This report covers my internship experience for the Representations of Greece course. During my internship, I helped out at two events in Los Angeles: the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF) Documentary Film Festival and an Artist in Residence event with Greek performance artist Dimitris Papaioannou. Both experiences taught me a lot about how arts events are run and gave me a chance to see Greek art and culture being shared with American audiences.
The Los Angeles Greek Film Festival Documentary Film Festival is a yearly event that showcases Greek films and documentaries. I worked two days of the festival, and each day looked a little different. The first day was a shorter shift in the afternoon. I watched a documentary, helped make sure the event stayed on time, and handed out surveys to audience members after the screening. The second day was a full day and I had more to do. I helped with ticketing and checked people in at the door, handed out more surveys, helped keep things running on schedule, and introduced films and their directors to the audience before screenings. I also watched one of the films and participated in the Q&A afterward. Getting to introduce the films and directors was probably my favorite part of the festival. It felt like I was helping connect the filmmakers with the audience, which ties into what we’ve been studying in class about how Greek culture gets shared and understood outside of Greece.
The other event I worked on was an Artist in Residence with Dimitris Papaioannou, a well-known Greek performance artist and director. It was a smaller shift but still a great experience. During the event I helped with ticketing and getting people into the venue, assisted with setting up beforehand, and worked the front door for security. This event had a different feel from the film festival since it was centered around a live artist rather than film screenings. Working setup and the door gave me a look at everything that goes into making an event like this run smoothly. It was also interesting to see how an artist like Papaioannou, who is so well known in Greece, is received by an audience here in LA.
Overall, this internship was a really valuable experience. I got to work two very different kinds of events and picked up practical skills along the way, like checking people in, keeping events on schedule, and speaking in front of an audience. It also gave me a real-life way to think about what we’ve been learning in class, specifically how Greek art and culture gets presented to people who may not be familiar with it. It was rewarding to play even a small part in that.