The small and the large scale through film documentary

On Friday, March 20, 2015, an interesting and exciting event under the title

“The small and the large scale through film documentary”

organized by the School of Architecture, Engineering, Land and Environmental Sciences of Neapolis University in Cyprus and having as key speaker the director of feature films and documentaries Mr. Vassilis Loules, has been a great success.

Professor Solon Xenopoulos, Dean of the School, addressed the welcome remarks, while the coordination was undertaken by Assistant Professor of Structural Design and Construction Technology, Dr. John Bellos.

During the presentation, the following films of Mr. Loules were shown:

• 30-minute duration documentary “Eleusis; Stories in the echo of machines”, which touches the industrial past of Eleusis through the personal stories of people who worked in factories or grew up next to them.
• 5-minute excerpt from the historical documentary “Lela Karayannis, the fragrance of a heroine”, with moments of action and personality of Lela Karagiannis, the legendary “Bouboulina” of Greek resistance, through the tender look of her son George.
• 3-minute trailer of the award-winning historical documentary “Kisses to the children”, referring to five Jewish children during German occupation in Greece, saved from death thanks to Christian families.

The director answered interesting questions raised by students and guests, such as:

• How can we see, learn and teach the “big” History through the “small” personal stories of ordinary people found in its vortex?
• How can we use the documentary film as “an educational tool to observe changes in natural, residential, social environment?
• How the life of common people becomes hard when they are called to share their experiences in front of the camera?
• How can we film testimonies in a vivid, direct, attractive and modern way, and not just for the sake of “… preserving memories or traditions”?
• How much the objective truth is presented in a documentary and how much the subjectivity of the director is involved?

This particular event is a part of an event series designed to highlight the artistic character of the School alongside and in harmony with its scientific progress.