Symi International Film Festival

Here’s some new on the new Symi International Film Festival, and some of my own thoughts: “The festival has received 15 submissions (all but one is under 20 mins). The website address is www.symifilmgroup.com  The Festival website has a link for anyone who wishes to submit a film. The cost of entering a film is small, ranging from nothing for a film on or about Symi entered by the end of July, to a maximum of $20.00 US for a feature film entered in Late August.”

Just imagine what this festival could lead to. There are literally thousands of filmmakers out there with brand new films who are desperate to find prestigious looking screenings and who want to collect laurels for their artwork. The festival is also a great way of getting interesting brand new films totally free of charge that can be Greek subtitled. We could be seeing loads of interesting new films that will never otherwise be able to be seen by people on Symi (they won’t be on Greek TV ever).

Over time, this could build into a really prestigious event for the island and could well start attracting lots of filmmakers and ‘creatives.’ I can see that some filmmakers might want to rent villas in due course, for the festival, especially if they knew there were going to be other filmmakers visiting. It could be gradually built up with extra events like public interviews and talks and so on.

Think of it… It could be possible to generate loads of income in submission fees each year – enough to pay a person or a small team of people to be administrators and really get things organised regarding events, accommodation, promotion, tourism. It might also be possible to get grants from the government to support all this. If worked into the fabric of the already existing festival, the Symi Festival and International Film Festival could become a great cultural event.

It could even include some of the young, energetic people on the island who could help with things like selecting films and getting ideas moving. It’s something people could really feel part of. From my point of view, there could also be a special award for scriptwriters and the event could attract writers to the island for talks and interviews, etc. Maybe I should sponsor an award for best screenplay?

Anyway, I’m not telling the festival organises what they should be doing here, I’ve only ever been to one of these things. I’m just letting my imagination run a bit wild. But this could be a great opportunity for the island to attract more visitors, giving a much-needed boost to the tour operators, property owners, businesses and… well, everyone. Keep up the great work folks!

To find out more about the Symi International Film Festival, go to their new website here.

Home Cooking on Holiday

As parts of northern Greece are suffering severe weather, I checked ahead to see if this rumour about rain and hail coming our way was justified. According to the weather stations I looked up, it isn’t, and the bad weather further north should be over with by Tuesday. We did, however, have some severe cloud over Nimos yesterday morning:

We were invited to a barbeque on Sunday night and had a lovely evening. It made me think. Outdoor dining and cooking is something that just about every visitor to Symi can do (depending on your property and what they allow). Barbeques are useful because, in these temperatures, you don’t want to be slaving over a stove inside; that’s why you see outside ovens in some parts of town and the village. You can pick up disposable barbies (not the doll variety) from some of the supermarkets and use them. Or you can, if you are staying longer, buy cheap metal ones from certain shops. The hardware shop in Horio (near the surgery) for example, does them at various sizes and prices. Some properties may have them already installed in their courtyards.

If you don’t want to barbie your own dinner, you can find some accommodations provide you with meals to have on your balcony. Ask the owners, if you’re in a complex where they live on site or your tour operator. There are also many tavernas who deliver. You can get a pizza sent up from Yialos, you can call into Georgio’s in the village and pick something up for later, other tavernas also have a delivery service, and there are the giros places too. If your accommodation comes with a couple of rings and a fridge, then that should be enough to set you up for some home cooking. We did over a year at our first house with two rings and a fridge and even gave dinner parties. That was before we realised that the cooker in the saloni also worked, kind of. Some properties come with a fully fitted kitchen, while others have parts of a fitted kitchen, but there’s usually enough to get you started, unless you’re in a hotel, perhaps.

It was just a thought because sitting out at night under the stars with a couple of candles burning and the barbie on the go… Well, there’s no better way to spend an evening.

Actually, I can think of hundreds of better ways to spend an evening: winning the lottery, being awarded the Nobel prize, etc., It’s one of those expressions that I find vacuous but often use myself. ‘Nothing worse than toothache!’ Well, having your eyes poked out by a hot stick, or getting your hand caught in a mincing machine, being run down by a combine harvester… You get the point. But, for a night away from the hustle and bustle of island life, a quiet barbie with good friends and good food is hard to beat. Thank you to you who invited us. Everything was fabulous. The various lamb chops, the chicken dishes, the salads, the wine, the company, the cheese thing I can never remember the name of, the fruit salad, the pizzas – it was one professional barbie.

Writing, and a New Symi Magazine

And here we are back at the start of another week, always a good place to be. Yes, I know, you have to go to work, and it’s Monday morning, but just think what the week ahead might hold. Here in Greece, it’s apparently going to include rain and hail from Saturday; maybe not here, but we shall wait and see. The ground and the plants, not to mention the reservoirs, could certainly do with some rain.

This week, for me, will also bring the end of the first draft of ‘The Witchling.’ This is one of those rare events for me. I started with an idea for a ‘The Saddling’ follow up, jotted down some notes and knew what was to happen, and then just started writing. It’s taken me four weeks to write 80,000 words and as of today (Sunday) I have two chapters left to write. I hope to get one done today and the other on Monday, and then the first draft will be done. It’s rubbish. Actually, it’s not all rubbish, but it is very quick and rough. I had to tell myself the story that was in my head before it left me and that’s what I have done. I shall then, after a break, set about a draft two where it will be much improved, I hope. Because I already have the setting, characters, dialect and backstory, it was a case of adding in the words and inventing a few new things while keeping to the ‘rules’ and facts written in ‘The Saddling’. Don’t expect it on sale anytime soon though, it needs a lot of work.

What will be on sale soon is ‘Remotely’ with a new cover and, at the same time, the first ‘Miss P’ novella. If you’ve read ‘Remotely’ you will have met Miss P. The idea now is, when in the mood, I write novellas featuring this character and put them on sale for, say, 99p on Kindle. When we have finalised the ‘Remotely’ cover, we’ll use the same style for ‘Honestly’, and I’ll launch that together with the new look ‘Remotely.’ That will hopefully be in a few weeks. After that, it’s on to ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ which I want to have out in November, ready for Christmas.

What’s available now, however, has nothing to do with me (though I am mentioned in it) and it’s free. There’s a new magazine out, Symi, by ΝΗΣΟΣ Free Press, http://nissosgr.com/ (The site is under construction, and I haven’t found the online version yet, but I have seen a link to it somewhere. If I find it again I will let you know.)

It’s a great looking magazine, and you can pick up copies from various places on Symi. There’s Symi info, a map, advertising, news from the Town Hall, articles and other information, some of which is in English. Apparently, it’s available online from the Apple App Store and in the Android Market, though I don’t use them, so I’ve not looked. Might give you something to do, find and look at when you get to work and have a coffee break?

For me, it’s back to those last two chapters. I’ve left someone tied to a stake about to be burned by a witch who he is tricking into being burned again to save the village from… It’s all go down on the Romney Marshes.

Symi Saturday Photos

There have been a lot of photos this week and not so many words, apart from one post. That’s because I’ve been typing way on a new novel. As it’s Saturday, here are some more random photos to keep you going through the weekend. Have a good one!

Thursday catch-up

Neil did return from Rhodes as expected, so there was no ‘Fill and fall’ about it. (See the post from the other day.) After a light supper at the taverna, we returned home to sit on the balcony and watch the boats coming and going in the dark harbour. I spent Thursday at my desk as usual and banged out a few more words for the next book.

It might not actually be the next book to come out. I have a novella nearly ready to go and also the ‘Symi, Stuff & Nonsense’ travel story book to bring out first. That’s been in the making for a while now. It will include some pieces of a diary I kept when we moved here, a few other observations about life here, plus a set of stories of previous travels to other parts of the world; a kind of autobiography of travel adventures. The trouble is, the longer I leave the first draft sitting there waiting for attention, the more things happen that could be added in. The trip to Cyprus for example, and the making of the film. I’ll check the word count and decide if those should go in or if I have enough to make a decently sized read already.’

Meanwhile, it’s back to this other first draft and getting it out of my system. I’ve been a bit busy since giving up work at the bar, but now I have the time for a few hours a day, it’s easy to get these things written. What takes the time is the rewriting, the editing and the laying out. Meanwhile, I’m missing the beach (not a great beach fan anyway) and swimming (not a great swimming fan) and the morning walks and exercise (not a great… you get the picture). But still, at least I have some photos from ‘out there’ to show you over the next few days. And so, back to the keyboard…