Greek Film Festival

After an absence of two years, the Greek Film Festival returns for its 28th presentation with an outstanding program consisting of 14 feature films and 10 documentaries.

The Greek Film Industry is small in comparison to film industries of other European countries and unfortunately is now struggling financially.

“There has been a lack of financial support from the Greek government in the past few years, but we were lucky to get the high quality films screening at this year’s festival,’ explained Festival Chair, Nia Karteris.

Greeks know how to party and festival attendees can expect an enjoyable two hour gala cocktail party which precedes the opening night screening.

“You’ll come along and enjoy everything that’s Greek from a Greek beer to a Greek organic wine, a lot of souvlaki and a lot of ouzo and Greek music. So I think you’ll get the feeling that you’re in Greece without being in Greece!” enthused Karteris.

Behind The Haystacks is the highly anticipated drama which opens the festival. The movie deals with asylum seekers, people smuggling and the corruption within the system from the top. A father daughter relationship is also explored but essentially it’s about crossing the borders and the manipulation involved.

A movie which is destined to be a hit at the festival is Two Tickets To Greece which surrounds two women who decide to go to Greece for their dream vacation. Everyone should love this comedic feel good film and a glass of wine is included on arrival.

For festival attendees who would like to bring their young children along to the festival there’s a special screening of Karagiozis The Movie, the first Greek animated movie ever produced.

“This movie is for young children so families can come along. I think it’s well overdue that we’ve had something for children in this festival.”

There are several feature films and documentaries screening at the festival this year which are Jewish Holocaust themed and serve as the 80 Years From Thessaloniki To Auschwitz Tribute.

“If you come along and watch these documentaries you’ll see how the Greek Jewish community lived and worked together and how many Jewish Greeks went into hiding. Germans helped them from being taken to concentration camps but unfortunately they couldn’t all be rescued”.

Cloudy Sunday is a tragic love story set in Thessaloniki, 1942 which highlights that even under suppression a Jewish man and woman fell in love. A total of 46,091 Jews from Thessaloniki were deported to concentration camps and only 1,950 survived. An emotional cinematic experience.

The Greek community are very proud of the Student Film Festival which returns for its 11^th presentation. “We want kids to learn Greek, but kids don’t want to go to a class and learn A B C in Greek. They want it to be fun. So we devised this student film festival where they have to produce a short film in Greek,” explained Karteris.

Students should learn how the cinema works, how to be a producer, director, and actor but more importantly they will embrace the Greek language. “It’s fun, we make them feel like they’re at the Academy Awards and it’s a proud day for everyone who attends.”

Do festival attendees need to be Greek for optimum enjoyment of the festivities and movies screening at the Greek Film Festival?

“Definitely not! I attend the French and Italian Film Festivals and I’m Greek. All films have subtitles, they’re easy to follow and if you’re a cinephile you’ll love any film regardless of what language it’s spoken in,” concluded Karteris.

HOT PICKS

BLACK STONE – a desperate overprotective Greek mother goes in search of her missing disabled son who is accused of fraud. The intricacies between a mother and son relationship are explored. A powerful and successful multi-award winning movie.

GOD’S PAINTING – A man returns to Greece after his mother’s passing with the intention of putting his disabled sister in an institution. But does life have a different plan for him? An emotional and fabulous, feel good film.

DISCONNECT ME – What relationship do you have with social media and your mobile phone? Do you have an addiction with this technology? Australian Filmmaker Alex Lykos takes the challenge – can he survive for 30 days without social media and his mobile?

October 19 – 29.

Palace Norton St, 99 Norton St, Leichhardt

greekfilmfestival.com.au