The Sydney Greek Film Festival is an Initiative of the Greek Film Festival Association of Canberra

Festival Message

In its fourth year running, the Greek Film Festival of Canberra has left a mark on the local film scene offering an eclectic array of contemporary Greek cinema as well as the much loved Classics from Greece.

The celebration continues in 2006 with an extended line up of fresh new films promising a vivid exhibition capturing the spirited psyche inherent in contemporary Greek culture today. Audiences are sure to enjoy the stunning cinematography and exquisite music soundtracks that complement some very fine and robust acting.

This year's program will open with the comical "Chariton's Choir" (I Horodia tou Charitona) directed by Grigoris Karantinakis and starring the renowned George Corraface. Awarded the Audience vote at the 46th International Thessaloniki Film Festival, Chariton's Choir tells of the passions of life when the free thinking bohemian school Principal takes on the autocracy in a provincial town in the spring of 1968.

Sequel to Nikos Perakis's popular "Loathing and Camouflage", the festival will also feature the new block buster "Sirens in the Aegean", a comical send up of Greek mandatory military service in the midst of an international diplomatic situation .

A highlight of the program will be the screening of the long awaited classical tragedies "Electra", "The Trojan Women" and "Iphigena" by the Cannes Film Festival award-winning director Michael Cacoyannis.

Festival Co-ordinator
Melba Tsoulias

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 14 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 6 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 2005 and emerged as one of the major annual film festivals on the Australian film festival network. 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 with The Greek Film Centre (Athens) and Palace Cinemas Australia. 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 frequently attended by discerning moviegoers in addition to many high profile members of the film industry. 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.