Greek Film Festival 2006

Opening Night Film

SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN/ Sirines sto Egeo

Dir. Nikos Perakis

Cast: Yannis Tsimitselis, Yorgos Seitaridis, Ioannis Papazisis, Orfeas Avgoustidis, Socratis Patsikas, Stelios Ksanthoudakis, Vassilis Haralabopoulos, Renos Haralambidis, Vicky Kaya, Tugce Seitaridi, Arzu Yanardag, Muge Bakircioglou, Metin Belgin, Aris Bafaloukas, Apostolis Totsikas

This farcical tale revolves around the impounding of a Turkish yacht by Greek sailors after its captain attempts to put a group of illegal immigrants ashore on a small Greek island. Also on the yacht are two women and a camera crew bound for a beauty competition on the Turkish island of Bodrum. Tempers fray, passions flare and stereotypes and prejudices come to the fore as the two sides try to communicate. The outcome is the involvement of both countries in the incident resulting in several comic situations.

The film is a sequel to the director’s original movie Loafing & Camouflage released in 1984.

Contemporary Films

LOAFING AND CAMOUFLAGE/ Loufa Kai Parallaghi

Dir. Nikos Perakis

Cast: Nikos Kalogeropoulos, Yiorgos Kimoulis, Takis Spyridakis, Fotis Polychronopoulos, Yannis Hatziyannis, Paris Tselios, Stavros Xenidis, Andreas Filippidis, Christos Valavanidis, Antonis Theodorakopoulos, Nikos Tsachiridis, Tania Kapsali, Ifigenia Makati, Rocky Taylor, Dimitris Poulikakos, Antonis Maniatis

A cult classic Greek movie by Nikos Perakis, which was recently followed with the sequel in 2005, Sirens in the Aegean.

During the military takeover by the junta in 1967, a group of neophyte soldiers are assigned to duty in the dictatorship-run television station, a prospect, which is totally new to them. Overcoming boredom, they begin to produce comical and subtly subversive programs in this satirical look at life under Fascism.

CHARITON’S CHOIR/ I Horodia tou Haritona

Dir. Grigoris Karantinakis

Cast: George Chorraface, Stefanos Karantinakis, Maria Nafpliotou, Akyllas Karazissis, Christos Steryioglou, Alexandros Logothetis, Ilektra Nikolouza, Vassilis Kolovos, Yvonni Maltezou, Dimitris Piatas, Spyros Stavrinios.

The politics of individuality versus autocratic rule is also the theme of Chariton’s Choir, a comedy/drama by Greek director Grigoris Karantinakis, which stars Greek superstar George Corraface as a bohemian school principal whose free-thinking spirit will not be crushed by the fascistic military after their 1967 coup d’etat.

Chariton Ulianov has one great love: Life! That great love affair however does not hamper him in his pursuit of everyday pleasures. His position as School Principal in a provincial town on the island of Corfu gives him the opportunity to disseminate his own unique philosophy especially to the students that participate in his greatest passion: the choir. His tender and playful outlook on life is an inspiration to his students who find themselves facing all the challenges of adolescence in a Greece which is itself facing the challenges of life under dictatorship.

HAZARDOUS AND UNHEALTHY/ Varea Anthiyiina

dir. Antonis Papadopoulos

Cast Paschalis Tsarouchas, Nena Mendi, Antonis Antoniou, Regina Pantelidi

A sharp lesson on the power of myth over history is provided by this ironic drama about a seedy truck-driver stranded in a village he once saved from the Nazis. The villagers, thinking he'd been killed that day, erected a statue to him and have parlayed his heroic feat into a lucrative local legend. His being alive - and a bit a scoundrel - blows the whole story, so they lock him up.

HONEY AND THE PIG/ Loukoumades me meli

Dir. Olga Malea

Cast: Christos Loulis, Faye Xyla, Pavlos Haikalis, Fotini Baxevani, Spyros Kitsanellis, Sofia Filippidou, Dimitris Piatas, Haris Mavroudis, Vladimiros Kyriakidis

A young man pursues his molester but events quickly get out of control. Pots of honey, a sweet-toothed piglet, a perverted uncle, a sexy hearse-driver, a wandering dietician and hundreds of villagers mingle in an outrageously original comedy.

Olga Malea, Greece’s well-known filmmaker and a professional psychologist, tackles the issue of child sexual abuse through a surreal sense of humor and a Balkan landscape.

LIUBI

Dir. Layia Yiourgou

Cast Alexis Georgoulis, Lena Kitsopoulou, Katerina Papadaki, Eugenia Kaplan, Nikos Georgakis

On the very night of handsome Dimitris’ engagement party, a beautiful Russian named Liubi enters his middle-class home as the hired companion for his ailing mother. Sparks fly and a passionate affair ensues; though Dimitris is a prisoner of his family circumstances, which may ultimately blind him to further possibilities. A delicately observed drama, Liubi backgrounds a cross-cultural romance against ethnic prejudices in today's Greece.

THE HEART OF THE BEAST/ I kardia tou ktinous

Dir. Renos Haralambidis

Cast: Renos Haralambidis, Yorgos Voultzatis, Manos Vakoussis, Alkis Panayotidis, Tzina Thliveri, Yannis Zouganelis, Mara Darmousli, Elisavet Constantinidou, Giannis Bostantzoglou Dimitris Starovas, Dimos Gigantakis, Yorgos Velentzas, Marina Tavoulari

A comic drama of three male friends from high school coming together again years later to solve their problems in an unusual way. When egocentric Stephanos is discharged from the army, he feels the world belongs to him. However, the only things he really possesses are the debts his mother left him and rejection from his girlfriend. When Nikos proposes they rob a bank, Stephanos plunges into the brutality but also the magic of real life on his way to maturity.

THE WOMAN WHO MISSED HOME/ I nostalgos

Dir. Eleni Alexandraki

Cast: Olia Lazaridou, Yorgos Tsoularis, Spyros Stavrinidis, Maria Mina, Maria Paschalidou, Andonis Karpathios, Giannis Sfakianos, Vassia Paraskevopoulou, Klavdia Zarafonitou, Tassos Anastasiou, Maria Melachrinaki, Giannis Orsaris, Andreas Roufas

On a full-moon night, Anna, a married woman, runs away from the island where she lives with her older husband, to return to her original home. A young shepherd, Mathios, helps her escape on a small rowboat. The anguish of her loving husband who runs after her, Mathios’ secret love for Anna, the small world of the island that never misses the chance to get involved, all intermingle with scenes from Anna’s past, transforming this Lilliputian voyage into a life journey.

Documentaries

BLACK BAAA...

Dir. Thodoros Marangos

Cast: Egisto Pesole, Stathis Marangos, Maria Manimanaki, Costas Andalopoulos, Dimitris Katsimanis

In the 1st century A.D., an ancient Greek philosopher sent a letter addressed to Thodorakis the modern Hellene. As soon as Thodorakis finds out about the letter, he travels to Italy where it was found in an archaeological dig together with 2000 other ancient Greek texts, in order to get it. When he arrives to his amazement he discovers that there are others who are interested in his letter, people who are seeking historical truths. But there are also those who try to make it disappear, afraid it may reveal top religious secrets. Dimitris, who has psychological problems, is also interested in the letter. He is searching his past to find out what he was before he was transformed into a sheep…

Family Films

FADING LIGHT/ To Fos Pou Svini

dir. Vasilis Douros

2001 | Rating: Session where persons under 15 may be admitted, when accompanied by an adult
Greece | 35mm | 100 minutes | In Greek with English subtitles

With: Alekos Alexandrakis, Viki Volioti, Vladimir Golosinski, Elissavet Naslidou, Dimitris Mavropoulos, Babis Hatzidakis, Stella Yanni, Alkis Kourkoulos, Takis Spyridakis, Thanos Kanousis.

On the tiny island of Halki, near Rhodes, 12-year-old Hristos is a musically talented loner who regularly skips school to spend time with an old lighthouse keeper. Hristos is slowly going blind from a rare eye disease, and, with no encouragement from his divorced mother, finds inspiration for his violin playing in the natural sounds of the island. Only with the steady encouragement of a new teacher, Maria, does Hristos slowly bloom.

THE LITTLE DOLPHINS/ Ta Delfinakia Tou Ambracicou

dir. Dinos Demopoulos

1993 | Rating: Session where persons under 15 may be admitted, when accompanied by an adult
Greece | 35mm | 100 minutes | ***GREEK LANGUAGE ONLY WITH FRENCH SUBTITLES***

Cast: Stavros Doyakos, Constantina Alevra, Spyros Pantazis, Nikitas Chronis, Constantina Andriopoulou, Alexandros Rigas, Christos Zorbas

In a small seaside village in Greece, in the years between the two world wars, Petros and Anthoula (he is eight and she is seven) are enjoying the summer holidays. With the spontaneity and innocence of the young they gradually discover the miracle of the world that surrounds them. They reach out to touch the stars and talk to the animals, to play hide-and-seek with the birds and frolic in the water. They also begin to utter the first verses of the eternal song of love, even if they cannot yet understand the words. But this miraculous celebration of life suddenly darkens when, quite unexpectedly, the two children find themselves face to face with a solitary, sick boy their own age, a social outcast because he has tuberculosis. They decide to react, breaking down the barriers of prejudice and opening bright pathways to life that are quite inconceivable to grownups. Dinos Demopoulos returns to Greek films after a long absence, adapting his own award-winning children's book. The result is charming.

Classic Films

MODERNA STAHTOPOUTA

Dir. Alekos Sakellarios

1965 | Rating: 18+ | Greece, 35mm | 103 minutes | In Greek without English subtitles

Cast: Aliki Vougiouklaki, Dimitris Papamichael, Stavros Xenidis, Aris Malliagros, Christos Parlas, Despoina Nikolaidou, Kostas Doukas, Nikitas Platis, Babis Anthopoulos, Nikos Tsoukas

When a poor young girl, desperately needing work, in order to support her little siblings and grandmother, hears that a wealthy businessman has retrenched his personal secretary, she enters his office and manages to get the position. In short time she wins his trust and accompanies him to almost all his business meetings and trips. During a trip to Rome, she undergoes a transformation from non descript girl in rags to a beautiful and elegant young woman. Could her employer now fall in love with her?

This film is a social comedy of 1965 with leading actors, Aliki Vouyiouklaki and Demetris Papamichael. A husband and wife team in real life, together they where to form one of the most successful movie partnerships in Greek cinema history.