Full List of Features of Delphi Bank Greek Film Festival in October is Out

 

 

 

The Delphi Bank 24th Greek Film Festival (GFF) will open on October 10, to showcase the unique perspectives of modern Greek filmmakers from all over the world.

A total of 17 films and 15 short films will be presented; including the new thriller The Killing of a Sacred Deer, by acclaimed auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, (The Lobster), Australian documentary Dogs of Democracy, and the forbidden love story Ouzeri Tsitsanis.

The films and short films will screen at Leichhardt’s Palace Norton Street Cinema, October 10-22, with tickets on sale at www.greekfilmfestival.com.au.

“We are absolutely thrilled to present this incredible selection of films from some of the most exciting Greek filmmakers today. The program will delight film fanatics and the local Greek community alike, with a vibrant kaleidoscope of contemporary Greek cinema ranging from the inspiring, to the heart-wrenching, to the downright extraordinary,” said Festival Chair, Nia Karteris.

Opening and Closing Night

The festival will kick off with Roza of Smyrna, dubbed the Greco-Turkish Romeo and Juliet, featuring celebrated theatre actress Lida Protopsalti’s first cinematic starring role in her 66 year career.

On closing night, Ouzeri Tsitsanis, starring Andreas Konstantinou (Little England, GFF 2014); which is a period drama about the forbidden love between a Jewish girl and a Christian boy in Nazi-occupied Thessaloniki, who find refuge in a tavern run by seminal Greek songwriter Vassilis Tsitsanis, will be shown.

Films presented

· The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Farrell, and directed by Oscar-nominee Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, GFF 2016), which is a psychological thriller about a surgeon who must make an unthinkable sacrifice, when his relationship with a teenage boy turns sinister.
· Djam (2017), a musical road film from Cannes veteran Tony Gatlif (Exils), which is a life-affirming journey in Southern Europe, as a free-spirited Greek woman and a lost French woman hit the road together to Mytilene in the midst of the migration crisis.
· Mythopathy (2016), from Tassos Boulmetis (A Touch of Spice, GFF 2004), stars Giannis Niaros (One Breath, GFF 2016) in this wistful comedy-drama as a rare sufferer of “mythopathy” – allowing him to reshape reality whenever he suffers a broken heart.
· The Bachelor (2016), is like The Hangover set in Thessaloniki, starring Greek comedian Yannis Zouganelis on a wild night out involving old flames, petty rivalries and hilarious misfortunes.
· The Other Me (2016), winner of the Audience Award at Thessaloniki Film Festival, is a crime thriller following a professor who teams up with a math teacher to solve five unrelated murders, linked only by cryptic Pythagoras quotes.
· Amerika Square (2016), Greece’s candidate for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2018 Academy Awards, offers timely insight into the migration crisis in Europe, following a racist Greek nationalist who poisons migrants with laced bread.
· Son of Sofia (2016), winner of Best International Narrative Feature at Tribeca, is a magic realist coming-of-age drama about a child escaping his uneasy home life. Transforming into the 1980s Olympic mascot, he befriends a Ukrainian teenage gigolo as the real world closes in.
· Afterlov (2016), is a comedy-drama following a broke musician who locks his ex-girlfriend in the basement of a luxury villa to analyse the reasons their relationship fell apart.
· Boy on the Bridge (2016), based on Eve Makis’ novel The Land of the Golden Apple, is a gripping drama about a young boy who discovers a dark family secret, in the midst of a murder investigation.
· Lines (2016), a modern day Greek tragedy, offers a commentary on life in modern-day Greece through seven stories about seven individuals crushed by the economic crisis.
· Pedro Noula (2016), is a thrilling neo-noir about a young man piecing together his identity after a traffic accident erases his memory, with no clues except a passport, a broken cell phone, a bank check and a photograph of a woman.
· The Story of the Green Line (2016), the latest film by political activist filmmaker Panicos Chrissanthou, is a provocative war drama following two Cypriots from warring sides who embark on dangerous secret journeys together behind enemy lines.

Documentaries

· Dogs of Democracy (2016), from Australian director Mary Zournazi and producer Tom Zubrycki, a dog-lover’s take on famous Turkish cat doco Kedi, follows the lives of stray dogs in Athens, and the people who take care of them.
· 90 Years PAOK: Nostalgia for the Future (2016), from late director Nikos Triantafyllidis chronicles the 90-year history of the iconic Thessaloniki multi-sports club, featuring interviews with players, coaches and members including Greek football legend Giorgos Koudas.
· Trezoros: The Lost Jews of Kastoria (2016), is a heart-rending documentary following the rarely-told stories of Sephardic Jews during the Nazi occupation of Greece, featuring never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with survivors and their families.

Short Films
Accompanying the program will be 15 international and Australian short films. Australian highlights include: Annex, adapted from a story by revered Greek-Australian author Chris Tsolkias, and Melbourne slam poet Luka Lesson’s video Please Resist Me.

International highlights include: Gymnast, starring Greek Olympic gymnast Vasiliki Millousi, and Cube, winner of Best Screenplay at the Athens International Film Festival, about a slacker who can solve Rubik’s Cubes at lightning speeds, but struggles to solve his family’s problems.

The Delphi Bank 24th Greek Film Festival runs October 10-22, 2017 at Palace Norton Street, and also travels to Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Brisbane.