ELIAMEP at the “Screening the Scene: Rethinking European Film Competitiveness” International Conference, 9-10 October 2025, Vienna

The “Screening the Scene: Rethinking European Film Competitiveness” International Conference took place from 9 to 10 October 2025 at the University of Vienna, with the participation of ELIAMEP researchers Ass. Prof. Eirini Sifaki, Dr. Apostolos Samaras, Stella-Maria Davia and Dimitra Thliverou.

As part of the Panel 4 “Competitiveness and Youth: Current Tastes, Future Trends”, the ΕLIAMEP team presented the paper “Youth Perspectives on Representation, Identity and Inclusion in European Cinema: Insights from Greece”, authored by Eirini Sifaki (Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy – ELIAMEP; University of Thessaly, Greece), Katharine Sarikakis (University of Vienna, Austria), Stella-Maria Ntavia and Dimitra Thliverou (University of Thessaly, Greece). The presentation, delivered by Ntavia and Thliverou, drew on research conducted within Work Package 5.5 “Focus Groups on Young People’s Film Preferences in Europe” of the EU-funded REBOOT project, coordinated by Professor Katharine Sarikakis. The Greek case study, carried out under the scientific supervision of Dr. Eirini Sifaki, focused on how young audiences in Greece perceive issues of representation, identity, and inclusion in European cinema. Findings from the focus groups revealed that young people value authenticity over tokenism, seek meaningful and credible representation, and perceive cinema as a social and political medium rather than mere entertainment. Comparative discussions with data from Austria and Finland highlighted common trends among European youth: the demand for authentic inclusion and greater opportunities for young people to engage with European cinema through education and participation.

As part of the Panel 6 “Reflections on Policies”, Dr. Apostolos Samaras, Research Fellow at ELIAMEP, presented a paper on “EU Acquis and the Role of Audiovisual Cooperation in the Enlargement Region: Promoting Competitiveness and Cultural Diversity”. The study, co-authored with Asst. Prof. Evangelia Psychogiopoulou (University of the Peloponnese; Senior Research Fellow at ELIAMEP) and Dr. Anna Kandyla (Research Fellow at ELIAMEP), drew on research carried out within the framework of Work Package 3 of the EU-funded REBOOT project. The presentation demonstrated how audiovisual cooperation is embedded in the EU’s enlargement agenda, focusing on the Western Balkans, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. Stabilisation and Association Agreements and Association Agreements incorporate legal provisions on audiovisual, cultural, and digital cooperation. Meanwhile, the MEDIA strand of Creative Europe has become a key funding tool that operationalizes and implements audiovisual cooperation between the EU and the enlargement countries. Cooperation in the audiovisual field, as a legal alignment mechanism and as a mechanism for structuring of cooperation by financial support, promotes the Union’s audiovisual standards, supports film co-productions and technical assistance, and fosters integration into the enlarged European audiovisual space. Dr. Samaras emphasized that this approach has the potential to enhance competitiveness and cultural diversity of the audiovisual and film industries in both EU/Member States and enlargement countries.