And I also Passed by There and Had Paper Shoes to Wear ~ Πέρασα κι εγώ από 'κει κι είχα παπούτσια από χαρτί by Vassilis Loules

On Tuesday 24 January at 19:00 and on Wednesday 25 January at 21:00 the documentary film And I also Passed by There and Had Paper Shoes to Wear, Fairy tales forever (Greece, 2014, colour, 91 min) by Vassilis Loules will be screened in cinema Utopia in the original Greek version with English subtitles. The film is suitable for children.

Synopsis

And I Also Passed by There and Had Paper Shoes to Wear takes us on a journey into the magical world of fairytales. Grandmothers and grandfathers, folk storytellers of rural Greece face the camera and tell fairytales – timeless and universal. Stories of the plains and the mountains that were first told to them when they were children. A documentary film dedicated to perhaps the last people of the land in whom the echo of centuries of oral storytelling lives on. Fairy tales forever.

Director’s note on the film

“And I also passed by there / and had paper shoes to wear, with red tops and toes / and soles full of holes”: this is how the fairytales which people used to tell in the old days would often end. The same ending is given to the fairytales told by the storytellers – perhaps the last of their kind – who appear in the documentary I shot in the villages of Trikala, in central Greece.

At home ~ Στο Σπίτι (2014) by Athanasios Karanikolas

On Tuesday 20 December at 19:00 and on Wednesday 21 December at 21:00 the film At home (Greece, 2014, colour, 103 min) by d'Athanasios Karanikolas will be screened in cinema Utopia in the original Greek version with English subtitles. Not suitable for children under 16 years.

Synopsis 

Nadja lives with Stefanos, his wife Evi and their daughter Iris in a house on the coast of the Aegean Sea. The days pass by uneventfully: Stefanos goes off to work, Evi earns a bit of cash as a translator, and Nadja ensures they have nothing else to worry about. Officially she is their housemaid, but it’s clear she means much more to them. She is an integral part of the family: she’s Iris’s second mother and Evi’s confidante. Nadja attributes the fatigue and weakness she has been feeling of late to her concerns for her daughter, who lives abroad, and also to the intense summer heat. A professional diagnosis unfortunately tells a different story, yet Nadja confronts this difficult situation with characteristic dignity. This intimate drama, unfolding within the walls of a single house, questions human solidarity at a time when Greece is endeavouring to overcome its economic crisis. In the face of uncertainty and the possibility that they might have to relinquish some of their comforts, the protagonists are aware that it might be easier to close their eyes than to open their hearts and assume responsibility for others. From the website of Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Featuring : Maria Kallimani, Marisha Triantafyllidou, Alexandros Logothetis, Zoi Asimaki, Nikos Georgakis, Ieronymos Kaletsanos

Little England (2013) ~ Μικρά Αγγλία by Pantelis Voulgaris

Little England (Greek: Μικρά Αγγλία, Mikra Anglia) is a 2013 Greek period drama–romancefilm directed by Pantelis Voulgaris. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Ioanna Karystiani, Voulgaris' wife, and stars Pinelopi Tsilika, Sofia Kokkali, Aneza Papadopoulou and Andreas Konstantinou. The plot revolves around two sisters, Orsa and Moscha from the island of Andros, dubbed Little England because of its affluence, who are both in love with Spyros; it starts in the interwar period and ends in the 1950s.

The film achieved commercial success in Greece, as it was the second-highest grossing film of 2013 and the first amongst the Greek films. Little England also met critical success domestically and abroad. It was nominated for thirteen Hellenic Film Academy Awards and won six, including the award for Best Film. Internationally, it dominated at the 2014 Shanghai International Film Festival, winning three Golden Goblet Awards for Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actress, and it is also nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Little England was submitted by Greece for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Little England was a major hit in Greece, where it grossed $3,078,029, making it the second-highest grossing film of 2013 in the country behind only The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The film grossed $537,314 in its opening weekend and topped the box office, while it stayed in top four in the following six weekends.

Critical response

Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter describes the film as "A woman's picture in the best sense of the word" and a "handsomely mounted and impeccably acted film."

* Source: Wikipedia

Little England (2013) ~ Μικρά Αγγλία by Pantelis Voulgaris

Little England (Greek: Μικρά Αγγλία, Mikra Anglia) is a 2013 Greek period drama–romancefilm directed by Pantelis Voulgaris. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Ioanna Karystiani, Voulgaris' wife, and stars Pinelopi Tsilika, Sofia Kokkali, Aneza Papadopoulou and Andreas Konstantinou. The plot revolves around two sisters, Orsa and Moscha from the island of Andros, dubbed Little England because of its affluence, who are both in love with Spyros; it starts in the interwar period and ends in the 1950s.

The film achieved commercial success in Greece, as it was the second-highest grossing film of 2013 and the first amongst the Greek films. Little England also met critical success domestically and abroad. It was nominated for thirteen Hellenic Film Academy Awards and won six, including the award for Best Film. Internationally, it dominated at the 2014 Shanghai International Film Festival, winning three Golden Goblet Awards for Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Actress, and it is also nominated for a Satellite Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Little England was submitted by Greece for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated.

Little England was a major hit in Greece, where it grossed $3,078,029, making it the second-highest grossing film of 2013 in the country behind only The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The film grossed $537,314 in its opening weekend and topped the box office, while it stayed in top four in the following six weekends.

Critical response

Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter describes the film as "A woman's picture in the best sense of the word" and a "handsomely mounted and impeccably acted film."^[2]

* Source: Wikipedia

Drama Short Film Festival travels to Luxembourg

Drama Short Film Festival travels to Luxembourg: this month we are bringing you the best short Greek films that were awarded prizes in the 2015 Short Film Festival in Drama.

Please note that this time Cine Club Hellénique makes an exception by bringing variety in our two-day screenings. In order to be able to screen every single film that won a prize or a distinction in "2015 Short Film Festival in Drama", we have a different programme for each of the two days of our screenings. You can pick the day that inspires you the most, or join us both days!

Screenings are taking place at Utopia Cinema, as usual. Program as follows:

Tuesday, October 25 at 19.00 

EUROMAN / G.Tzafkas / 22min / Silver Dionysos - Special Mention

ECDYSIS / F.Tsolina / 17min / Special Award "Dinos Katsouridis" for the Best Newcomer Director

JOANNA / P.Fafoutis / 9min / Best Sound - Best Original Music

INNER LAND / V.Papageorgiou / 18min 

TIDES – A STORY TOLD BY THE SEA / S.Litsa / 11min / Special Mention

PROSOPON: A FACE TOWARD A FACE / T.Thoma / 5min / Best Student Film Award

SIMON SAYS / N.Tseberopoulos / 13min / Special Award "Socratis Dimitriadis" for the Category "Greeks Of The World"

BLUE TRAIN / M.Mavris / 15min / Special Award
(total time 110min)

Click 'Read More' for Wednesday's program.

A Family Affair (2015) - Μία Οικογενειακή Υπόθεση by Angeliki Aristomenopoulou

On Tuesday 20 September at 19:30 and on Wednesday 21 September at 21:00 the documentary A Family Affair (Greece, 2015, colour, 87 min) by Angeliki Aristomenopoulou on the Xylouris family will be screened in cinema Utopia in the original Greek version with English subtitles. Not suitable for children under 12 years.

Synopsis

The Xylouris Family is Greece’s most famous musical clan. Three generations of musicians uphold and pass on the vibrant tradition of Cretan music, performing ceaselessly to followers across the world. From 80-year-old Psarantonis, credited with reinventing Cretan music, to his son Psarogiorgis and teenage grandchildren,  A Family Affair  discovers the electrifying power of their music and the sacred ties that hold the family together.

A driving force behind the discovery of Cretan music for global audiences, Psarantonis’ musical lineage stretches back generations and into the future. His son George, a singer and lute player, joined his family band as a teen, travelling the world and keeping the tradition of Cretan music alive. While on tour in Australia, George met his wife, Shelagh, and over the years the couple has split their time between Crete and Melbourne. Their three children, Nikos, Adonis and Apollonia, all share their father’s musical talents and have embraced the riches that come from a cross-cultural upbringing.

Rebetiko Tribute by Greek Cinema Club of Luxembourg

In the framework of the festival "Au cœur des faubourgs-Kardiá" organised by Neimënster, the Greek Cinema Club will screen, in collaboration with and in the premises of Cinématèque (17, place de Théâtre) three films on rebetiko, a kind of Greek popular songs and music, in the original Greek version with English subtitles.

MY SWEET CANARY by Roy Sher (documentary, Greece/France/Israel, 2011, 90 min), on Monday 27 June at 20:30 

I LIKE HEARTS LIKE MINE (documentary, Greece, 2000, 65 min), in the presence of the director, George Zervas on Wednesday 29 June at 18:30 in the presence of the director, who will take answers from the audience after the screening, and

REBETIKO (drama, Greece, 1983, 106 min) on Wednesday 29 June at 20:30

More info on the films to be found at the Cinematheque section of the Ville de Luxembourg website here.

Please check our Facebook Page for more info and YouTube videos that put on focus Rebetiko music genre.

Greek Version

Στο πλαίσιο του φεστιβάλ "Au cœur des faubourgs-Kardiá" που διοργανώνεται από το Neimënster, η Ελληνική Κινηματογραφική Λέσχη Λουξεμβούργου θα προβάλει σε συνεργασία με και στην αίθουσα της Cinématèque (17, place de Théâtre) τρεις ταινίες με θέμα το ρεμπέτικο τραγούδι, με αγγλικούς υποτίτλους:

ΚΑΝΑΡΙΝΙ ΜΟΥ ΓΛΥΚΟ του Ρόι Σερ (ντοκιμαντέρ, Ελλάδα/Γαλλία/Ισραήλ, 2011, 90’) τη Δευτέρα 27 Ιουνίουστις 20:30

Τρεις νέοι μουσικοί, ένας Ισραηλινός, μια Τουρκάλα και μια Ελληνίδα, ακολουθούν τα μουσικά ίχνη της Ρόζας Εσκενάζυ, κορυφαίας ερμηνεύτριας του σμυρναίικου και ρεμπέτικου τραγουδιού. Ιστορικά και μουσικά τεκμηριωμένο ντοκουμέντο, το οποίο αποτυπώνει με απλότητα, με στερεά λόγια, καθαρές εικόνες κι εξαιρετικές νέες εκτελέσεις λαϊκών αριστουργημάτων τη διαχρονική αξία των θλιμμένων και γλεντζέδικων μελωδιών του ρεμπέτικου. Και ταυτόχρονα την ατμόσφαιρα μιας ολόκληρης εποχής και τη δύναμη της μουσικής να καταργεί γλώσσες και σύνορα.

Matriarchy | Μητριαρχία (2014) by Nikos Kornilios

SIXTY WOMEN. SEVEN DAYS. ONE WORLD.

A shelter is threatened by shutdown and demolition.
60 women of different ages, nationalities and social backgrounds gather in order to defend it, attempting to redefine their place in today’s world. 

By day they discuss and clash over all matters concerning them. Society, sexuality, politics, relations, maternity, work. 

By night they let themselves free to express, dance, sing, confess theirlivedexperiences to one another. 

What will come out of such an undertaking?

Ελληνική Βερσιόν

ΕΞΗΝΤΑ ΓΥΝΑΙΚΕΣ. ΕΠΤΑ ΗΜΕΡΕΣ. ΕΝΑΣ ΚΟΣΜΟΣ.

Ένα καταφύγιο γυναικών απειλείται με σφράγιση και κατεδάφιση.
60 γυναίκες διαφορετικών ηλικιών, εθνικοτήτων και κοινωνικών προελεύσεων συγκεντρώνονται για να το προστατεύσουν, επιχειρώντας να επαναπροσδιορίσουν τη θέση τους στον κόσμο σήμερα. 

Την ημέρα συζητούν και συγκρούονται. Κοινωνία, σεξουαλικότητα, πολιτική, σχέσεις, μητρότητα, εργασία.

Τη νύχτα αφήνονται να εκφραστούν, να χορέψουν, να εξομολογηθούν βιώματα κι εμπειρίες. 

Τι θα προκύψει από ένα τέτοιο εγχείρημα;

Wild Duck (2013) by Yannis Sakaridis

On Tuesday 19 April at 19:00 and on Wednesday 20 April at 21:00 the film Wild Duck (Greece, 2013, colour, 88 min) by Yannis Sakaridis will be screened in cinema Utopia in the original Greek version with English subtitles. Not recommended for children under 16 years. 

NOTE: The screening of 19 April will be followed by a Q&A with the director.

Synopsis 

Subtly echoing the 2005 episode dubbed "the Greek Watergate," a pair of telecom engineers set out to investigate hacker activity — make a scandalous discovery— in this timely and politically charged debut from director Yannis Sakaridis.

Wild Duck is the story of Dimitris, a telecommunications engineer who’s forced to shutter his business after running up a considerable debt with a local loan shark. He and his buddy Nikos, another telecommunications expert working for a big outfit, decide to get to the bottom of a big scandal. Their research leads them to a certain apartment, whose tenant Panagiota becomes the focus of their attention. Dimitris is now facing some major dilemmas and a trip to his hometown will help him clear his head and look at himself under a different light.

Cast: Alexandros Logothetis, Themis Bazaka, George Pyrpasopoulos, Yannis Stankoglou, Ilias Logothetis, Eleni Charantoni, Efi Tsapareli, Kostas Papakyriakou, Yannis Stampoultzis, Antonis Xylourgidis, Christos Sakaridis

One Last Joke | Η Τελευταία Φάρσα (2013) by Vassilis Raisis

On Tuesday 15 March at 19:00 and on Wednesday 16 March February at 21:00 the film One Last Joke (Greece, 2013, colour, 83 min) by Vassilis Raisis will be screened in cinema Utopia in the original Greek version with English subtitles. 

Synopsis

Four young scientists have a strange "hobby"; they love making pranks - revelations in psychics, spiritualists, etc. One of them becomes member in a group of pseudo-therapist to reveal his deception. Things, though, will not go as planned. The film was awarded at the 54th Thessaloniki Film Festival with the Fischer Audience Award Program Michael Cacogiannis. 

Starring: Nicolas Piperas Marina Kalogerou, Nikos Monastiriotis, Yota Argyropoulos, Michael Kaliotsos, Andreas Marianos

Ελληνική βερσιόν

Η Ελληνική Κινηματογραφική Λέσχη Λουξεμβούργου θα προβάλει την Τρίτη 15 Μαρτίου στις 19:00 και την Τετάρτη 16 Μαρτίου στις 21:00 στον κινηματογράφο Utopia την ταινία Η Τελευταία Φάρσα (Ελλάδα, 2013, διάρκεια 83 λεπτά, έγχρωμη) του Βασίλη Ραίση.

Σύνοψη

Τέσσερεις νέοι επιστήμονες έχουν ένα περίεργο «χόμπυ»: Να κάνουνε φάρσες – αποκαλύψεις σε μέντιουμ, πνευματιστές κλπ. Ένας από αυτούς μπαίνει στην ομάδα ενός ψευδο-θεραπευτή ώστε να αποκαλύψει την απατεωνιά. Εκεί όμως, τα πράγματα δεν θα πάνε όπως τα σχεδίασε.  Η ταινία έχει βραβευτεί με το Βραβείο Κοινού Fischer του Ελληνικού Προγράμματος Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης στο 54ο Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου Θεσσαλονίκης.

Πρωταγωνιστούν: Νικόλας Πιπεράς, Μαρίνα Καλογήρου, Νίκος Μοναστηριώτης, Γιώτα Αργυροπούλου, Μιχάλης Καλιότσος, Ανδρέας Μαριανός

Xenia | Ξενία (2014) by Panos Koutras

On Tuesday 23 February at 19:00 and on Wednesday 24 February at 21:00 the film Xenia (Greece / France / Belgium, 2014, colour, 128 min) by Panos Koutras will be screened in cinema Utopia in the original Greek version with English subtitles. Not suitable for children under 16 years. 

Synopsis

This is the first Cannes selection for the director who has been described as the Greek Almodovar. Fifteen years after the crazy romp that was The Attack of the Giant Mousaka, Panos Koutras has made Xenia, a coming of age film that tells the story of two brothers as they journey across Greece in search of the father they have never known.

After the death of their mother, Dany, 16, leaves Crete to join his older brother, Odysseas, who lives in Athens. Born from an Albanian mother and a Greek father they never met, the two brothers, strangers in their own country, decide to go to Thessaloniki to look for their father and force him to officially recognize them. At the same time in Thessaloniki, is held the selection for the cult show, “Greek Star.” Dany dreams that his brother Odysseas, a gifted singer, could become the new star of the contest, in a country that refuses to accept them.

Cast: Kostas Nikouli, Nikos Gelia, Aggelos Papadimitriou, Romanna Lobach, Marissa Triandafyllidou, Yannis Stankoglou and Patty Bravo as herself

Runaway Day (2013) by Dimitris Bavellas

Runaway Day (2013)  by Dimitris Bavellas, a Black & White sci-fi drama is our first film of the year. 

Synopsis

Runaway Day is shot in 16 mm black and white film in order to bring to the foreground the suffocation and despair, which is a basic element of the story (along with black humor). The visual style of the film is similar to a 60's low budget b-movie. The main difference is that, in our case, the villains are not flesh eating zombies or the Creature from the black lagoon, but the city itself and the problems that it generates to its residents.

Our main aim by writing and filming Runaway Day is to depict a mosaic of the new Greeks and how lost they feel in modern days Athens. Furthermore, we want to highlight the gradual decline and decadence of this place, an once beautiful city.

Featuring: Maria Skoula, Efthymis Papadimitriou, Errikos Litsis, Christos Stergioglou and more.