SAN FRANCISCO – The 23rd San Francisco Greek Film Festival (SFGFF) will take place March 14-21. All programming will be announced soon with further details on the SFGFF website: https://grfilm.com/.
SFGFF will present eight days of in-person screenings at the Delancey Screening Room in San Francisco, in addition to online program offerings.
Started in 2004, the SFGFF is the first and longest-running Greek film festival in the U.S. SFGFF is dedicated to recognizing, supporting, and promoting the best film work by Greek and Cypriot filmmakers from around the world. With screenings of new, innovative, and highly acclaimed films, the SFGFF seeks to inspire, engage, and entertain its diverse audience. Through the powerful medium of film, the Festival sustains, elevates and promotes Greek culture, history and language in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Since its founding, the film festival has showcased over 475 movies, hosted over 100 filmmakers as guests, and inspired, engaged and entertained over 10,000 attendees from San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area.
The SFGFF is funded through sponsorships by individuals and businesses, grants and ticket sales. Entirely run by volunteers, the Festival staff works throughout the year to plan the event, supported by an Advisory Board of experienced and respected community and industry leaders. Proceeds of the film Festival benefit the Modern Greek Studies Foundation, a San Francisco nonprofit which is committed to enriching knowledge and appreciation of Greece’s linguistic, literary, cultural and historic contribution to the Western World.
The San Francisco Greek Film Festival announced a special screening of ‘Giannis in the Cities’ by Eleni Alexandrakis on February 20. Photo: Courtesy of the SFGFF
‘Giannis in the Cities’ Special Screening February 20
The San Francisco Greek Film Festival presents a special one-night only screening on Friday, February 20, 6:30, PM, of ‘Giannis in the Cities’, the documentary drama based on the true story of writer Giannis Atzakas. The screening will be held at the Delancey Street Screening Room, 600 The Embarcadero in San Francisco.
Director Eleni Alexandrakis is expected to be in attendance for a Q&A after the screening. Opening remarks and introduction will be made by Sacramento State University Professor Katerina Lagos. This special screening is presented in collaboration with UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture, Sacramento State Hellenic Studies Program, UC Berkeley Modern Greek and Hellenic Studies Program, and the Modern Greek Studies Foundation.
Tickets available online: https://shorturl.at/gms96.
During the Greek Civil War fought between 1946-1949, childhood itself became a frontline in the clash between government and rebel forces. Under the guise of offering protection and education, the Greek government enticed parents to surrender their children to a system of Childcare Cities that served as indoctrination mills that oftentimes alienated their wards from their own families. In her riveting, visually striking adaptation of the memoir of Greek writer Giannis Atzakas, writer-director Eleni Alexandrakis tells the searing story of Giannis and his experience growing up in these harsh institutions all the while unable to shake the memory of his rebel father and his longing for – and aversion to – a reunion.
Filmmaker Eleni Alexandrakis stated: “My film ‘Giannis in the Cities’ is a free adaptation of the books ‘Diplomena Ftera’ and ‘Tholos Vythos’ by Giannis Atzakas and focuses on the life of Giannis, his thoughts, his soul, and his journey from the day he is uprooted from his natural environment and placed into an imposed world, to the moment he manages to confess all he has experienced to the man who has haunted him for years, by his absence.”
The film’s trailer is available on YouTube: https://shorturl.at/Vjohf.