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About the Greek Fim Festival 2004 In a year that has seen the world's attention focused on Athens for the upcoming Olympics, we are proud to add a spicy ingredient to the Hellenic mix by announcing the 12th Greek Film Festival, an eclectic celebration of contemporary Greek cinema presented by the Greek Communities of Australia and Palace Cinemas in conjunction with the Greek Film Centre (Athens), that will take place around Australia from early September to early October. Spice Up Your Life! With national attendance figures increasing yearly, the Festival attracts cinema buffs from both within and beyond the Greek community and has emerged as one of the most exciting annual film events in the country. The 2004 Festival will be launched by the bittersweet epic, A Touch of Spice, courtesy of Village Roadshow Film Distributors. Acknowledged as one of the most successful Greek movies ever made, A Touch of Spice tells the story of a young Greek boy growing-up in Constantinoupolis whose grandfather teaches him that both food and life need a little something to give them flavour; they both require…a touch of spice. The film's writer/director, Tassos Boulmetis, will be the opening night guest-of-honour in both Sydney and Melbourne. Other Festival highlights include the controversial dramas Hardcore and Oxygen, veteran director Michael 'Zorba the Greek' Cacoyannis' lavish adaptation of Chekov's The Cherry Orchard starring Charlotte Rampling and Alan Bates, the comic R20 from director Lakis Lazopoulos and Matchbox, a searing depiction of family life which serves as an antidote to the domestic cosiness of My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The Festival is also delighted to present director Jule's Dassin's timeless Never on a Sunday featuring Melina Mercouri in her most memorable on-screen role, and the political thriller Z from renowned director Costa Gavras. Festival screening dates around Australia are as follows:
History / Background The Greek Film Festival first started in Sydney and Melbourne in 1993 and has been run as an annual event in these two cities for the last 12 years. The Festival provides a forum for showcasing Greek Film and is one of the largest and most prestigious community film festivals in the country. The GFF has managed to attract a strong and loyal audience from within the Greek and wider community with an interest in contemporary Greek cinema. Over the last 5 years the Greek Film Festival has enjoyed an increase in audience numbers as a result of the partnership with the Palace Cinema group and the expansion of the Greek Film Festival to Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane. This has seen the Greek Film Festival enjoy national attendance figures of over 20 000 in 2003 and emerged as one of the major annual Film Festivals on the Australian film festival networks. The Festival aims to present audiences with the finest and most exciting productions reflecting Greek culture and exemplify the continued development of young Greek filmmakers. It is run in Partnership The Greek Film Centre (Athens) and Palace Cinemas Australia and Sydney Festival Director Manolis Plantzos said "Greek cinema has such an important place in mainstream Australian culture and every year we see more and more people from both Greek and non Greek backgrounds attending out screenings" The Festival, traditionally a two week celebration, combines high profile premieres with independent and art house screenings as well as prestigious and much loved opening and closing events to create a truly eclectic program. Tickets for are very reasonably priced to encourage maximum attendance and the festival is a frequent haunt of the discerning moviegoer in addition to many high profile members of the film and movie The Film Festival currently achieves strong support in Greek language media including print and radio and through the communication and marketing to the Greek community in each region. Over the last few years the festival has been successful in generating publicity, marketing and media exposure in the Greek and Mainstream media with very limited staff and volunteer resources.
Organisers, Greek Film Festival of Sydney GFF Festival Partners:
All Festival films are restricted to persons aged 18 years and over [R18]. This does not necessarily relate to the content of the films, but to the censorship laws regulating festivals, as enforced by the Office of Film & Literature Classification. The only exception to this is the film Touch of Spice [M15+] ****Please note that screenings are subject to change.
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