ATHENS – [ANA-MPA]
The island of Alonnisos is to host the first-ever film festival focusing on the theme of the sea, the Alonnisos Movies of the Sea (AMoS) Film Festival, in the heart of Greece’s largest marine park.
The first AMoS Film Festival will be held on October 9-12 and is a timely reminder of the importance of marine ecosystems, while also putting a spotlight on the island and the National Marine Park of Alonnisos and North Sporades as a model for comprehensive management of a marine protected area. Among others, it highlights the added value of engaging the local community in protecting and making best use of an area’s natural assets for its sustainable development.
The festival’s programme includes both long and short-form fiction and documentary films, including animation, for both children and adults, all of which have the seas and oceans as their central focus. These will be screened alongside parallel activities, such as art workshops, beach cleaning, day boat-trips and others that enhance the central message of preserving marine ecosystems.
The AMoS Film Festival is to be inaugurated by Prince Albert II of Monaco, who is visiting the Sporades islands in support of initiatives for the protection of the Mediterranean monk seal.
The film festival’s ultimate aim is to link one of Europe’s largest marine parks with high-quality filmography in order to emphasise the importance of the marine environment and raise interest in marine protection. The organisers hope that it will become an annual event and a meeting point for artists and supporters of the environment.
