2nd Annual New York Greek Film Festival

Thursday 2nd of October 2008

The Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce is presenting the second annual New York City Greek Film Festival October 3 through 16, 2008, with new feature films and documentaries.

The screenings will take place from Friday October to Thursday October 9 at the Cinema Village (22 East 12 St. New York City) and from Friday October 10 to Thursday October 16, at the Cinemart Cinamas (106-03 Metropolitan Ave. Forest Hills, Queens). For group sales and further information, call: Jimmy DeMetro at 212 988-1929 and Stamatis Gikas, Hellenic American Chamber of Commerce, 212-629-6380.

Doan Georgakas in a note posted on the Festival's web page says the following:
"The revived Greek Film Festival in New York comes at a time of change in contemporary Greek cinema. Just as the studio era of 1950-70 gave way to the director's cinema of the post-junta era, that cinema now is giving way to a hybrid cinema that seeks to combine the virtues of its predecessors.

Production in the studio era often hit more than a hundred films a year. That fare was mainly composed of comedies, melodramas, and musicals. The emphasis was on entertainment and performers. Political themes could only be addressed indirectly. On the fringes of this commercial cinema, artistic films such as O Drakos, Magic City, Stella, and The Girl in Black also were produced. Greek actors such as Melina Mercouri and Irene Papas attained international celebrity status and the music of Mikis Theodorakis and Manos Hadjidakis earned Greek bouzouki world acclaim.

The era following the fall of the junta in 1974 shifted emphasis from performers to directors. The artistic vision of the director - a sense that the director is the author of a film - became paramount. Direct expression of political views was now considered one of the natural options open to every director and that option was frequently exercised. The outstanding film of this era is Thiasos (The Traveling Players) and Theo Angelopoulos, its director, embodies the era's regard for author-directors.

Although numerous films made by various Greek directors often received international recognition, Greek cinema slowly lost its audience within Greece. Just as popular Greek cinema in its final years often seemed no more than visual junk food gone bad, much of the Greek public began to view the director's cinema as idiosyncratic and pretentious. Half of the roughly twenty Greek films produced in each year of the 1990s had box office attendance of less than 10,000. At the same time, some of the better studio-era films being shown on television were drawing large audiences and a new wave of low-budget independents attracted a respectable number of viewers.

A turning point in contemporary Greek cinema occurred in 2000 with the release of Safe Sex. This spoof on Greek morality that featured personalities from television had over a million admissions. By attracting the largest audience for any film released that year in Greece, including all the Hollywood block-busters, Safe Sex demonstrated that there remained a huge national appetite for Greek films.

In the years that followed the success of Safe Sex, a new trend began to emerge in Greek film. While the focus remained on the personal vision and style of the director, more attention was increasingly given to themes and formats that appealed to the popular imagination. This change, involving many veteran directors as well as newcomers, has been an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary process, and it has remained more intuitive than program- matic. The films being screened at this festival reflect this new trend in Greek cinema."

SCREENING SCHEDULE

CINEMA VILLAGE
22 East 12 St. New York City

Fri. Oct. 3
1 p.m. EDUART
3:10 p.m. BACH AND BOUZOUKI
THE HOMECOMING
5:40 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
8 p.m. THE HOMECOMING
10 p.m. EDUART

Sat. Oct. 4
1 p.m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN
3:15 p.m. URANYA
5:10 p.m. NEVER ON SUNDAY
7:15 p. m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN
9 :30 p.m. EDUART

Sun. Oct. 5
1 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
3 :10 p. m. URANYA
5:15 p.m. RESURFACE
THE LOVERS FROM AXOS
In person: Director Nicos Ligouris
8 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
10 p.m. URANYA

Mon. Oct. 6
1 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
3:10 p.m. BACH AND BOUZOUKI
THE HOMECOMING
5:30 p.m. NEVER ON SUNDAY
7:30 p.m SONG OF LIFE
Presentation by
Mimica Tsezana Hyman
9:4 0 p.m. HIDDEN IN THE SAND
THE HOMECOMING

Tue. Oct 7
1 p.m. EDUART
3:10 p.m. URANYA
5:15 p.m. EDUART
7:30 p.m. THE CALLER
In person: Director Richard Ledes
9:4 0 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT

Wed. Oct. 8
1:30 p.m. LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
3:45 p.m. HIDDEN IN THE SAND
THE HOMECOMING
6:30 p.m. BACH AND BOUZOUKI
LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
9 p.m. LOVERS FROM AXOS
RESURFACE

Thur. Oct. 9
1 p.m. LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
3 p.m. LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
5 p.m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN
7:30 p.m. THE PRIVATE RIGHT
9:30 p.m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN

CINEMART CINEMA
106-03 METROPOLITAN AVE. Forest Hills, Queens

Fri. Oct. 10
1 p.m. THE HOMECOMING
3:15 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
5:30 p.m. EDUART
8 p.m. THE HOMECOMING
10 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT

Sat. Oct. 11
1 p.m. LITLE GREEK GODFATHER
3:15 p.m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN
5:30 p.m. LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
8 p.m. EDUART
10 p.m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN

Sun. Oct. 12
1 p.m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN
3:15 p.m. LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
5:30 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
8 p.m. SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN

Mon. Oct. 13
1 p.m. LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
3:15 p.m. LITTLE GREEK GODFATHER
5:30 p.m. URANYA
8 p.m. EDUART

Tues. Oct. 14
1 p.m. HIDDEN IN THE SAND
RESURFACE
3:15 p.m. BACH AND BOUZOUKI
THE LOVERS FROM AXOS
5:45 p.m. BACH AND BOUZOUKI
THE LOVERS FROM AXOS
8 P.M. SONG OF LIFE
RESURFACE

Wed. Oct. 15
1 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
3:15 SIRENS IN THE AEGEAN
5:30 p.m. URANYA
8 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT

Thurs. Oct. 16
1p.m. URANYA
3:15 p.m. EYES OF NIGHT
5:30 p.m. EDUART
8 p.m. URANYA

(Programs subject to change without notice)

Cinema Village, 22 East 12 St., Between University Place and Fifth Avenue, just east of Fifth.
Take the N, R, 4, 5, 6 or L train to 14th Street/Union Square

CineMart Cinema 106-03 Metropolitan Avenue, Forest Hills, Queens, NY
Take the E, F, G or R train to 71 Avenue/ Continental Avenue and transfer to the Q23 bus to Metropolitan Avenue. Or- take the Q54 bus directly from Williamsburg or Jamaica. Bus stops in front of theater.




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