On Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 September at 10:00 a.m., integrative psychotherapist Denise Nikolakou will be at the Cyclades Chamber of Commerce Conference Hall (Valmas Hall) to discuss with students all the insights they will draw from the films they watch in the context of the school screenings of ANIMASYROS 2024 powered by PPC.

Monday 23.09

Beurk! (FR, 13’10”)

Cyclades Chamber of Commerce Conference Hall (Valmas Hall)

10.00

School Screening

Suitable for all ages

Tuesday 24.09

The Meatseller (IT, 17’)

Cyclades Chamber of Commerce Conference Hall (Valmas Hall)

10.00

School Screening

Suitable for all ages

* The Cinematherapy programme is presented in collaboration with Drama International Short Film Festival. With the Head of the Programme in DSIFF: Denise Nikolakou – Integrative Psychotherapist.

Cinematherapy is defined as the use of films to motivate and recognize emotions or to draw conclusions in the context of the psychotherapeutic process. Cinematherapy is associated with the ancient art of storytelling as an educational tool. It can be used to encourage the audience to understand almost any subject matter, as cinema covers an extremely wide range of subjects. The use of cinema as a tool in the provision of prevention and treatment has increased significantly in recent years. Cinematherapy through entertainment offers a wide range of communication possibilities mainly because it helps the viewer to manage the nature of his stress, helping to normalize the experience in conditions of generalized crisis.

Denise Nikolakou studied Psychology at the British University of Derby and holds a master’s degree in Integrative Psychotherapy (MSc in Integrative Psychotherapy). She followed the educational programme at the University of Athens in Film Therapy, and she completed the Movie-Based and Cinema Therapy programme of the Zur Institute where she secured her European certification as a Cinema Therapist. She has received experiential and theoretical training at the Unity Energetic International Institute (U.E.I.I) on physically focused Gestalt psychotherapy. Since 2014 she has been involved in coordinating groups of self-knowledge, personal development, therapy, role-playing games, training in the skills of functional relationships using the art of cinema as a means of expression, psychoeducation, and therapy. Since 2020 is a head programmer of Cinematherapy at Drama International Short Film Festival, where she introduced and made known for the first time to the public the programme along with the Oscar-winning director Pawel Pawlikowski. In the school year 2021-2022, held the first Cinematherapy Programme in schools of all educational levels in 4 cities in Greece under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Education and to date the programme is being implemented for the 4th consecutive year in the schools of the Municipal Unit of Drama. Her articles are hosted in well-known scientific and informative magazines and newspapers as well as podcasts with current affairs on Spotify by Lifo.