55th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
October 31 – November 9, 2014
GREEK FILMS
October 31 – November 9, 2014
GREEK FILMS
The 55th Thessaloniki International Film Festival celebrates the 100-year anniversary of Greek Cinema, with classic and beloved films, premieres and a sample of the most recent Greek productions –36 Greek films in total will be screened this year.
The audience played a significant role in this year’s selection, having voted their favorite film out of a 200-film list. Twenty films made it to the final list and will be screened as part of the tribute “1914-2014: 100 Years of Greek Cinema”. In chronological order, these are:
1. Kinoniki Sapila / Social Corruption Stelios Tatasopoulos 1932
2. Istoria mias Kalpikis Liras / The Counterfeit Coin Yorgos Tzavellas 1955
3. Stella Michael Cacoyannis 1955
4. O Drakos / The Ogre of Athens Nikos Koundouros 1956
5. Synikia to Oniro / A Neighborhood Named “The Dream” Alekos Alexandrakis 1961
6. Evdokia Alexis Damianos 1971
7. O Thiassos / The Travelling Players Theo Angelopoulos 1975
8. I Tembelides tis Eforis Kiladas / The Idlers of the Fertile Valley Nikos Panayotopoulos 1978
9. Glikia Symmoria / Sweet Bunch Nikos Nikolaidis 1983
10. I Timi tis Agapis / The Price of Love Tonia Marketaki 1983
11. Kali patrida, sintrofe / Happy Homecoming, Comrade Lefteris Xanthopoulos 1986
12. Ola Ine Dromos / It’s a Long Road Pantelis Voulgaris 1998
13. Apo tin akri tis polis / From the Edge of the City Constantine Giannaris 1998
14. Pes sti Morfini Akoma tin Psahno / Still Looking for Morphine Yannis Fagras 2001
15. Sose me / Save Me Stratos Tzitzis 2001
16. I Yenei tis Samothrakis / The Valiants of Samothrace Stamatis Tsarouchas 2003
17. Politiki kouzina / A Touch of Spice Tassos Boulmetis 2003
18. Kynodontas / Dogtooth Yorgos Lanthimos 2009
19. Strella /A Woman's Way Panos H. Koutras 2009
20. Mikra Anglia / Little England Pantelis Voulgaris 2013
Seven films in total will have their Greek premiere in Thessaloniki. Yannis Veslemes’ Norway, a pop-noir-horror film, follows the adventures of vampire Zano from the notorious Zardoz discotheque to the center of the Earth. Filmed at the Bering Sea in the North Pacific Ocean, in Alaska and in New Orleans, Yannis Fagras’ Forget me Not travels along with its two protagonist lovers to the corners of the world. Dimitris Kollatos presents his own view on contemporary Greece with The Revenge of Dionyssos, while the assassination of CBS journalist George Washington Polk becomes a reflection on time and memory in Vladimiros Nikolouzos’ and Nikos Nikolopoulos’ Polk. Another journalist, in Paris this time, seeks the truth behind her friend’s murder in Theo Koutsaftis’ Hook, Line and Sinker, whereas in Manos Karystinos’ Dark Illusion it is salvation that the main character searches for. Fate plays tricks on the female protagonist of Telemachos Alexiou’s Queen Antigone, who, much like Sophocles’ heroine, follows an uncertain route.
In honoring the 100-year anniversary of Greek Cinema, TIFF invites some of the most recent Greek films to complement the celebration, rounding up thus a century of Greek fiction filmmaking. Nine films in total, which have already had their Greek premiere, will be screened during the 55th edition. Panos Koutras’ Xenia is at once a moving and adventurous coming-of-age story of two young brothers with Albanian heritage and a clearly articulated critique on contemporary Greek society. A similar social commentary, albeit through a radically different formal and thematic approach, is also at the heart of Yannis Economidis’ impressive neo-noir film Stratos, that has a troubled contract killer as a main character. Syllas Tzoumerkas’ A Blast also cuts deep into the Greek psyche with the story of a woman who revolts against everything she’s loved. Love is what drives the two lonely protagonists of Margarita Manda’s Forever and their meeting in a desolate Athens. The themes of identity and immigration are explored in Petros Sevastikoglou’s Electra and Christos Voupouras’ Seven Kinds of Wrath, and the female condition in Nikos Kornilios’ Matriarchy. Last, but not least, a child’s tense relationship with its parents and a woman’s traumatic experience are depicted in Dimitris Bitos’ Anemistiras and in Stathis Athanasiou’s A, respectively.
