An aesthetic masterpiece with seven award nominations in different festivals and three wins, including the Un Certain Regard Award at the Cannes Festival, Dogtooth provided the film world with a unique experience. Dominated by the color white, intentionally provocative and socially aware, it succeeds in delivering multi-dimensionally a forceful message about one of the strongest human values: the family.

The well-known, idiosyncratic film critic Elias Fragoulis suggested that Dogtooth makes a “comment on running away and isolation.” Nikos Danikas, another respected critic, related the film to the “theater of the absurd, black comedy, contemporary tragedy and the ridiculousness of today’s society.”

Taken together, these comments suggest that the basic themes underlying the movie regard the fragmentation and isolation that characterize… Continue reading →

Standing right at the center of the universe, the omphalos stone, which according to Greek Mythology is the point where the two eagles sent by Zeus met, wasn’t enough to make the Deree trip to Delphi exciting. Being there with three students from other countries was.

There we were: a group of young people with a shared history – Greece – that we were exploring together.

The places we went and the discussions we had made me realize, more than ever, that the diverse student body of Deree makes it an international location where people communicate their ideas and learn from each other.

Our trip began at 7 a.m., so we weren’t into talking much at the outset. But as… Continue reading →

Alain de Botton, the best selling author who breaks through the walls between literary genres, came to Athens to present his new book. Through The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work, an overview of ten different professions, de Botton uncovers the beauty and the beast hiding in the contemporary work environment.

Dr. Haris Vlavianos, Deree professor, poet, and director of the journal Poiitiki, introduced de Botton to the audience at the Hotel Grande Bretagne.

“De Botton, in my opinion, is the author who dares to record the platitude only to highlight it for what it really is: an element that affects and shapes modern life,” said Vlavianos.

In his book, de Botton crucifies the modern platitude-cum-mentality that a job is… Continue reading →

The Charmer of Grammos, directed by Vaggelis Efthimiou, stood out among the 66 documentaries at the 3rd Greek documentary festival – docfest Halkida. Efthimiou received the Giorgos Kolozis Award introduced this year to honor the memory of the famous Greek documentary director who died suddenly a few weeks before the festival.

To shoot his film, Efthimiou traveled to Grammos in the northwestern corner of Greece, one of the wildest mountains in a country where the human presence harmonizes with nature. The director found the old man Sotiris, who had been living there for almost 80 years in primitive conditions. Sotiris starts a journey in the forest every fall in search of bees, which are becoming fewer and fewer every… Continue reading →

Deree dance and music majors embarked on a Musical Journey of 2,500 Years with 34 students from Switzerland’s Franklin College, who visited Deree as part of their Academic Travel program in Greece.

The Franklin students spent an afternoon exploring the origins of Greek folk music and its links to ancient Greece thanks to the efforts of the Deree students who put the performance together at the Library upper level on October 13.

“To show the ancient traces of Greek folklore we had to start from the oldest preserved song written on papyrus, dating back to 500 BC,” said Professor Tatiana Papageorgiou, from the Deree Music Area and musical director of the event.

With their artistic abilities and the guidance of… Continue reading →

Pianist Tatianna Papageorgiou, a Deree College professor, and soprano Lina Orfanou, who has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera of New York, gave a summer session recital that blended Jazz and Greek folk music and left students and professors applauding enthusiastically.

The recital on July 9 was a part of the Film Music course and took place in the events hall (across Starbucks) in the AG campus. Orfanou, a graduate of Princeton University, and Papageorgiou played From Hollywood to Theodorakis, spanning Hatzidakis, Theodorakis, and classic Jazz pieces from Hollywood films of the 1960s.

The audience enjoyed a mix of songs that, apart from their significance and success as film soundtracks, have historical importance for the Greeks, who… Continue reading →

The theater Theatron held its tenth anniversary and launched itself into the future by combining renovations with innovations in technology and art. There was an event directed by Yannis Kakleas and Greek President Karolos Papoulias also stopped by.

The three-level theater has two polymorphic halls. Antigone, the main one, can be transformed in 12 different ways and host anything from a play to a large conference. The other, Iphigenia, can be used independently or be connected to the main hall. Theatron also boasts three additional foyers that can host exhibitions and performances, and rooms for relaxation. “The sound-proofing is so good that theoretically we could have a rock concert downstairs and a poetry reading upstairs,” said Dimitris Efraimoglou, the managing… Continue reading →

As soon as I saw the ad announcing that the “Bodies Exhibition” would be in Athens from February 7 to May 10, I knew I’d be among those lining up outside Technopolis, in Gazi, to see if the works were “real.” And if they were, what it all might mean.

The event that has caused a stir around the globe on its world tour was presented by Premier Exhibition Companies, a major provider of museum-quality touring exhibitions. Established in Atlanta in 1993, it is known for “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition,” which has welcomed 18 million visitors worldwide. The company’s exhibitions contain real artifacts displayed in a compelling and story-based environment.

As I stood outside the museum door in Gazi, waiting… Continue reading →

April Fool’s Day signaled the beginning of the Anti-Advertisement festival in Athens, the third activity of the non-profit group activA. The festival is an ongoing project that attempts to critique some aspects of advertising through exhibits of video art, photography, net art, graphic design, performance act, sculpture, painting and lectures.

Booze Cooperativa, a café-exhibition center, hosted the festival’s opening, which featured the projection of a video showing how advertising subtly influences people’s opinions. “A bank, for example, wants to promote loans to its clients but it does that indirectly,” said Rania Gorou, a professional photographer. “There are many bank ads that suggest that money doesn’t bring happiness, but what they sell is money. Don’t you think that’s a contradiction?”

The… Continue reading →

The Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles opened its turtle-theme exhibition, “Art Ecology–Culture,” showcasing 340 non-precious pieces of jewelry, souvenirs, decorations, toys and soaps, on March 19 at the Ilias Lalaounis Jewelry Museum near the Acropolis.

The items from around the world had been collected by Mrs. Lily Venizelos, the president and founder of Medasset, over a period of 25 years from all over the world. “The collection is a combination of beauty, ethnicity, civilization and conservation,” Venizelos said.

The exhibition was held on the second floor of the museum. The pieces were set in display cases, each case displaying three or four items from different parts of the world and mixing jewelry with the toys and decorations.

The… Continue reading →