LAGFF 2016

10th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival

June 1-5, 2016 - Egyptian Theatre - Hollywood

OPENING NIGHT FILM:

MYTHOPATHY (Notias) - Directed by: Tassos Boulmetis (100 min)

MYTHOPATHY is a bitter-sweet comedy, about the coming of age of a young man who encounters his first emotional and sexual experiences with women, during the seventies in Greece. Changing the Myths and creating his own version of the stories to serve his wants is what makes him special among his classmates, family and girls.


CLOSING NIGHT FILM:

WORLDS APART (Enas Allos Kosmos) - Directed by: Christopher Papakaliatis (114 min)

Set in modern day Greece, Worlds Apart is comprised of three separate narratives each following a love story between a foreigner and a Greek. Each story represents a different generation falling in love during a time of socioeconomic turmoil that dominates Southern Europe overall, only to connect as a single story in the end. Almost like a triptych work of art where each painting stands alone, yet its true impact lies when viewed as a whole.


FEATURE FILMS:

EVDOKIA - Directed by: Alexis Damianos (92 min)

A prostitute (Evdokia) meets a sergeant (Yorgos). They fall in love and get married after a short love affair. Her profession, however, is a barrier for their relationship. They try to stay together and overcome their inner conflicts, but the social environment crushes them.

ALEX & EVE - Directed by: Peter Andrikidis (92 min)

What will happen when school teacher Alex brings home Lebanese Muslim lawyer Eve – the
love of his life – to meet his Greek Orthodox parents?

CHEVALIER - Directed by: Athina Rachel Tsangari (105 min)

Six men play a game during a sailing trip on the Aegean Sea. At the end of the journey, when the game is over, the man who wins will be the best man. And he will wear on his smallest finger the victory ring: the Chevalier.

FAMILY MEMBER (Melos Ikogenias) - Directed by: Marinos Kartikkis (104 min)

Giorgos and Sofia can hardly manage their financial situation, when suddenly the grandfather dies in his sleep. They decide, that they should tell no one and continue to collect his money from his pension. If it was so simple…

INTERRUPTION - Directed by: Yorgos Zois (110 min)

A postmodern theater adaptation of a classic Greek tragedy takes place in a central theater in Athens. Every night, the audience are seated and the play begins. The main difference is; life imitates art and not the opposite, by letting the people from the audience participate on stage.

INVISIBLE - Directed by: Dimitri Athanitis (84 min)

Aris, 35, worker in a factory is fired without warning. Shocked, feeling a victim, unable to react rationally, Aris decides to take justice into his own hands. He is ready to proceed with his goal, when his ex-wife appears unexpectedly and abandons their little son to him.

THE REPUBLIC - Directed by: Dimitris Tzetzas (112 min)

Politicians who sell off the country for kickbacks, women who fall victims to trafficking and cops who exploit immigrants make up the backdrop for a story of vengeance that is about to bring it all down.

RIVERBANKS (Ochtes) - Directed by: Panos Karkanevatos (96 min)

Two drifters meet in a border post between Greece and Turkey – one a sapper tasked with clearing a deadly minefield; the other a lonely, disillusioned single mother. Both challenge death daily. Chryssa smuggles illegal immigrants across the border, and Yannis tests his lucky streak on the minefield. They are drawn to each other with the blossoming of a fragile yet powerful love which, like their other obsessions, is a way to cheat another death, that of the soul. The chemistry between the two young actors burns across the no man’s land like a wildfire.

SHORT FUSE - Directed by: Andreas Lampropoulos, Kostas Skyftas (86 min)

In this ticking clock action-thriller, a courier’s last delivery of the day may also be
the last day of his life. Strapped with explosives, he must fight for his life while
trying to solve a mystery involving both his family and a criminal empire.

SUNTAN - Directed by: Argyris Papadimitropoulos (104 min)

On a hedonistic Greek island, a middle-aged doctor becomes obsessed with a young tourist when she lets him tag along with her group of hard partying friends.

SYMPTOM (Symptoma) - Directed by: Angelos Frantzis (90 min)

A peculiar creature appears on a remote, rainy island, wearing a leather jacket and staring with eyes that glow in the darkness. Whoever encounters it, loses their mind. The island’s residents seek help from the only person who seems to possess the strength to confront the creature, the woman will put her faith on test and reveal her hidden relationship with the creature.

A TOUCH OF SPICE (Politiki Kouzina) - Directed by: Tassos Boulmetis (108 min)

“A Touch of Spice” is a story about a young Greek boy (Fanis) growing up in Istanbul, whose grandfather, a culinary philosopher and mentor, teaches him that both food and life require a little salt to give them flavor; they both require… A Touch of Spice.

MUSTAFA’S SWEET DREAMS (Ta Glyka Oneira Tou Moustafa) - Directed by: Angelos Abazoglou (83 min)

In the small Turkish town of Gaziantep, 16-year-old Mustafa wants to become a master in the art of making baklava. Amidst the strict training regime, Mustafa dreams of a life beyond the confines of the expectations of his friends and family in a documentary that is both moving and innovative.

DOCUMENTARY FILMS:

AROUND THE WORLD IN 55 DAYS…WITH MUM..AND THE CAMERA - Directed by: Simoni Zafeiropoulou (55 min)

Following Fileas Fogg on his Voyage Around the World, with the main purpose to see how a teenager perceives the world, what interests or challenges her. A perception of the world, without a strict travel plan but trying more to catch the magic of the unexpected.

EXOTICA, EROTICA, ETC. - Directed by: Evangelia Kranioti (71 min)

Sailors are like terrorists. They arrive in ports with a bomb called love and throw it. And do you know what happens? The bomb explodes when they go away and they never come back, destroying the hearts of all the girls in the neighborhood. How strange… To love somebody who pays you..

GOLDEN DAWN: A PERSONAL AFFAIR (Hrisi Avgi: Prosopiki Ypothesi) - Directed by: Angelique Kourounis (90 min)

The financial collapse, the political instability, and the family relations are placed into the spotlight as the documentary is trying to discover “what’s in the head of Golden Dawners, who pose as victims of the system?”

HAIL ARCADIA (Arcadia Haire) - Directed by: Filippos Koutsafis (89 min)

Tegea, Arcadia. A small plain surrounded by mountains on the road leading to Sparta. Far from the sea, which always lies ahead of us. A poetic journey through the past and present of the myth-filled, bucolic province of this holy place.

LUDLOW - Directed by: Leonidas Vardaros (72 min)

The Colorado Coal War of 1913-14, the deadliest class confrontation in US labor history. A war between miners, led by the United Mine Workers of America, and mine-owners led by Rockefeller, and the unexpected contribution of Greek immigrants

MY FRIEND LARRY GUS - Directed by: Vasilis Katsoupis (72 min)

Larry Gus, an ambitious and passionate musician leaves everything behind to pursue his career in the States. Will he reach his goal? Will he prove his father wrong? In the course of three years Larry will be endlessly shooting his journey and experiences along the way.

THE ARCHAEOLOGIST (I Archeologos) - Directed by: Kimon Tsakiris (90 min)

In the final ‘battle’ of her career, a determined archaeologist – who has dedicated all her life to protecting the cultural and natural environment of the land – has 2 months to salvage as much as possible from an archaeological dig which is planned to be flooded during the construction process of a new dam by the Greek National Power Company.

THE LONGEST RUN (O Pio Makris Dromos) - Directed by: Marianna Economou (77 min)

Jasim and Alsaleh are underage refugees who came from Syria and Iraq and ended up in a Greek prison accused of smuggling illegal immigrants. With unique access in the juvenile prison and court room, the film follows the two friends closely while in custody, during the trial and after the verdict through a narrative of suspense which reveals how youngsters are forced to transport migrants across the border to Greece while the smugglers stay behind and continue their job uninterrupted.

THE TOUCH (To Aggigma) - Directed by: Frosini Koutsouti (27 min)

“The Touch” is a short documentary/oral history documentation project on refugee memories from the island of Ikaria during 1941-1946, shared by eight people who were children when World War II broke out. The film combines oral history and visual art to tell a story about the past in the present. Drawing from the cultural and linguistic context of Ikaria, the film invites us «to see» («για δες ») in order to listen, that is, to actively engage in the narration.

The festival also features award winning short films.
For more information please visit: LAGFF 2016