2024 Monthly Greek Film Series

The Hellenic Film Society presents Always on Sunday, a series of monthly screenings of Greek films at the prestigious Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY, to sell-out crowds.

KARAGIOZIS: THE MOVIE

Directed by Akis Karras, Christos Leivaditis, Ekaterini Papageorgiou

Karagiozis The Movie

2022 | 74 minutes
In Greek with English subtitles

With Athos Danellis, Elena Maragou

Beloved characters of the centuries-old Greek Karagiozis puppet show tradition come to beautiful, animated life in the first Greek full-length animated feature. The village governor decides to appoint a public secretary to serve the illiterate area residents’ writing needs. Karagiozis gladly accepts the position, even though his enthusiasm for the job far outweighs his qualifications.

Fun viewing for the entire family.

Screened September 15, 2024

DODO

Directed by Panos Koutras

dodo

2022 |132 minutes
In Greek and French with English subtitles

Cast: Smaragda Karydi, Akis Sakellariou, Marisha Triantafyllidou, Mariella Savvides, Natasa Exintaveloni, Nikos Gelia, Angelos Papadimitriou, Polydoros Vogiatzis

A dodo, a bird extinct for the last 300 years, suddenly appears at the villa of a financially troubled family on the eve of their daughter’s marriage to a wealthy heir. Wedding preparations are disrupted, and the line between sanity and madness collapses as the situation spins out of control. Not recommended for young audiences.

Nominated for 15 Hellenic Film Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Smaragda Karydi), Best Actor (Akis Sakellariou)

Screened May 19, 2024

1968

Directed by Tassos Boulmetis

Black Stone

2018 |93 mins
In Greek with English subtitles

With Antonis Kafetzopoulos, Stelios Mainas, Errikos Litsis, Ieroklis Michailidis, Giorgos Mitsikostas, Vasiliki Troufakou, Themis Panou, Antonis Antoniou.

On April 4, 1968, an epic basketball game between the Greek AEK team and Slavia Prague, against all odds, gave Greece its first European Cup, a Guinness world record for the largest attendance at a basketball game (80,000 in the Panathenaic Stadium), and a victory that is still talked about. More than just a thrilling David and Goliath story, acclaimed director Tassos Boulmetis uses this historic sporting event to create a docudrama that reveals the fascinating personal and political histories that came to play on the court that night against a backdrop of upheaval that rocked the world in 1968.

Nominated for five Hellenic Film Academy Awards, including Best Film

Screened April 21, 2024

POLYDROSO

Directed by Alexandros Voulgaris (The Boy)

Black Stone

US Premiere
2022 |108 minutes
In Greek with English subtitles

Cast: Sofia Kokkali, Vicky Kaya, Mary Giannoula, Efthymis Filippou

In the words of the director, this is a story about “tender people in a not so tender world,” told with humor, lyricism, and honesty. With his unique directorial approach, Voulgaris centers on a daughter who returns to Polydroso, the place where she was born and raised, to care for her ailing mother. The ties between them grow stronger as they relive past experiences and confront old ghosts that surround them. That a male director so adroitly captures the intimacy and passion of their relationship adds a level of awe and intrigue for so masterful a director.

2023 J.F. Costopoulos Foundation Award, Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Preceded by a short film:

AirHostess – 737

Dir. Thanasis Neofotistos | 2022 | 15 min. With Lena Papaligoura.
A flight attendant, adjusting to having braces on her teeth, does her best to hide the real suffering she is feeling.

Both films are in Greek with English subtitles

Screened March 10, 2024

DIGNITY
ΜΕ ΑΞΙΟΠΡΕΠΕΙΑ

Directed by Dimitris Katsimiris

Black Stone

2022 |75 minutes

Cast: Electra Gennata, Giorgos Ieronymakis, Giannis Kotsifas, Marouska Panagiotopoulou, Thanassis Chalkias, Charisa Tsitsakis, Vangelio Andreadaki

Family members gather on the birthday of their ailing patriarch. What begins as a celebration, however, quickly turns into an intense confrontation when the fraught question of who’s to care for the old man comes up. Secrets and mistakes of the past are revealed, changing the lives of all involved.

2022 Thessaloniki International Film Festival Audience Award, Film Forward Competition

Hellenic Film Academy Award nomination – Best Supporting Actress (Vangelio Andreadaki)

Preceded by a short film:

The Ride

Dir. George Leontakianakos | 2022 | With Makis Papadimitriou, Efi Papatheodorou

A 90-year-old passenger inspires a taxi driver to change his priorities.

Both films are in Greek with English subtitles.

Screened February 18, 2024

LISTEN
ΑΚΟΥΣΕ ΜΕ

Written and directed by Maria Douza

Black Stone

2022 |108 minutes 
In Greek with English subtitles

Cast: Efthalia Papacosta, Dimitris Kitsos, Giorgos Pyrpasopoulos, Yoana Bukopvska Davidova, Mikos Koiukas, Vangelio Andreadaki

When a deaf teenage girl is forced to leave her progressive Athens school and return to the island where her father lives, she is confronted by the dangers brought on by prejudice and intolerance. Her own failure to adjust to the world of the hearing adds to the difficulties she faces. When the stability of her family is threatened and her personal relationships are in shambles, she begins the difficult task of facing the truth and ending self delusions that will lead her to forgiveness and reconciliation.

Hellenic Film Academy Award nomination – Best Supporting Actor (Giorgos Pyrpasopoulos).

Screened Junuary 14, 2024