The Night of Hellenic Cinema From An Attendee

“Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and look for trouble.” 
                                                      ― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

Ramsay Seikaly

Los Angeles - You know what they say, third time is a charm and the ninth, well I say heaven sent. This years LAGFF (Los Angeles Greek Film Festival) marks a seminal moment in the fests nine year groundbreaking effort to showcase cutting edge films by Greek and Cypriot movie makers, both home and abroad, in the most sought after venue in the world of entertainment, Hollywood.   

It's intimate setting and high profile participation, from Hollywood's top insiders, gives this 35 film slate of well endowed affluent features and shorts a broad influence in its ongoing effort to connect Hollywood insiders with Greek filmmakers.  

What is apparent this year is the maturity and seasoning the festival has undergone.  From Executive Producer Alex Kalognomos to Festival Director Aris Katopodis to the army of volunteers, interns and staff,  is a reflection of the quality and quantity of films being presented at this years 5 day event at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood.  

For one thing Greeks, yours truly included, do not jump into a concept, a critical idea, a plan of action without first testing the endeavor and nurturing it to a fruition of satisfaction.  Without exception this year's community involvement is at its highest level.  The roster of Greek American organizations from varied agenda's and political backgrounds have joined together to sponsor, to support, to cooperate during the five day event.  Here are a few: AMERICAN HELLENIC COUNCIL, HELLENIC UNIVERSITY CLUB, AHEPA, LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY's PROFESSOR KATERINA ZACHARIA who teaches a course on Greek Cinema among the many note worthy participants lending their resources and services.  

The fests ongoing dialogue to help expand opportunities for up and coming filmmakers both in Greece, Cyprus and throughout the diaspora is best exemplified with the "Roundtable on Distribution" & "Roundtable on Web Content" providing invaluable tools to the filmmakers.  

In addition..."The International Project Discovery Forum, in its third year, aims to encourage co-productions and help Greek filmmakers realize their vision and attracts quality projects and filmmakers", according to Aris Katopodis, this year's festival director.  

"Little England" opened the fest Wednesday and my thoughts are brief.  Very well made, written and executed rich in detail and drama.  I met Pantelis Voulgaris almost a decade ago when he premiered in Los Angeles his lengthy dramatic look at mail order brides "Nyfes".  As was then and as is now I admired his visual story telling style and technique but also pointed out that the length of the film needed to be tightened.  

Europeans tend to focus more on dialogue and milking a scene to the fullest.  We tend to focus on the action and getting to the point.  One of the most dramatic was Friday night's screening of "Straw Dolls" and "Beneath The Olive Tree".  "Straw Dolls" takes a moving tale of an incident during the Armenian genocide at the hands Ottoman Turks at the dawn of the First World War while "Beneath The Olive Tree" chronicles the story of woman caught up in Greece's tumultuous Civil War.  Both exceptionally well made both frankly quite moving and highly emotional.

Closing day on Sunday is special.  Angelo Tsarouchas the czar of Greek comedy and laughter will be premiering a documentary on his antics in Athens as he shares many of the challenges he faced growing up Greek (the least of which was eating...just kidding) in the diaspora.   

Finally this year's honorees for the Orpheus life achievement award are Kary Antholis, president of HBO Miniseries and Cinemax Programming, and Evan Spiliotopulos, who is a graduate of my alma mater American University in Washington, D.C.   

Antholis has helmed multiple mega production for the movie cable channel.  His own work includes the documentary "One Survivor Remembers", which won an Oscar and a Prime Time Emmy in 1995 and was added to the National Film Registry in 2012. 

Spiliotopoulos wrote a number of animiated fillms for Disney notably "The Little Mermaid III" and The Three Musketeers, which earned him a DVDX nomination for Best Screenplay. He transitioned from animation to live action that includes "The Huntsman" which is currently filming.

It truly is a full slate.  As the ninth year draws to a close and the tenth year begins I leave you with another Kazantzakis quote from the book "Zorba The Greek".

“Every man has his folly, but the greatest folly of all … is not to have one.” 
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek 

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