1st International Digital Storytelling Festival | We, The story [27 – 29/09/2024]

The Greek Island of Zakynthos (Zante) constitutes a spot in time and space where the convergence of diverse sociocultural narratives takes place: Hugo Foscolos, Andreas Kalvos, Dionysios Solomos (national poet of Greece), and Andreas Vesalius are amongst the island’s most notable cultural figures. 

With that in mind, four Laboratories from three Greek Universities (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of the Aegean, Ionian University) have collaborated to organise the biannual International Digital Storytelling Festival (DST-Zakynthos)¹, between the biannual DST conferences.

DST-Festival celebrates the art of digital storytelling. DST-Festival is expected to constitute a space where the diverse community-driven digital stories can be communicated to the broader community, shared, and critically reflected upon by experts (artists, scientists, medical doctors etc.) and by the Festival participants (DST creators or not).

The 1ˢᵗ International Digital Storytelling Festival “We, The story” (DST-Zakynthos 2024) will be hosted by the “Foskolos” multi-purpose hall (https://cinefoskolos.gr).

DST-Zakynthos 2024 comprises a competitional and a non-competitional part. The competitional part of Festival is organized in six themes:
•  Culture
•  Education
•  Environment
•  Health
•  Science – Research
•  Society

Each creator may compete to any competitional theme (maximum two DSTs per creator in total).

Who can contribute with a DST to the Festival? DST is characterised by the creator’s truth, a personal narrative, crucially differing from a video clip or a short film. We accept any DST created within an acknowledged institution, organization etc. (accompanied with a respective verification Letter), or an Independently created DST (accompanied with a Letter briefly explaining the process of its creation). Each submission includes the DST (with the respective Letter), an Authorisation Letter (that the DST may be showed in public), and a Letter of Commitment (that the DST may be included in the Festival programme), payment of the handling fees (15 euros per DST). 

Detailed information about the procedures of entering the DST festival competition may be found at https://dstfestival.org, while queries may be sent to info@dstfestival.org.
Considering the non-competitional part, this year, the Festival will host a special session devoted to Greece, entitled “hiStories across the topos and the chronos.”
Furthermore, in parallel with the Festival, DST-workshops will be organized by DST-specialists for those who wish to experience the process of DST creating.

We invite you to join DST-Zakynthos 2024!

Michail Meimaris Professor Emeritus, President of DST-Zakynthos 2024

1 Prior to the International Festival, two national DST festivals have taken place in Greece:
“When 01 meets narration: Digital stories” at the Greek Film Archive Foundation (9-10/12/2017, Athens)
“When 01 meets the Storytelling: Discussions and digital stories” (17-18/3/2018, Zakynthos) 

Important dates
Submissions: 01 March 2024 – 31 March 2024
Decision to contributors: 30 April 2024
Registration: 30 April 2024 – 31 May 2024

Organised by:
– Zakynthos Club For UNESCO
– Laboratory of New Technologies in Communication, Education and the Mass Media, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
– Mathematics, History, Philosophy and Didactics of Mathematics Laboratory, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
– Learning Technology and Educational Engineering Laboratory, University of the Aegean
– Interactive Arts Laboratory, Ionian University

Co-Organised by:
– Region of Ionian Islands
– Université Paris 8
– MICA – Université Bordeaux – Montaigne
– University of Lapland
– Chaire UNESCO ITEN
– MSc Global Health-Disaster Medicine, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
– EU Jean Monnet Chair in Humanitarian Medicine and Response in Action (2020-2024)
– The Greek Film Archive Foundation (Tainiothiki Tis Ellados)
– StoryCenter (USA)
– Pilgrim Projects (UK)