Jury Awards
NEW AWARDS BEGINNING IN 2021
The San Francisco Greek Film Festival proudly announces Jury Awards. A panel of industry professionals will decide one winner in each of three categories: narrative feature, documentary, and narrative short. These will be in addition to our Astron audience favorite awards.
A monetary award will be given to the winner of each category:
$1,000
Best Narrative Feature
$1,000
Best Documentary
$500
Best Narrative Short
2021 NARRATIVE FEATURES JURY
Barry Caine
Barry Caine
Kara Herold
Kara Herold
Kara Herold’s films employ wit, provocative storytelling, and dynamic visual assemblages to comment upon the uneasy intersections between the real life challenges contemporary women face and hidebound cultural expectations and institutions that may limit their life choices. She has written, directed, and produced films ranging from short animations to award-winning documentaries. Grrlyshow, about the girl zine explosion in the ‘90s, premiered at Sundance in 2001 and is distributed by Women Make Movies. Bachelorette, 34, a humorous take on society’s obsession with marriage viewed through a mother-daughter relationship, premiered at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam and played at the Documentary Fortnight at MoMA in 2009. Bachelorette, 34 is distributed by New Day Films. 39 ½ premiered at The Mill Valley Film Festival in 2019.
Kara Herold received an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. She worked at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for twenty years and was a stagehand for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Transmedia at Syracuse University.
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein
Ruthe Stein is the founder and co-director of the Mostly British Film Festival in San Francisco. She covered movies for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1970-2020. She is the author of the forthcoming book One Hundred Brushes With Fame: My Fifty Years Interviewing Celebrities and of the self-help book The Art of Single Living. She wrote a singles column that was syndicated in 30 newspapers in the U.S. and Canada. She teaches film at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco.
Photo courtesy of Pamela Gentile.
2021 DOCUMENTARIES JURY
babaLou
babaLou
A multimedia and special events pioneer, babaLou brings technology, music, and performance art to life through installations and events. Most recent roll out of artist Eric Staller’s Holy Roller was unveiled at SF’s Ocean Beach on New Year’s Day 2020. A long-time associate with the legendary Survival Research Laboratories, Babalou has collaborated with numerous large scale technology artists worldwide.
An avid film devotee and supporter of the film medium and its power to connect all of us around the globe, babaLou has worked extensively with many of the Bay Area film festivals including SF International Film Festival, SF Indie Fest, and Mill Valley Film Festivals. She has served as a juror for the SF Film Festival’s Golden Gate awards and is currently advisor and manager for the Television of Tomorrow Show (www.tvot.com). Always supporting and working with local film productions, she is an advisor for the upcoming documentary Ace In the Hole www.aceinthehole.com
Karen Larsen
Karen Larsen
Karen Larsen is the owner of Larsen Associates, a public relations firm specializing in publicizing independent feature and documentary films, film festivals, and special events for over 35 years. She currently handles Bay Area publicity campaigns for Sony Pictures Classics, Magnolia, Hulu, Apple and others. She is publicist for Mill Valley Film Festival; the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival; IndieFest and 3rd I. She serves as a consultant to many independent filmmakers and has taught classes at San Francisco State, the Art Institute, USF and BAVC. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in the Publicity Branch.
Henry S. Rosenthal
Henry S. Rosenthal
Henry S. Rosenthal was recently declared by Michael Fox of KQED “the Bay Area’s preeminent independent film producer.” He has produced dozens of award-winning features, documentaries and shorts, and consulted on literally thousands more. He has lectured extensively at most Bay Area colleges and universities including University of San Francisco and University of California at Berkeley. He’s currently in production on The Ledge that reunites him with Jeff Feuerzeig after their successful collaborations on The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005) and Author: The JT Leroy Story (2016), and Bruce Conner and the Soul Stirrers.
From 1994 to 2005, he served on the board of directors (the last two as Chair) of the Film Arts Foundation, then the largest regional media arts organization in the country. He is also an Advisory Board member of the San Francisco Cinematheque, San Francisco Indiefest and serves on the board of San Francisco’s historic Roxie Theater. Through these media arts organizations Henry works as an advocate for the independent filmmaker.
Rosenthal works from behind a desk that once belonged to James Brown, and curates the world’s largest collection of two-headed calves.
2021 NARRATIVE SHORTS JURY
Jon Bastian
Jon Bastian
Jon Bastian is a Bay Area based filmmaker, musician, film collector and projectionist. He’s best known for his work on San Francisco’s First and Only Rock’n’Roll Movie: CRIME 1978, and as a behind the scenes fixture on the local film festival circuit.
Allie Light
Allie Light
Allie Light is an Academy Award and Emmy Award filmmaker. She made documentary films for 40 years with her late husband and film partner Irving Saraf. Recently she has turned to narrative dramatic film and is excited to be working with actors. Her most recent film, Any Wednesday, has its world premiere broadcast on May 1, 2021.
Lansia Wann
Lansia Wann
Lansia Wann started her own internationally recognized film festival in college. From there, she continued to gain varied experiences related to her love for film including several production credits as art department coordinator, props, 2nd AD, and more. For almost 20 years, Lansia has worked in film promotions and publicity. She has run local market events for blockbuster films, implemented guerilla marketing tactics for studios, managed red carpet press lines, and secured publicity for festivals like Sundance, SFFILM, CAAMFest, and IndieFest. For 10 years, Lansia produced the Festival Daily Buzz, a special event talk show that interviewed important voices in independent cinema, film journalism, and the film industry, in general. The show had a presence at Cannes Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival, SXSW, Sundance Film Festival, plus many others. And, though the show has had many memorable guests such as Stan Lee, Chloe Zhao, Justin Simien, and Katie Couric; the Russo Brothers possibly stand out as Lansia’s favorite being that they were also her first solo interview as a host on the show.
The Astron Award
AWARDED ANNUALLY TO THE AUDIENCE’S FAVORITE FEATURE AND SHORT FILMS
The San Francisco Greek Film Festival introduced the Astron Award in 2012 to honor and encourage achievements in Greek filmmaking and to enhance the movie experience of the film festival’s moviegoers. Inspired by the ancient Greek word “astir” which means scattered or spread in the sky, astron carries more than its celestial meaning of star. It is used to describe an individual distinguished for his/her talent, abilities, and personality in the field of arts, politics and professional arenas. Our audience votes for their favorite movie in the feature length films and shorts categories.
2020 ASTRON FESTIVAL WINNERS
FEATURE FILM
MY NAME IS EFTIHIA
Directed by Angelos Frantzis
Greece, 2019, 122min
SHORT FILM
CONFESSION
Directed by Andreas Sheittanis
Cyprus, 2019, 22min
Past Astron Feature Film Winners
OLYMPIA
2019
PANTELIS VOULGARIS
2018
THANASIS VEGGOS
2012
2019
FEATURE FILM
HER JOB
Writer-Director Nikos Labôt
90 Minutes
SHORT FILM
VOURVOUROU
Directed by Karina Logothetis
22 minutes, 14 seconds
2018
FEATURE FILM
THE LAST NOTE
Directed by Pantelis Voulgaris
117 Minutes
SHORT FILM
GOLDFISH
Directed by Yorgos Angelopoulos
14 minutes, 21 seconds
2017
FEATURE FILM
ROZA OF SMYRNA
Directed by George Kordellas
97 minutes
SHORT FILM
MEMORIES OF A DOLL
Directed by Michail Charalampidis
9 minutes, 7 seconds
2016
FEATURE FILM
CLOUDY SUNDAY – OUZERI TSITSANIS
Directed by Manousos Manousakis
116 minutes
SHORT
BREAD & OLIVES
Directed by Alexander Jaschik and Iordanis Orfanidis
30 minutes
2015
FEATURE
XENIA
Written by Panos Koutras
2 hours, 14 minutes
SHORT
FOREVER YOUNG
Directed by Spiros Charalambous
20 minutes
2014
FEATURE
A PLACE CALLED HOME
(The Tree and The Swing)
Written/Directed by Maria Douza
105 minutes
SHORT
NICOLETA
Directed by Sonia Liza Kenterman
Written by Tracy Sunderland
19 minutes
2013
FEATURE
J.A.C.E.
Directed by Menelaos Karamaghiolis
145 min
SHORT
THE FOREIGNER (Φόρεϊνερ)
Written and Directed by Alethea Avramis
16 min
Spyros P. Skouras Lifetime Achievement Award
SPONSORED BY TOM SKOURAS
Created in 2018, The Spyros P. Skouras Lifetime Achievement Award honors outstanding film industry professionals of Greek descent. The award is sponsored by Tom Skouras, festival Advisory Board member and nephew of the late Skouras.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
Jim N. Gianopulos
2018
Jim N. Gianopulos
Jim Gianopulos is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Pictures Corporation, a role he assumed in April 2017. In this position, he oversees the studio’s film and television operations worldwide, including production, marketing, distribution and all other facets.
Prior to joining Paramount, he served for 16 years as Chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, overseeing all feature film production, marketing, and global distribution of film and television content in all media for Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox International Productions and Twentieth Century Fox Animation/Blue Sky Studios.
During his time as Chairman and CEO of Twentieth Century Fox, the studio had its most profitable years ever, stemming from a broad range of successful films, including Hidden Figures, Deadpool,The Martian, The Revenant, Kingsman: The Secret Service, SPY, theX-Men and Planet of the Apes films, Life of Pi, The Fault in Our Stars, The Descendants, Black Swan, the Night at the Museum pictures, the Taken series, The Simpsons Movie,Borat, The DayAfter Tomorrow,Walk the Line, Star Wars Episodes 1-3,Minority Report,andMoulin Rouge, among many others. Under his leadership, the studio released the Academy Award-wining Best Pictures Titanic, Braveheart, Birdman, 12 Years a Slave andSlumdog Millionaire.
Mr. Gianopulos also has the unique distinction of having championed two of the biggest gambles, and the two highest grossing films of all time: Avatarand Titanic.
Additionally, from 2009-2012 Mr. Gianopulos oversaw Twentieth Century Fox Television Studios, producers of The Simpsons, 24and many other successful shows.
Previously, Mr. Gianopulos served as President of Twentieth Century Fox International. Before joining Fox, Mr. Gianopulos held senior management positions at Paramount and Columbia Pictures.
Mr. Gianopulos is a Governor and the Treasurer of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, a member of the Board of the USC School of Cinematic Arts, as well as a Trustee of the American Film Institute. He is involved in a number of civic and philanthropic activities including serving as Chairman of the Motion Picture & Television Fund, on the National Entertainment Advisory Council for the Anti-Defamation League and on the Board of the X-Prize Foundation.
Kary Antholis
2019
Kary Antholis
Kary Antholis is the Founding Publisher and CEO of Crime Story Media LLC.
In June 2019, he retired as President of HBO Miniseries and Cinemax Programming after over 25 years with the company.
While he served as an HBO executive, Kary oversaw Academy Award, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning projects, both dramatic and documentary including Chernobyl, Angels in America, Olive Kitteridge, John Adams, The Pacific, The Night Of, Generation Kill, The Corner, Elizabeth I, The Gathering Storm, Wit, Show Me a Hero and Educating Peter.
As head of Cinemax Programming, he led the channel’s branding strategy, commissioning breakthrough series including Strike Back, Banshee, The Knick, Warrior, Jett and Tales from the Tour Bus.
And as a filmmaker he won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject and the Emmy for Outstanding Informational Special for his film One Survivor Remembers, about Holocaust survivor, Gerda Weissmann Klein. One Survivor Remembers was the first HBO program added by the Librarian of Congress to the National Film Registry, an honor given to “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant American films.
Kary serves on the Board of Visitors at Georgetown Law and as an adjunct professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts.
ABOUT SPYROS P. SKOURAS
Spyros Skouras made Marilyn Monroe a star.
Spyros Skouras with President Eisenhower and Archbishop Iakovos.
About Spyros P. Skouras
Spyros Skouras was a giant in the movie industry, an international cultural ambassador, and a humanitarian.
Mr. Skouras was born in 1893 in the village of Skourochori in the Peloponnese. He came from a family of farmers and herders, and life was harsh. When the family’s crops were destroyed in 1907, the young Skouras and two brothers left for better opportunities elsewhere. They ended up in St. Louis, where they worked long hours at several hotels. The Skouras brothers eventually saved up enough money to buy their first movie theater, which they called “Olympia.” Their empire expanded as they bought up more theaters, becoming the top theater operator in St. Louis by 1923. Mr. Skouras continued to move up in the ranks, becoming the general manager of Warner Brother’s 500+ theaters, and later National Theatres.
In 1935, he was a major force in the merger of Fox Film Corporation and Twentieth Century. He would eventually be elected president of the new Twentieth Century Fox (1942-1962) turning into a global film leader. At the helm of TCF, he introduced widescreen movies with the CinemaScope lens, reinvigorating the movie-going experience in the advent of television. “Don’t Bother to Knock,” “The Seven Year Itch,” “The Hustler,” “The King and I,” “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “The Robe” are some of the classics he oversaw during his two-decade reign. Films like “It Happened in Athens” and “The 300 Spartans” were instrumental in positioning Greece as a tourist destination. Mr. Skouras is famous for signing an unknown model to Twentieth Century Fox making Marilyn Monroe a household name as well as the creation of Century City in Los Angeles.
He also led the Greek War Relief Association during WWII, aimed at supporting Axis-occupied Greece. Mr. Skouras successfully lobbied to lift the British naval blockade so that food and medicine could make it to the starving, war-torn nation. Under his leadership, the GWRA was one of the largest humanitarian relief efforts in American history.
As a respected businessmen, Mr. Skouras served on several presidential committees and had relations with the White House under six different administrations. He was a personal friend of President Eisenhower. With his presidential connections, he lobbied for Greece’s interests, solving the Cyprus problem, and keeping stability in the region.
After retiring from Twentieth Century Fox he concentrated his efforts on his long-term shipping interests (Prudential Lines) and in 1969 completed the acquisition of The Grace Lines, establishing Prudential-Grace as a major U.S. flag carrier.
Mr. Skouras passed away from a heart attack in 1971, leaving a magnificent legacy as one of the most prominent Americans of Greek descent.