We were invited to the Thessaloniki Film Festival as part of the green trail. A trail of environmental art that aimed to inspire people to take part in dialogues about what the festival could and should do to become more environmentally friendly next year, during its 50th anniversary.  For Mag Rev,  Greece was a great opportunity to experience participant reactions in a completely new settings and learn what another country does to tackle environmental problems.

Greece doesn’t have the best track record with regards to environmental issues. In the past, Greece has managed to appear in the European Court of Justice over the violation of EU environmental law for more than one reason (1). Thessaloniki suffers greatly. The number of cars on the streets is crazy. People that we’ve met there told us, that it’s not unusual to have 3 cars per family. The traffic gets very heavy and Thesslaoniki is one of Europe’s most polluted cities. The particulate (tiny particles suspended in the air, mainly a result of burning of fossil fuels in vehicles, power plants and various industrial processes) concentration is higher than in other EU countries and exceeds the EU limit (2). As you may imagine there are not many cyclist buzzing around as most public is worried about their safety and their health while cycling.

From what we’ve experienced the level of greenwash is very high. Generally all the people we spoken to were weary of any so called “green” initiatives. Many companies in Greece are jumping on the green wagon, simply misinforming the public and using the term “green” as a sale strategy. Green definitely comes with negative connotation and Greek apathy  to the environmental movement is high.

We were told that our pedal powered cinema was one of the very few environmental projects that Greeks came across that felt positive. People felt inspired, intrigued and amused by what possibilities low impact future holds for us.  Seeing ladies on bikes in Thessaloniki is rare. Over the 9 nights that our cinema was running, we managed to get few ladies in heels on bikes…satisfying! (to see photos of our set up, visit our gallery)

But we’re not despairing about the Greek environmental movement. Small pockets of resilience exist and will definitely grow with time as they did in Britain.  We’ve met some amazing, enthusiastic and positive people that organise or take part in Thessaloniki critical masses (still very small). Bike Respect crowd greatly supported our cinema with their pumped up muscles,and knowledge of Greek classic films. On top of that, they kindly helped us get bicycles for our cinema. THANKS! Then there are the boys from Action Bike Club, great cycle shop in Thessaloniki. They helped us look after some of our gear. But importantly, they are some of the few that give life to old bikes, like racers, that are very rare in Greece. Hopefully, we’ll get to collaborate with them next years and use some of these reconditioned bike for the cinema in 2009!

Sources:

1. Ekathimerini & 2. Ekathimerini