Epic Summer in Paros: Student Film Adventures

The summer of 2024 was a pretty epic summer. It started off in May with a return to Paros, Greece for what was our seventh study-abroad trip of our Media Arts and Science program at IU Indianapolis. I followed study-abroad with a trip around mainland Greece with family (post forthcoming).

This year my colleague, Albert William, and I brought 15 students to the Aegean island of Paros for 3 1/2 weeks to make documentary films about life on the island. We made 12 incredible films which I will post below. We also did some Matterport scans. I have to say that the students this year were truly exceptional. They got along splendidly well and produced some of the best films we have ever made. Each time we go there we make 3-5 primary films and then we match up students with a person on the island and they make a short film about them.

But first some photographs.

Photographs

Here are a few random iphone pics. I am surprised I took so few.

Ok, now for some arty photographs. These were all taken on an early morning stroll through Lefkes.

The Films

Right after COVID with the reopening of Greece and the surge in tourism, many issues mainly seen on Santorini and Mykonos were starting on Paros. The first film is about the struggles of local citizens to reclaim control over the beaches. We read an article in the New York Times about the efforts on Paros to limit the proliferation of chaise lounges on the beaches. (Tourists pay crazy euro$ to sit on the lounges and drink on the beach.) The Times article featured and quoted our very own Nicolas Stephanou, Nicolas has been our fixer on Paros since we started going there. He is indispensable to us and the work we do. Having read the article, we knew we had to make a film about the cause. Here is Reclaim the Beach.

A few trips ago, we met Elena Symeonidou and Stella Cervello, both of whom are involved in sustainable living and permaculture. They have both been featured in earlier films of ours. This year we made a film about the efforts to bring permaculture to the island. Here is Permaculture on Paros.

On Paros there are a handful of old traditional farm houses in various states of condition, usually in ruins. They are called Katikies. A local architect and photographer, Giorgos Kavallis, who has been a big supporter of our efforts since the very beginning, has a special place in his heart for these structures. He likes to explore and photograph them for a book he plans to publish soon. We feature Giorgos in this film along with a farmer named Agyros Loukis, whose family still has a traditional farm house. Agyros refleects on what his house, and houses like it, mean for the island and tradition. This is one of my favorite films we have ever produced. Here is Katikies – Connecting Generations Through History.

We also made a Matterport scan of an abandoned winery featured in the film. The scan lets you move around the space by simply clicking a dragging. Check it out here:

Next is the old diesel-powered mill at the abandoned location we shot in.

The next Matterport tour is the original windmill.

As soon as you arrive to Paros you can’t help but notice the stone walls all over the countryside. We made a film, featuring Tonia Pentaleou and Argyris Loukis about the importance of these walls and the efforts to preserve them. Here is Stone Walls – Guardians of Greece.

The next films are films students made about individuals on the island.

The first film, Crafting a Legacy, features Peter Macken, a dutch designer, who has retired to the island where he pursues painting. Peter talks about painting and what it means to him in this film by Shayla Roy and Morgan Roberts.

Here is a portrait I made of Peter in his studio.

The Aegean Center is an art center on the island. It was founded back in the 1970s by an American from Temple University’s Tyler Art School. Since the 1980s, it has been run by John and Jane Pack. Jane took the time to sit down with us for an interview for Beyond the Easel, by Colin McCorqoudale and Christopher Koczan.

After all the years of support that Nicolas Stephanou has provided to our study abroad efforts, it was high time we made a film about him. The Simple Life, by Danny William and Canaan Sellers, traces Nicolas’s time on the island starting from his early years when he started a Lebanese restaurant.

Recently, Katherine Clark wrote a fascinating historical book about the efforts of the Greeks on Antiparos to smuggle Cretan soldiers from Europe back to Crete during World War II. Katherine has written the definitive book on the subject, The Part That is Great. Students, Layla Absalon and Eden Mace, met with Katherine to learn more for their film, The Part That is Great.

On a previous trip, we made a film about a animal hospital called The Aegean Wildlife Hospital, Alkioni. It’s truly an amazing place. This time we made a short film appealing for desperately needed volunteer help. We made both an English and Greek version for them. Here is Volunteering For Alkioni.

For The Power of Place, Sydney Jenkins and Bel Lentz interviewed artist and writer Gail Sauders in her amazing home near Nausa on the north end of the island.

Dina Osseian is a chef on Paros. Students Carol Diaz Leiva and Jake Seitz turned the camera on Dina to capture her stories and impressions of Paros for A Love Letter to Fulfillment.

We like to document our students’ impressions of Paros and their study abroad experience. This year, Hang Doan ran with the ball to capture and edit all of their classmates’ thoughts for Paros Perspectives.

After returning to the US, Albert informed me that he decided that would be his last study-abroad trip to Greece. I was quite saddened by the news. It has been a truly incredible experience for both of us — seven trips, with over 60 students and over 60 films. It is hard to imagine it getting any better than this last trip. As Albert approaches retirement, I can fully understand his decision and I know it was hard for him.

I have a while longer until retirement, and I am determined to keep the program going while I still can. I am going to take the next summer off as I decide which faculty member to partner with and then become fully prepared to go again in the summer of 2026.

In a both a good way and in a sad sense, that is a wrap…until 2026.