12th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival
June 4-10, 2018
1968
Greece, 2017, 94 min, West Coast Premiere, Documentary
| Director: Tassos Boulmetis Producer: Makis Angelopoulos, AEK BC Cinematographer: Yiannis Daskalothanasis Editor: Lambis Charalambidis Music: Evanthia Rembutsika Production Designer: Athinaea Spiliotakos Cast: Manolis Mavromatakis, Antonis Kafetzopoulos, Ieroklis Michailidis Makeup: Katerina Mihaloutsou
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April 4th, 1968. Kallimarmaro Stadium is abuzz with thousands of people gathered and millions listening through their radios. The AEK–Slavia Prague basketball game has just begun. A girl in love is dreaming of her wedding day, while the future husband becomes more desperate with every Greek ball going through the hoop. An elderly husband and wife remember the home they left behind. A young communist prisoner cheers from his jail cell, and a PROPO betting shop becomes the place where old and new wounds resurface. Years before this night, three Constantinopolitans decided to create an athletic union that will tell their story. At the end of this night, Greek history will have changed forever.
A FINE LINE
United States, 2018, 71 min, Los Angeles Premiere, Documentary
| Director/Writer: Joanna James Producers: Joanna James, Katy Jordan, Anastasia Ganias Gellin Cinematographer: Robert Featherstone Editor: Russell Greene and Joanna James Music: Petros Kamplanis
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A Fine Line explores why only 6% of head chefs and restaurant owners are women hearing from world-renowned chefs such as Greece’s Official Ambassador of Gastronomy Maria Loi. Following the personal story of a Greek American, small-town restaurateur with a larger than life personality Valerie James, and how she beat the odds while raising two kids.
* 2018 Thessaloniki International Film Festival
* 2018 Womens Film Festival
* 2018 Bettonville Film Festival
* 2017 Globe Docs Film Festival
* 2017 Napa Valley Film Festival
DANCE FIGHT LOVE DIE: WITH MIKIS THEODORAKIS ON THE ROAD
Germany, Greece, 2017, 88 min, North American Premiere, Documentary
| Director: Asteris Kutulas Writer/Producer: Asteris & Ina Kutulas Co-Producers: Schott Music, Yannis Sakaridis, ERT TV Cinematographer: Mike Geranios Editor: Cleopatra Dimitriou & Yannis Sakaridis Music Mix & Mastering: Alexandros Karozas Art Director: Achilleas Gatsopoulos
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Dance Fight Love Die is an exuberant visual epic: a poetic road movie from the cosmos of composer Mikis Theodorakis (Z, Canto General, Serpico, Zorba The Greek). He is the ingenious enfant terrible of our recent European musical history, who inspired millions around the world, a standout artist shaped by his dramatic century, a man who made history.
*2018 London Greek Film Festival
*2018 German, Swiss, Austrian National Distribution
*2017 Hof – International Film Festival
DOLPHIN MAN
United States, 2018, 80 min, Los Angeles Premiere, Documentary
| Director: Lefteris Charitos Writers: Yuri Averof, Lefteris Charitos Producers: Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof, Estelle Robin You, Ed Barreveld Cinematographer: Stelios Apostolopoulos Editor: David Kazala Music: Mathieu Lamboley
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Dolphin Man tells the extraordinary story and legacy of free-diver Jacques Mayol, whose life became the inspiration for Luc Besson’s cult-movie The Big Blue. Narrated by Jean-Marc Barr, the film draws us into Mayol’s world, capturing his compelling journey from Japan to Europe, India and the Bahamas, while immersing viewers into the sensory and transformative experience of free-diving.
* 2018 Hellenic Film Academy – Iris Award for First time Director, Best Documentary
* 2018 Screenwave International Film Festival
* 2018 European First Film Fest
* 2018 Miami Film Festival
* 2017 Tokyo Film Festival
* 2017 Thessaloniki Film Festival
* 2017 Marseille Aquatic Festival
EUROPE
Greece, 2017, 30 min, North American Premiere, Documentary
| Director/Writer: Stavros Stratigakos Producer: Michalis Dimitrakakos Cinematographer: Efstratios Theodosiou Editor: Manos Voumvounidis Music: Dimitris Palatzidis, Vasilis Papavgeris Narrator: Yianna Triantafilli
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The myth depicts the rape of Europe and her fall into the sea. Now Crete is waiting for Zeus, in love with beautiful Europe. Only the sea, a mirror of the dead, ends at the contemporary European continent, and the nightmare of the future human is depicted as a young girl refugee.
FRAGMENTS (Thravsmata)
Greece, 2018, 48 min, North American Premiere, Documentary
| Director/Writer/Cinematographer: Marianna Economou Producer: Theodora Valenti Editor: Athanasios Dovas
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Wanderings through the art and life of sculptress, Alexandra Athanasiadi: Fragments of thoughts, memories and scrap materials are reconstituted and acquire new forms. The pursuit of meaning is shown through a play of words and an old friendship.
* 2018 Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
GOLDEN DAWN GIRLS
Norway, 2017, 93 min, US Premiere, Documentary
| Director: Håvard Bustnes Writer: Håvard Bustnes, Lars K. Andersen Producer: Christian Falch, Håvard Bustnes Cinematographer: Lars Skree, Viggo Knudsen Editor: Anders Teigen Music: Jonas Colstrup Sound Design: Håkon Lammetun
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With many prominent members of the far-right Golden Dawn Party now behind bars, a daughter, a wife and a mother continue to propagate its message – and all three of them are seasoned enough to avoid any slips of the tongue during interviews. But while they regularly stop the interview to make sure that it went as well as they wanted, director Bustnes just leaves the camera running.
* 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival
* 2018 Nordic/Docs
* 2018 Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival
* 2017 IDFA – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam
* 2018 Helsinki Documentary Film Festival
* 2018 Stockfish European Film Festival
* 2018 Docudays UA – International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival
MARBLE HOMELAND (Patrida apo Marmaro)
Greece, 2018, 57 min, North American Premiere, Documentary
| Director/Writer/Producer/Cinematographer: Menios Carayannis Editor: Dimitris Giannakopoulos Music: George Katsanos
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A story about the island of Naxos, marble, and the thread that connects us to Cycladic art. German sculptor Ingbert Brunk talks about the light, the pain, and the love entailed in creation. He explores the concept of the outlander, the migrant, and the relation between loss and existence.
*2018 TDFF – FIPRESCI Award
NIKOS MAMANGAKIS, THE LAST WORD (Nikos Mamangakis, logos telefteos)
Greece, 2018, 63 min, LA Premiere, Documentary
| Director/Writer: Takis Sakellariou Producer: Periklis Papadimitriou Cinematographer: Aristotelis Metaxas Editor: Angeliki Xipolia
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Nikos Mamangakis speaks from his heart for the last time. Familiar and unknown, international and local, elitist and popular, he served many musical genres and left behind emblematic works. Unique salvaged pieces from his last concert and the rehearsals are included, important audiovisual material, framing 84 years of musical life, a heritage of passion for the human, art and life.
* 2018 Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
THE GREAT FIRE OF SALONICA: BIRTH OF A CITY (Thessaloniki 1917: H fotia pou gennise mia poli)
Greece, 2017, 62 min, North American Premiere, Documentary
| Director/Producer: Gregory Vardarinos Writer: Anastasia Bartzoulianou, Filippos Mandilaras, Gregory Vardarinos Cinematographer: Dimitris Stambolis Editor: John Karabelas Music: Dimitra Sideridou Cast: Dimitris Tsilinikos
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An archive-based documentary narrating the experiences of Thessalonikians during the biggest and most destructive fire in the history of their city. It reveals the philosophy and the backdrop of the unprecedented urban change that followed, altering the city forever.
*2018 IDPF Kalamata-Audience Award
*2018 TDF Thessaloniki
*2017 DocFest Xalkida- Special Distinction
THE LAST PARTISAN (O Teleftaios Partisanos)
Greece, 2018, 74 min, LA Premiere, Documentary
| Director/Writer: Andreas Hadjipateras Producer: Valerie Kontakos Cinematographer: Giannis Misouridis, Pantelis Mantzanas Editor: Chronis Theocharis Music: Serafim Tsotsonis
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M. Gelzos is best known as the man who tore the swastika flag from the Acropolis during the Nazi invasion in 1941. Since then he has often been caught between moments of glory and controversy as he continues to battle for his ideals. With the country in a crushing financial crisis, M. Glezos is back in the limelight.
* 2018 Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
THE PROMISE OF TOMORROW 1940-1960
USA, 2009, 58 min, Documentary
| Director/Writer: Anna Gianniotis Producer: Antonia Lianos Editor: Rich Uber Cinematographer: Philip Georgious
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Part Two of the award-winning series, The Greeks of Southern California Through the Century. The documentary series is the universal story of the Greek American experience as seen through the eyes of those who settled in Southern California. “The Promise of Tomorrow” chronicles the Greek American journey of the First Generation Greek Americans who were raised in Southern California, changing the face of our community.
* 2009 Film Advisory Board – Award of Excellence
* 2010 Boston International Film Festival – Indie Special Recognition Award
* 2010 Beverly Hills Film, TV & New Media Festival – Best Feature Documentary
* 2010 Rhode Island International Film Festival
* 2011 San Francisco Greek Film Festival
* 2011 Greek Film Fest, Chicago
* 2011 New York City Greek Film Festival
THISSION CINEMA OF ATHENS
France, Greece, 2016, 52 min, North American Premiere, Documentary
| Director: Maria Douza Writer: Ersi Sotiropoulou Producer: Olga Prud’Hommes Farges, Michael Sarantinos, Maria Kontogianni Cast: Vangelio Andreadaki, Kostis Vasardanis, Ellen Collins, Kaiti Konstantinou Cinematographer: Konstantinos Koukoulios Editor: Yiannis Kostavaras Costume: Penelope Babou Music: Beatrice Thiriet Sound: Nasos Tsialtαs
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“Thission Cinema” is one of the oldest open air cinemas in Athens operating continuously since 1935. Despite its proximity to the Acropolis and the touristy frenzy that surrounds it, “Thission” remains stubbornly timeless exuding an old Athenian aroma, from the time when modern city and ancient ruins co-existed in mutual indifference.
* 2018 International Peloponnesian Documentary Festival
* 2017 ERT2, Cosmote TV
* 2017 Cosmote TV
* 2017 International Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival