The New York City Greek Film Festival (NYCGRFF) opens this year on September 11 and will present movies and programs through September 14.
The 14th Annual New York City Greek Film Festival supports Greek filmmakers as well as promoting Hellenic Culture to the public of New York City.
This year the Festival will feature a variety of remarkable motion pictures. “We invite you to celebrate Greece’s cultural presence in New York through the lens of Greek Cinema. Our goal remains the same, to provide Greece’s top filmmakers a venue to screen their work here in the United States,” said Maria Tzompanaki, Managing and Artistic Director of NYCGRFF.
Tzompanaki, Cultural Ambassador of the region of Crete, is an accomplished actress and director from Chania, Crete with a global track record of contributions in the arts as well as the preservation and dissemination of Greek culture.
Films at the New York City Greek Film Festival
The movie Murderess will be featured on the opening day of the Festival at The Morgan Library & Museum.
Synopsis
On a remote island in Greece, circa 1900, Hadoula, trapped in her own mother’s rejection, struggles to survive following the dictates of a patriarchal society. Mentally humiliated, amidst the discrediting of her very status as a woman, she wants to be freed not only from her persecutors, but also from her own fate, that of a person who has lost her way. Based on the classic masterpiece by Alexandros Papadiamantis, Murderess’ story revolves around the dominant mother-daughter dipole and the dominant pattern of women’s relationships with each other that initially influence the microcosm of the family and then that of provincial society.
On Thursday, September 12 the short-movie Medium will be screened at the DGA New York Theater.
Synopsis
16-year-old Eleftheria, a stranger in a strange world, meets mysterious neighbor Angelos, who invites her into his fascinating grownup world. Roaming the streets of the scorching hot August city on his bike, she will embark on a journey to discover herself through the ferocity of first love.
Venizelos, follows on Friday at the DGA New York Theater.
Synopsis This docudrama follows one of modern Greece’s greatest politicians as he faces formidable challenges during the critical decade from the Balkan Wars and World War I up to the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. Eleftherios Venizelos’s struggle is told through dramatized scenes, rare archive material, and interviews with experts.
On the same day in the same location, Kapetan Mihalis will be screened.
Synopsis
Crete, 1889. Captain Mihalis is an uncompromising Cretan, whose sacred duty is the liberation of Crete. However, the moment he meets Emine, wife of his blood brother, Nouribeys, he is possessed by a demon. Temptation will not leave him alone and distracts him from his duty. The decision, whether to follow his duty or succumb to his passion, will have a catalytic effect on all… The novel Captain Michalis, upon which the film is based, has won international acclaim, as it has been translated into 28 languages and is Nikos Kazantzakis’ best-selling work worldwide.
At the closing ceremony on Friday the film Behind the Haystacks a 2022 production will be featured at the DGA New York Theater.
Synopsis
A tragic incident on Greece’s northern border strikes a local family of three, pushing them to face their own personal impasses, while having to deeply consider the price for their actions.
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The festival opened in 2007 as a showcase of new and older Greek film productions. It introduced the New York Greek audience to Greek filmmakers and their works. The public embraced Greek cinema with enthusiasm and the festival gained many supporters and followers.
After a steady and successful course, beginning in 2018 and 2019, the New York City Greek Film Festival has broadened its content, functions and activities to include an international meeting platform that welcomes cinematographers from around the world.
