The Kalamata Documentary Center implemented in October 2021 a youth exchange program titled DocumAction created within the ERASMUS + Learning program. The program was attended by 35 young people and 7 youth group leaders from 7 different countries along with Greece, Croatia, Portugal, Romania, France, Italy and Estonia.

The opening ceremony of the 8^th Peloponnisos International Documentary Film Festival took place last night at the Cultural Center of Kalamata in a festive atmosphere!

A lot of people started arriving at the Festival site in the early afternoon to watch documentaries, while shortly after nine in the evening, the opening ceremony took place at the “Nikolaos Politis” amphitheater, in the presence of official guests.

The event was presented by the chairwoman of the organizing committee, Sofia Pouloupati. Messinia MP and Press Officer Alexis Haritsis, the Regional Governor of Peloponnese Panagiotis Nikas and the Mayor of Kalamata Thanasis Vasilopoulos welcomed the audience and spoke warmly about the organization and the cultural and educational value of the Festival both at local and national level.

The president of the Department of Theatrical Studies of the University of Peloponnese in Nafplio, Angeliki Spiropoulou also got on stage and talked about the very successful cooperation of the Department with the Festival in recent years with great enthusiasm.

Also, the Artistic Director of the Festival, Gina Petropoulou, welcomed the audience and officials to “this great celebration of documentary films” as she said, thanking all the co-organizers, including the Peloponnese Region and the Municipality of Kalamata.

The event continued with the screening of the documentary film “My Grandfather, Papaflessas” by the director and Festivals artistic advisor, Kleoni Flessa, who got on stage to talk about her film. The evening closed musically with improvisations on double bass by Arion Gyftakis.

These were followed by a drink and a treat in the foyer of the Cultural Center for the Festival’s audience.

The event was also honored by the presence, among others, of the Deputy Regional Governor of Messenia, Vasilis Kapelios, the Deputy Regional Governor of Peloponnese, Anna Kalogeropoulou, the Deputy Mayors of Kalamata, Maria Aggeli and Nikos Basakidis, the President of the Community of Kalamata, Panagiotis Liras, the President of Kalamata Experimental Stage, Letta Petroulaki, the guest directors, Sue Carpenter and Louise Heem, the award-winning director Dr. Iakovos Panagopoulos and Professor of Media Methodology from the United Kingdom, Erik Knudsen.

The whole event was interpreted in Greek Sign Language, as the ceremony was attended by people with hearing problems.

The Peloponnisos International Doc Film Festival's purpose has always been to introduce the audience of Peloponnese some very special films from all over the world. This year according to the difficult circumstances it was decided that there will be a hybrid version of the festival with an ONLINE release in February and a live premiere in May. In this situation we asked volunteers and festival staff to interview the directors of the ONLINE program to bring them closer with the audience even if they couldn't have met in the theaters. Behind the scenes information, personal stories and more in depth approach to the films are available through these interviews. The interviews of the films included in the "Claiming Freedom" tribute have been conducted by the students of Theater Studies of University of Peloponnese, as one part of our collaboration with the University.

The interviews of the directors were conducted by: Manos Kalafatelis, Dina Sotaki, Stella Papakonstantinou, Kostas Metsos, Giannis Koutresis, Ioannis Manoloudis, Andrianna Giannakopoulou, Daphne Alihatzoti, Ornela Koutrolli, Ilektra Katsimiha, Valia Orfanidou, Antonia Pternea and Maria Siamatra, Maria Nikolakopoulou, Giorgos Geranakis, Aggelos Kourepis, Maria Galani, Kalliopi Kalpodimou, Katerina Mefsout from Theater Studies faculty of University of Peloponnese team.

The Peloponnisos International Doc Film Festival's purpose has always been to introduce the audience of Peloponnese some very special films from all over the world. This year according to the difficult circumstances it was decided that there will be a hybrid version of the festival with an ONLINE release in February and a live premiere in May. In this situation we asked volunteers and festival staff to interview the directors of the ONLINE program to bring them closer with the audience even if they couldn't have met in the theaters. Behind the scenes information, personal stories and more in depth approach to the films are available through these interviews. The interviews of the films included in the "Claiming Freedom" tribute have been conducted by the students of Theater Studies of University of Peloponnese, as one part of our collaboration with the University.

The interviews of the directors were conducted by: Manos Kalafatelis, Dina Sotaki, Stella Papakonstantinou, Kostas Metsos, Giannis Koutresis, Ioannis Manoloudis, Andrianna Giannakopoulou, Daphne Alihatzoti, Ornela Koutrolli, Ilektra Katsimiha, Valia Orfanidou, Antonia Pternea and Maria Siamatra, Maria Nikolakopoulou, Giorgos Geranakis, Aggelos Kourepis, Maria Galani, Kalliopi Kalpodimou, Katerina Mefsout from Theater Studies faculty of University of Peloponnese team.