Ancient Macedonia in Pella Museum - Greece

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeological_Museum_of_Pella

Ancient Macedonian City of Dion, Temple of Isis

Μacedonia-Greece

Pella, Kapital of Ancient Macedonia

Greece

Ancient Macedonia in Archeological Museum of Veroia

Macedonia-Greece

Pella, Capital of Ancient Macedonia

Homeland of Alexander the Great

Greece

Μακεδονικοί Βασιλικοί Τάφοι στη Βεργίνα.

A diadem from one of the Macedonian royal tombs in Vergina,Macedonia-Greece owned by one of the wives of Philip of Macedonia, father of Alexander the Great. Dates back to the 4th century

Vergina Museum - Macedonia - Greece

H Αρχαία Μακεδονία στο Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Αμφίπολης.

Ancient Macedonia in the Archeological Museum of Amfipolis.

Macedonia-Greece

Ancient Macedonia in Archeological Museum of Amfipolis

Macedonia-Greece

“The Golden Alexander”

the Film Prize of 53* Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Macedonia-Greece

Having already slashed monetary rewards since 2010 (the 40.000 Golden Alexander award for best feature-length film was reduced to a neat 20.000 Euros, while the Silver Alexander Award went from 25.000 to 10.000 Euros), the Thessaloniki International Film Festival proceeded with further cutbacks, announcing that the 53rd edition winners will walk away empty-handed.

This fitting measure is in line with the deepening recession (whose first victims are traditionally cultural institutions), as well as the Festival’s mammoth debt which was reduced from 6 to 2 million Euros in less than two years thanks to the efforts of new artistic director Dimitri Eipides, but still remains a pressing concern.

Cutting down on expenditure isn’t the only reason why the festival has managed to survive so far. Its main financial lifeline has been the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) and other European funding programs (like MEDIA), which will keep it afloat until 2013. The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival on the other hand, which costs a lot less, will have enough to keep going until March 2014.

Maybe the credit crunch will be a good opportunity to rethink the monetary prizes (are they really necessary after all?), whose temporary suspension will send a powerful message to everyone involved – especially the Ministry of Culture. The festival shouldn’t collapse under the weight of the state’s indifference, proving the crisis isn’t purely financial after all… Especially when it’s fighting so hard to stay alive.