course, please contact:

Leda Dialyna, Summer School Coordinator,

email: edu@ethnofest.gr, www.ethnofest.gr 

Suggested Readings:

Grimshaw, A. and Ravetz, A. (2009). Observational Cinema: Anthropology, Film, and the Exploration of Social Life, Indiana University Press.

Lawrence, A. (2020).  Filmmaking for Fieldwork. Manchester University Press.

MacDougall, David (2006). The Corporeal Image, film, ethnography, and the senses, Princeton University Press.

Varvantakis, C., Rozakou, K., Anastasiadi, I., Karathanasis, P. and Aivaliotis, K. (2019) “Editorial”, Journal of Anthropological Films, 3(02), p. e2902. doi: 10.15845/jaf.v3i02.2902.

*Successful applicants will be notified from the 2nd till the 8th of May 2024 and will be expected to confirm their participation until Friday, 17th of May 2024. Otherwise, their position will be filled by the runners-up on the waiting list.

Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices
1 – 21 July 2024

Applicants:
Students from the last year BA, Master & 1st year PhD
in Social/Political Sciences, Humanities, Fine Arts & Film Studies

The Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA) organises the intensive “Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices”.

We are excited to welcome you to Athens from the 1st to the 21st of July.

About the School
Visual anthropology is becoming an almost indispensable discipline for anyone considering ethnographic research, visual analysis, studies of material culture, or critical engagements with cinema, photography and other forms of cultural display. By discussing the available methodological tools and critically reflecting on their application within urban contexts, we are focusing on visual ethnographic practices and ethnographic filmmaking.

During the three weeks of the school, students will learn how to use audio-visual media in ethnography in a rich and fascinating urban landscape and will produce short ethnographic films. A selection of these films will be presented in the special section called “Initiations” at the Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival in November of the same year.

The city of Athens is a great setting for participants to explore what camera based research can accomplish. In our summer school we focus on visual theory and the practical use of audio-visual means in the ethnographic process. In examining the use of visual methods, the courses will focus on both historical and contemporary examples of ethnographic film and photography. Τhe participants in the summer school will develop an expertise on the field of visual ethnographic research that is both theoretical and applied, which from our previous experience proves to be constructive for their future work and research projects.

Structure of the school
The school will run from Monday, July 1st 2024 until Sunday, July 21st 2024.
During these 3 weeks the students will be:

Attending lectures
Planning their small scale research
Conducting fieldwork
Filming
Editing

Students will work in teams of three. To facilitate research in the field, we will try to make sure that every team has at least one Greek speaking student. Each team is expected to deliver a 10 min short film by the end of the school. The teams will be decided by the tutors and will be announced on the first day of the programme.

The seminars and group meetings will run daily in a space situated at the centre of Athens, where the participants will be able to participate in the programme while taking inspiration from their urban surroundings. Field research will take place in selected areas and locations around the city. The seminars will provide students with a general framework of visual anthropology/ethnographic theory and methodology and with a basic knowledge of all the steps on ethnographic video production. At the same time the seminars will introduce them to contemporary approaches to field research in an urban setting. Students should expect to have one or two sessions per day (3h- 6h in total), while in parallel they will conduct fieldwork and filming and they will also obtain an overview of the current political and socio-economic situation in Greece, through lectures and guided walks.

In preparation for the seminars, it is recommended for the students to have read the literature before their arrival in Greece. A selection of key ethnographic films will be available to watch both in the seminar space and online.

Aim
The aim of the school is to provide the opportunity for students to experience filming in a highly diverse and multi-layered urban setting and obtain an overview of current debates and research topics in visual anthropology and ethnography. By learning and participating in the film production process, the students gain practical experience in a new context, develop their skills, learn how to work in a team, make new contacts and learn how to present their research subjects.

Method
During the seminar the students are expected to participate actively in all the courses and conduct a visual ethnographic field research. Their small-scale ethnographic projects could focus on life stories, popular beliefs and urban legends, material culture, performative practices (music, dance, street theatre, etc.), on specific neighbourhoods or social networks, but they could also expand to wider societal processes such as politics, gender issues, civil society organisations, migration or religion. Students should be able to come in contact with various people to discuss, interview and materialise their topics. Students will record and collect their material, which will be analysed and edited under the guidance of experienced staff in order to be presented/screened at the end of the school. The supervisors will guide and encourage students to create their storytelling following a clear idea and an ethnographically meaningful narrative plot. As mentioned before, during the three-week creative process and team-building, each group of students is expected to produce a short film of approximately 10 minutes.

Course requirements, language and evaluation
The course is open to students from last year of their BA, to Masters degree and first year PhD. All lectures will be given in English. The participants’ performance during courses, their final product (short film), and a one-pager presenting the film will be discussed at the end of the school. The student groups also have the opportunity to submit their films – with minor revisions and corrections – to the special section of Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival titled “Initiations”.

Courses period, dates and times
The school consists of 21 intensive days with lectures, field research, filming and editing. For the first half of the school term, classes are daily, including breaks. The rest of the time, students will be conducting fieldwork research, filming and editing under the supervision of their tutors.

Participation – application
Students can apply using this online application form.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday, 10th of April 2024.
Successful applicants will be notified from the 2nd till the 8th of May 2024 and will be expected to confirm their participation until Friday, 17th of May 2024. Otherwise, their position will be filled by the runners-up on the waiting list. The number of participating students is limited (max. 18 to 21 students).

Students are encouraged to bring their own equipment and laptops in order to make their training process smoother, however the summer school will provide in rotation cameras, audio equipment and laptops for editing per group of students. Please fill in the relevant section in the application form.

Costs and subsidies
The total cost of the course is 850€ for EU and international students. Greek students are eligible for a concession fee of 600€. Students are expected to cover their flights from their country of residence to Athens and back, their accommodation costs and their lunch and dinner costs. Upon confirmation of the participants, the selected students will be put in touch altogether to examine the prospect of sharing accommodation.

Important information for candidates applying to the Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices
As the programme takes place during the summer season when the temperature in Greece is quite high, we kindly recommend the participants to keep it in mind while preparing for their stay. Lightweight articles of clothing, portable fans, thermos water bottles and hats would be of great use.

What to expect
Three intensive weeks of theory courses, stimulating discussions and critical engagement, introduction to technological media to facilitate your filmmaking process, consulting sessions with your tutors. Also walks and cultural visits. These days will be heavily loaded with the aim of giving the participants a complete sense of what visual ethnographic practices entail. For the smooth flow of the programme, it is essential to acknowledge the importance of team bonding, the cultivation of safe spaces for collective discussions, troubleshooting and horizontal decision-making in the working groups.

What not to expect
This is an ethnographic filmmaking programme. Our primary concern is for the participants to leave feeling richer in ethnographic documentary filmmaking and not necessarily acquiring technological novelties to create a highly professional visual product. Therefore, previous knowledge on technical knowledge (editing and shooting) is welcomed and will be considered when matching the team groups. The equipment used will complement these goals and is not our main priority.

Further announcements will follow at the end of the selection procedure around mid May.

For more information regarding the course, please contact:
Leda Dialyna, Summer School Coordinator,
email: edu@ethnofest.gr, www.ethnofest.gr

Suggested Readings:
Grimshaw, A. and Ravetz, A. (2009). Observational Cinema: Anthropology, Film, and the Exploration of Social Life, Indiana University Press.
Lawrence, A. (2020). Filmmaking for Fieldwork. Manchester University Press.
MacDougall, David (2006). The Corporeal Image, film, ethnography, and the senses, Princeton University Press.
Varvantakis, C., Rozakou, K., Anastasiadi, I., Karathanasis, P. and Aivaliotis, K. (2019) “Editorial”, Journal of Anthropological Films, 3(02), p. e2902. doi: 10.15845/jaf.v3i02.2902.

Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices

5 – 25 July 2023

Applicants: 

Students from the last year BA, Master & 1st year PhD 

in Social/Political Sciences, Humanities, Fine Arts & Film Studies

The Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA) organises the intensive “Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices”. 

We are excited to welcome you to Athens from the 5th to the 25th of July. 

About the School

Visual anthropology is becoming an almost indispensable discipline for anyone considering ethnographic research, visual analysis, studies of material culture, or critical engagements with cinema, photography and other forms of cultural display. By discussing the available methodological tools and critically reflecting on their application within urban contexts, we are focusing on visual ethnographic practices and Ethnographic Filmmaking. 

During the three weeks of the school, students will learn how to use audio-visual media in ethnography in a rich and fascinating urban landscape and will produce short ethnographic films. A selection of these films will be presented in the special section called “Initiations” at the Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival in November of the same year.

The city of Athens is a great setting for participants to explore what camera based research can accomplish. In our summer school we focus on visual theory and the practical use of audio-visual means in the ethnographic process. In examining the use of visual methods, the courses will focus on both historical and contemporary examples of ethnographic film and photography. Τhe participants in the summer school will develop an expertise on the field of visual ethnographic research that is both theoretical and applied, which from our previous  experience proves to be constructive for their future work and research projects.

Structure of the school

The school will run from Wednesday 5th of July until Tuesday 25th of July 2023. During these 3 weeks the students will be:

• Attending lectures
• Planning their small scale research
• Conducting fieldwork
• Filming 
• Editing

Students will work in teams of three. To facilitate research in the field, we will try to make sure that every team has at least one Greek speaking student. Each team is expected to deliver a 10 mins short film by the end of the school. 

Photo by George Sfakianakis

The seminars and group meetings will run daily at the Fårö Creative Learning space at the centre of Athens. Field research will take place in selected areas and locations around the city. The seminars will provide students with a general framework of visual anthropology/ethnographic theory and methodology and with a basic knowledge of all the steps on ethnographic video production. At the same time the seminars will introduce them to contemporary approaches to field research in an urban setting. Students should expect to have one or two intensive sessions per day (3h-5h in total), while in parallel they will conduct fieldwork and filming and they will also obtain an overview of the current political and socio-economic situation in Greece, through lectures and guided walks. 

Like last year we are also adding our new strand, unique in such a setting, on the film distribution in festivals and the film market through a panel of experts in the film  industry. 

In preparation for the seminars, all students are expected to have read the literature before arrival in Greece. A selection of key ethnographic films will be available to watch both in the seminar space and online.

Aim

The aim of the school is to provide the opportunity to students the experience of filming in a highly diverse and multi-layered urban setting and obtain an overview of current debates and research topics in visual anthropology and ethnography. By learning and participating in the film production process, the students gain practical experience in a new context, develop their skills, learn how to work in a team, make new contacts and learn how to present their research subjects.

Method

During the seminar the students are expected to participate actively in all the courses and conduct a visual ethnographic field research. Their small-scale ethnographic projects could focus on life stories, popular beliefs and urban legends, material culture, performative practices (music, dance, street theatre, etc.), on specific neighbourhoods or social networks, but they could also expand to wider societal processes such as politics, migration or religion. Students should be able to come in contact with various people to discuss, interview and materialise their topics. Students will record and collect their material, which will be put together under the guidance of experienced staff in order to be presented at the end of the school. 

Each group of students is expected to produce a short film of approximately 10 minutes.

Course requirements, language and evaluation

The course is open to students from last year of their BA, to Masters degree and first year PhD. All lectures will be given in English. The participants’ performance during courses, their final product (short film), and a one-pager presenting the film will be discussed at the end of the school. The student groups also have the opportunity to submit their films – with minor revisions and corrections – to the special section of Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival titled “Initiations”.

Courses period, dates and times

The school consists of 21 intensive days with lectures, field research, filming and editing. For the first half of the school, classes are daily including breaks. The rest of the time students will be conducting fieldwork research, filming and editing under the supervision of their tutors. 

Participation – application

Students can apply using this online application form. 

The deadline for applications is Thursday 20th of April 2023. 

After the evaluation process, successful applicants will be notified by Monday 8th of May 2023. The number of participating students is limited (max. 18 to 21 students). 

Students are encouraged to bring their own equipment and laptops in order to make their training process smoother, however the summer school will provide in rotation cameras, audio equipment and laptops for editing per group of students. Please fill in the relevant section in the application form.  

Costs and subsidies

The total cost of the course is 850€ for EU and international students. Greek students are eligible for a concession fee of 600€. Students are expected to cover their flights from their country of residence to Athens and back, their accommodation costs and their lunch and dinner costs. Upon confirmation of the participants, the selected students will be put in touch altogether to examine the prospect of sharing accommodation. 

Important information for candidates applying to the Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices regarding COVID-19 and the programme.

Please be aware that the implementation of the Summer School could be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. We believe it’s important to host the summer school with physical presence of students, so an online version is not an option. We are optimistic that this year we will also be able to welcome you again in Athens but this also means that we will have to comply with the country’s protocols and measures for the prevention of spreading the coronavirus, including the health protocols for the use of indoor and outdoor spaces, or the use of face masks. You can find the most recent information about travelling to Greece and the most recent updates on restrictions, here: https://travel.gov.gr/#/

Further announcements will follow at the end of the selection procedure around mid May.  

For more information regarding the course, please contact:

Ethnofest, 14 Evrou street, 11527, Athens, Greece, email: edu@ethnofest.gr, www.ethnofest.gr 

Suggested Readings:

• Grimshaw, A. and Ravetz, A. (2009). Observational Cinema: Anthropology, Film, and the Exploration of Social Life, Indiana University Press.
• Lawrence, A. (2020).  Filmmaking for Fieldwork. Manchester University Press.
• MacDougall, David (2006). The Corporeal Image, film, ethnography, and the senses, Princeton University Press.
• Varvantakis, C., Rozakou, K., Anastasiadi, I., Karathanasis, P. and Aivaliotis, K. (2019) “Editorial”, Journal of Anthropological Films, 3(02), p. e2902. doi: 10.15845/jaf.v3i02.2902.

The post Call for applications | Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices | 2023 first appeared on Ethnofest.]]> https://www.ethnofest.gr/call-for-applications-athens-summer-school-in-visual-ethnographic-practices/ Tue, 08 Mar 2022 08:40:31 +0000 https://www.ethnofest.gr/?p=4472 Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices 1 – 21 July 2022 The Ethnofest – Athens Ethnographic Film Festival in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam (UvA) organises the intensive “Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices”. The summer school is back with a new format after 5 years of successful collaboration with the Netherlands ...
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