CINEMATOMEDIA: Reflections on the 1st Transnational Project Meeting and Training 🎬

As part of the CINEMATOMEDIA project, our foundational event was the 1st Transnational Project Meeting and Training, held from April 18–19, 2024, in the historic city of Athens.

This two-day gathering served as a grounding and reflective starting point for our mission to strengthen democratic consciousness among young people through the art of cinema.

For this event, partners from Germany, France, Egypt, Jordan, Greece, Tunisia, and Lebanon came together to align our visions. The sessions centered on establishing a foundation for the project, which used the love young people have for films and series to explore democratic ideals like peace, respect for diversity, and gender equality.

Collaborative Visions and Training

A core element of the meeting was exploring how cinema acts as a form of informal education with a great impact.

Through presentations and workshop examples, participants explored how to transition from being mere spectators to becoming creators of media that nurtures empathy and understanding. This transition began with an online seminar, which served as the starting point for young people to engage with the material before moving into production.

The sessions, held at Action Synergy and the Theatre Topos Allou, provided a respectful and open space to discuss WP3 (Educational workshops) and non-formal approaches to education.

Moments That Stayed With Us

Thanks to the structured guidance of our hosts, partners shared local challenges and success stories. The discussions supported a shared focus on building the capacity of youth workers to use film screenings as a tool for dialogue.

Key highlights included:

• Cultural Exchange: Partners from across Europe and the Middle East sharing unique perspectives on cinema.

• Creative Workshops: Engaging in non-formal education examples to spark conversation.

• Strategic Planning: Setting the stage for an ambitious roadmap, which included a database of 80 selected films and the production of 13 local short films (12 from local teams and one created in Jordan).

• Expanded Reach: To maximize impact, each of the eight partner organizations executed 20 local screenings.

Building Connections Beyond the Session

As the team discussed the Training of Trainers (TOT) in Egypt (which will take place in December 2024), the sense of community grew stronger. These moments of connection reflected a core value of CINEMATOMEDIA: creating a transnational network where youth workers felt supported to foster change in their own communities.

CINEMATOMEDIA PROJECT