Vassilis C. Karamitsanis
Secretary General
Born in Athens, 1976. After finishing school at the Athens College, he studied law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (GR). Holding postgraduate degrees from the Universities of Rotterdam (NL), Hamburg (D) and Aix-Marseille III (F), he is an attorney-at-Law licensed by the Athens Bar since 2001. Since 2008 he is president of ANIMASYROS International Animation Festival and during 2015-2023 he has been president of ASIFA HELLAS - Hellenic Animation Association. In 2018 he received the title of the Knight in the Order of Letters & Arts of France, while during 2018-2019 he chaired the board of the Greek National Opera. Since 2025 he is secretary general of CIFEJ - International Center of Films for Children & Young People.
Irene Andriopoulou
Executive Director
Irene Andriopoulou has been appointed Executive Director of CIFEJ – the International Center of Films for Children and Young People – for 2025–2027. With over 20 years of experience as a media and film literacy expert, she brings deep commitment to the promotion of high-quality content for children and the advancement of film education worldwide.
She is currently the Director of the Media, Film Education & Heritage Unit of the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center, ΕΚΚΟΜΕΔ, the Greek host organization of CIFEJ. Through her longstanding work as a policy analyst, researcher, and educator in media and culture, Irene has consistently repositioned film literacy as the aesthetic core of media literacy—an engaging form of edutainment that nurtures “screenwise spectators” from early childhood through lifelong learning.
A passionate global advocate, Irene served as Secretary General of the International Steering Committee for UNESCO Media & Information Literacy Alliance (2019–2022) and continues to serve as an EU expert on media literacy and digital skills, championing critical media identity within the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs).
A devoted film lover since her student years, Irene has a special place in her heart for European alternative cinema—though she never says no to a classic Hollywood film. Favorite films: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Hitchcock’s filmography, and The Lobster (2017), for the uniquely unsettling touch of fellow Greek, Yorgos Lanthimos.
Katerina Virvidaki
CIFEJ Athens HQ Coordinator
Katerina Virvidaki holds an undergraduate degree in Law from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as well as an MSt in Film Aesthetics and a DPhil in English (Film Studies) from the University of Oxford (DPhil, Onassis Scholarship). Her thesis Testing Coherence in Narrative Film (2017), has been published as a monograph by Palgrave Macmillan.
She has taught French Cinema at the University of Oxford (2011-2013), Philosophical Aesthetics at The National Technical University of Athens (2014-2016), and Critical
Thinking at the Hellenic American University (2019-2023). She has also been working as a curriculum developer, organizing educational programs on art and philosophy for children and adolescents. Since 2017 she has been an Adjunct Faculty Member at the Hellenic Open University.
From 2017 to 2023 she taught Contemporary Approaches to Adult Education and since 2023 she has been teaching Philosophy and Film (Master’s in Philosophy and the Arts). Her research interests and publications focus on film aesthetics, philosophical aesthetics, and the ways in which aesthetic experience is revealed through the writing process. Katerina is currently Coordinator of the CIFEJ Headquarters at the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center, ΕΚΚΟΜΕΔ, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the international journal CIFEJ COSMOS.