About the Festival

An Initiative of the
Greek Orthodox Community of NSW
http://www.goc.com.au

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 13 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 2004 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 exemplifies 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 Helen Goritsas said “We are delighted with the program for 2005 with the films selected demonstrating the breadth and diversity of talent in Greek cinema both as filmmakers and actors. The films relate to a wider Greek, Australian and multicultural audience.” The Festival, traditionally a two to three 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 the Festival 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.