New York City Greek Film Festival 2018 held between October 18-23

NEW YORK – The New York City Greek Film Festival (NYCGFF), in its 12th year and under the guidance of its newly appointed general and artistic director, Maria Tzobanaki, opens on Thursday, October 18, for a five-day cinematic event which will celebrate established and up-and-coming Greek filmmakers. Promoting Greek culture internationally, with a plan to expand its activities in 2019 and provide Greek filmmakers with opportunities for global collaborations through a meeting platform, Tzobanaki has put together a selection of 25 films, features, documentaries, and shorts, which will be screened on a rolling schedule during the festival at the Florence Gould Hall Theater and Le Skyroom, in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.

She spoke about the festival in The National Herald’s recent Gynaika interview with Aris Papadopoulos noting the exciting lineup. Tzombanaki said of the films, “Most of them are touching, and some are comic, historical, biographies, and adventures of contemporary cinema. And all include a lot of Greek culture!”

The opening night on Thursday, October 18, at Florence Gould Hall, features the screening of Tassos Boulmetis’ acclaimed 1968, a unique blend of fiction and documentary based on the emblematic basketball match between AEK and Slavia Prague for the European championship in Athens that year. Closing night on Tuesday, October 23, is dedicated to the renowned Greek actor Giorgos Kimoulis. Following the awards ceremony, where Audience Awards will be presented both to feature and short film winners, the festival will honor Mr. Kimoulis for his contribution to the Greek arts over the years.

During the Festival the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy many recent Greek screen gems and indulge in the biting satire of Nikos Perakis’ Success Story, a modern tale of love and betrayal; to witness the first Greek martial arts film with Aliki Danezi-Knutsen’s Chinatown: The Three Shelters; and to “travel” to the mountains of Arcadia in Stelios Haralambopoulos’ My Homeland’s Flag Is Blue, to the temples of Santorini in Zaharias Mavroeidis’ Across Her Body, and to the fields of refugee-ridden Lesbos in Lucas Paleokrassas’ Citizen Xenos.

Greece’s tumultuous history is presented in Matthaios Frantzeskakis and Vicky Arvelaki’s Flowers Fade Early: Kakopetros, August 28, 1944 and Grigoris Vardarinos’ The Great Fire of Salonica: Birth of a City. The late, great musician Nikos Papazoglou is featured in Me and My Shadow by Mihalis Aristidou and Ioannis Grigoropoulos.

A Tribute to Dan Georgakas, the distinguished Greek-American intellectual, scholar and author, will be held on Saturday, October 20, 3:45 PM at the Florence Gould Hall. Journalist Vicki James Yiannias, Prof. Peter Bratsis, and film producer Frosso Tsouka will discuss Georgakas’ contribution to the presentation of Greek Language films in America. Georgakas will then introduce the film screening of A Girl in Black (1956) and a Q&A will follow.

An impressive line-up of award-winning short films will also be screened, including the hilarious mockumentary Cowboy, the sharp thriller Heimlich, the suspenseful social portrait The Ticket, and heartwarming female-driven dramas Ourania, Hearts For Dinner, and Meltemi.

Film producer Frosso Tsouka, one of the curators, along with Vicki James Yiannias, of the Georgakas Tribute, spoke to TNH about the festival and specifically the short films, noting that “there are some gems among them. Because of the crisis some very good filmmakers cannot find money for feature films and are producing shorts.”

The Festival is brought to you by the Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Hellenic American Cultural Foundation and the generous support of sponsors.

More information, including the full schedule of screenings and tickets, is available online: nycgreekfilmfestival.com.