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

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.

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.

Tragedies

ELECTRA/ Elektra

Dir. Michael Cacoyannis

Cast: Irene Papas, Yannis Fertis, Aleka Katselli, Theano Ioannidou, Notis Peryalis, Takis Emmanuel, Phoebus Rhazis, Manos Katrakis

Music by Mikis Theodorakis.

Greek director Michael Cacoyannis to the screen Euripides’ tragedy of a troubled woman trapped in a cycle of murder and revenge. Irene Papas is outstanding as the doomed heroine.

Electra is the daughter of King Agamemnon, who ruled over Mycenae. When Agamemnon was murdered by his queen and her lover, Electra was confined within her father’s castle while her brother Orestes fled for safety. Years pass and hard times overcome the people of the land. Electra is married off to an older peasant man, and effectively exiled from her rightful place as Princess of Mycenae.

At once dark artistic and moving, Electra is a powerful film. Its black and white cinematography by Walter Lassally is as symbolic and fiercely provocative as any Greek tragedy could ever hope to be.

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 CANARY YELLOW BICYCLE/ To Canarini Podilato

dir. Dimitris Stavrakas

1999 | Rating: Session where persons under 15 may be admitted, when accompanied by an adult
Greece | 35mm | 90 minutes | In Greek with English subtitles

Cast: Dimitris Alexandris, Yorgos Halaris, Manos Vakousis, Thanos Grammenos, Nikos Yorgakis, Alexandra Pandelaki.

When Aris Skourtis is hired to teach 6th grade in an Athens elementary school, he takes a personal interest in Lefteris, an almost illiterate kid who's laughed at by his classmates. He decides to help the child find a way out of its predicament, only to find his efforts thwarted by all sorts of obstacles, not the least of which is the distrust of Lefteris himself.

Closing Night Film

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.