LOS ANGELES GREEK FILM FESTIVAL ​​2015 FILM LINE-UP

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LITTLE ENGLAND (MIKRA AGGLIA)
Greece, 2014, 132 min
Opening Night Presentation

Director: Pantelis Voulgaris
Writer: Ioanna Karystiani
Producer: Katerina Helioti
Cast: Penelope Tsilika, Andreas Konstantinou, Sofia Kokkali, Anneza Papadopoulou, Maximos Moumouris

A turbulent tale of a secret love shared between two sisters and one man set in the seafaring community of Andros, Greece, during the 1930’s. Suppressed feelings are later rekindled and cruel games of fate reveal secrets, leading to devastation.

* 2014 Shanghai International Film Festival – Golden Goblet Award
* 2014 Palm Springs International Film Festival
* 2014 Hellenic Film Academy Award – Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Scenography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Make up

XENIA
Greece/France/Belgium, 2014, 128 min, LA Premiere
Closing Night Presentation

Director: Panos H. Koutras
Writers: Panos H. Koutras, Panagiotis Evangelidis
Producers: Eleni Kossyfidou, Panos H. Koutras, Alexandra Boussiou, Juliette Lepoutre, Sébastien Delloye, Diana Elbaum, Marie-Pierre Macia
Cast: Kostas Nikouli, Nikos Gelia, Aggelos Papadimitriou, Romanna Lobach, Marissa Triandafyllidou, Yannis Stankoglou, Patty Bravo

Following the death of their mother, two brothers undertake an odyssey from Athens to Thessaloniki in search of the father they have never met, in this wry and affecting road movie from Greek director Panos Koutras

* 2014 Un Certain Regard, Festival de Cannes
* 2014 Toronto International Film Festival
* 2014 Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival
* 2015 Hellenic Film Academy Award -Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Costume Design
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FEATURES

AT HOME (STO SPITI)
Greece, 2014, 103 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer: Athanasios Karanikolas
Producers: Argyris Papadimitropoulos, Lasse Scharpen
Cast: Maria Kallimani, Alexandros Logothetis, Marisha Triantafyllidou, Zoi Asimaki, Giannis Tsortekis

For many years, Nadja has worked as a housekeeper for an upper class Greek couple and their daughter. She’s allowed to feel like part of the family. When she’s diagnosed with a serious illness, and the man of the house runs into financial difficulties due to the economic crisis, Nadja loses her job. Yet she shows no external sign of how these two traumatic events have affected her.

* 2014 Berlin International Film Festival, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Forum
* 2014 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
* 2015 Hellenic Academy Awards – Best Actress

STRATOS (LITTLE FISH)
Greece, Germany, Cyprus, 2014, 138 min, LA Premiere

Director: Yannis Economides
Writers: Yannis Economides, Thanos Xiros, Vangelis Mourikis, Harry Lagoussis, Christos V. Konstantakopoulos
Producers: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Panos Papahadzis, Michael Weber
Cast: Vangelis Mourikis, Yannis Anastasakis, Petros Zervos, Vicky Papadopoulou, Yannis Tsortekis, Yorgos Yannopoulos

Stratos is a man trying to find redemption in a decadent world, where morals and personal boundaries have been replaced by money as the only value. After years in prison, he now works in a bread factory – and as a contract killer. With the money, he wants to help his friend who once saved his life. He always pays his debts, but he must learn that the price is higher than expected.

* 2014 Berlin International Film Festival
* 2014 Thessaloniki Film Festival, Best Film 
* 2015 Hellenic Film Academy Awards, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress

NORWAY (NORVIYIA)
Greece, 2014, 74 min

Director/Writer: Yiannis Veslemes
Producers: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Yorgos Tsourgiannis
Cast: Vangelis Mourikis, Daniel Bolda, Yannis Bostantzoglou, Alexia Kalsiki, Vasilis Kamitsis, Markos Lezes

Zano arrives in the big city for the very first time. The year is 1984, and Athens beckons. A vampire and a fine dancer, all Zano wants is a “warm girl”. Lured into their shady shenanigans, Zano, a prostitute, and a Norwegian drug dealer traverse mountains and descend into the core of the earth, finding the Kingdom of Mathousalas.

* 2014 Thessaloniki International Film Festival – Fipresci Prize
* 2014 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
* 2014 Stockholm International Film Festival
* 2015 Hellenic Film Academy Awards – Best First Feature Direction, Best Music, Best Art Direction, Best Make Up, Best Special FX

THE FIRST LINE (PROMAKHOS)
USA, 2014, 86 min, LA Premiere

Directors/Writers/Producers: Coerte Voorhees, John Voorhees
Cast: Pantelis Kodogiannis, Kassandra Voyagis, Paul Freeman, Giancarlo Giannini, Georges Corraface

Two Athenian attorneys pursue litigation for the return of the Parthenon Marbles. Just as the bronze statue of Athena Promakhos used to stand guard in front of the Parthenon, they both must find the courage to stand in defense of what they love.

* 2014 Thessaloniki Film Festival
* 2014 Australian Greek Film Festival

WEDNESDAY 04:45 (TETARTI 04:45)
Greece/Germany/Israel, 2015, 116 min, West Coast Premiere

Director/Writer: Alexis Alexiou
Producer: Thanassis Karathanos
Cast: Stelios Mainas, Dimitris Tzoumakis, Adam Bousdoukos, Giorgos Symeonidis, Mimi Branescou, Maria Nafpliotou

Athens, Greece, today: 32 hours in the life of Stelios Dimitrakopoulos, a small time night-club owner in Athens, who struggles to salvage his bankrupt business from loan-sharks, while the city and the whole country go up in flames.

* 2015 Tribeca Film Festival
* 2015 Jeonju Film Festival 
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DOCUMENTARIES

A FAMILY AFFAIR (MIA OIKOGENEIAKI YPOTHESI)
Greece, 2014, 87 min, LA Premiere

Director/Writer: Angeliki Aristomenopoulou
Producers: Rea Apostolides, Yuri Averof
Co-Producers: Greek Film Center, OTE TV, ABC TV

A Family Affair is an intimate portrait of the famous Xylouris family and their sacred bonds with the musical tradition of Crete. The film follows three generations of family musicians who uphold and pass on the vibrant tradition of Cretan music, performing ceaselessly to followers across the world.

* 2014 Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
* 2015 FIPA – Gold Award
* 2015 Hellenic Greek Academy Award – Best Documentary Award

AGORA
Greece/Germany/Qatar, 2015, 117 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer: Yorgos Avgeropoulos
Producers: Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Anastasia Skoubri

The Agorá was a central area in Ancient Greece city-states. It was a gathering place, an assembly of active citizens, and the City centre for political, economic, athletic, artistic and spiritual life. It was the heart of democracy. In modern Greece the word Agorá has lost its initial sense and it has come to denote solely the place and act of commercial transactions. It is a dominant word in the reality experienced today by Greeks, as the country goes through an economical vortex that devours human lives in its path.

* 2015 Dok. Fest, 30th International Documentary Film Festival
* 2015 Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival
* 2014 FIPA Industry – Best Pitched Project Award

A NIGHT IN ATHENS
Canada, 2014, 60 min, World Premiere

Director: George Tsioutsioulas
Writer: Angelo Tsarouchas
Producer: Robert Cordileone
Co-Producers: Angelo Tsarouchas, George Tsioutsioulas
Cast: Angelo Tsarouchas
[TRAILER COMING SOON]

In Angelo Tsarouchas’ latest one-hour comedy special, he does what no other westernized comedian has done before- he goes back to his ancestral home to perform in front of a sold out audience in Athens, Greece. “A Night In Athens”, takes you on a hilarious ride as Angelo shares many of the challenges he faced growing up Greek in the diaspora. Those experiences have shaped who Angelo is as a man and as a comic. ‘A Night in Athens’ was recorded live while Angelo was in Greece filming a documentary on his life titled ‘Back to Sparta’.

BENEATH THE OLIVE TREE
US, 2015, 76 min, LA Premiere

Director: Stavroula Toska
Writers: Stavroula Toska, Sophia Antonini
Producers: Stavroula Toska, Sophia Antonini
Cast: Olympia Dukakis (Narrator)

Secret journals document the atrocities and the true life stories of the women caught up in Greece’s tumultuous Civil War, fought in the mid 1940’s.

* First Time Film Festival – Outstanding Achievement in Editing
* Julien Dubuque International Film Festival

FOLLOWING SHIRA’S JOURNEY: A GREEK JEWISH ODYSSEY
Australia, 2014, 50 min, US Premiere

Directors/Writers: Carol Gordon & Natalie Cunningham
Producer: Carol Gordon
Music Composer: John Koudounis

The untold story of the Greek Holocaust. History records an 87% loss of Greece’s Jewish population as a result of the Nazi atrocities of the Second World War, and yet the experiences of these once dynamic communities are not widely known.

* 2015 Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival

MEDEA: LOUDER THAN MY THOUGHTS (MEDEA: KREISSON TON EMON VOULEUMATON)
Greece, 2014, 94 min, US Premiere

Director: Nikos Grammatikos
Writers: Nikos Panayiotopoulos, Vangelis Mourikis
Producers: Katerina Oikonomou, Eirini Vougioukalou, Vangelis Mourikis
Cast: Yukiko Krontira, Vangelis Mourikis, Tasos Nousias, Adonis Adoniou

In MEDEA: LOUDER THAN MY THOUGHTS, the text of the play Medea, by Euripides, is the project’s raison d’être. In a magical way, it becomes the discovering climax of the focus for the film. The story of Medea, with its unique force, acts as a channel through which we enter into a thrilling and unpredictable quest, trying to find lost signs and meanings.

PANAYIOTIS TETSIS: PLAYING WITH COLORS
Greece, 2014, 100 min, US Premiere

Director/Producer: Yannis Vamvakas
Writers: Yannis Vamvakas, Liberty Polyzou

The life and work of the patrician artist Panagiotis Tetsis, who helped establish contemporary Greek painting of the 20th century, is highlighted and celebrated in this colorful documentary.

* 2014 London Greek Film Festival – Best Documentary Award
* 2014 International Thessaloniki Film Festival

RECYCLING MEDEA
Germany, 2014, 75 min, LA premiere

Director: Asteris Kutulas
Writers: Asteris & Ina Kutulas
Producers: Asteris Kutulas, Klaus Salge
Cast: Maria Kousouni, Danilo Zeka, Bella Oelmann, Renato Zanella, Mikis Theodorakis

Medea kills her kids. Despite being recycled through a myriad of versions since antiquity, this subject has lost none of its everyday and brutal topicality. Script, sound, and dance join forces in a powerful film that reflects the desperation of a society that spent all past efforts turning its children into those who have become today’s lost generation.

* 2014 Cinema for Peace – Most Valuable Documentary Award
* 2014 The International Art Film Festival Tel Aviv EPOS
* 2014 Premiere at Anthology Film Archives
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SHORT FILMS

A PORTRAIT
Greece, 2014, 2 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer/Producer: Aristotelis Maragkos
[TRAILER COMING SOON]

Through a fluid storyline, etching out the shaky outline of his grandfather’s unconventional life and unexpected death in rural Greece, the artist is also discovering parts of himself and sharing his reflections on both their identities.

* 2014 Leeds International Film Festival
* 2014 Encounters Short Film And Animation Festival
* 2015 Brussels Animation Film Festival
* 2015 Amnesty International Animated Film Festival

ATHANASIOS
US, 2014, 7 min

Director: Alexi Papalexopoulos
Writers: Nick Kostopoulos, Alexi Papalexopoulos
Producers: David Laurence Morse, Alexi Papalexopoulos
Cast: Thanasis Maskaleris, Aleks Aouad, Kosta Kakoniktis, Derek Chariton
[TRAILER COMING SOON]

Athanasios, a mischievous, 21 year old Greek American, lives and works with his grandfather, a Greek immigrant, in the family shoe repair store. Through the telling of his grandfather’s survival of the Kalavryta Massacre in 1943, Athanasios realizes and appreciates his heritage.

BLUE TRAIN
United Kingdom, 2014, 15 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer: Manolis Mavris
Producers: Mando Stathi, Myrto Stathi
Cast: Jordan Mallory Skinner, Samuel Glassborow, Catherine McDonough, Melissanthi Mahut, Andrew McDonald

Thirty-year-old Liam, pervaded by a feeling of childhood nostalgia, takes a trip in time, through his phobias and memories, to find his true identity and his Utopian past.

* 2014 Leeds International Film Festival

BUTTERFLY
Greece, 2014, 20 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer: Yianna Dellatolla
Producer: Zoe Kanellopoyloy
Cast: Marianna Panagidou, Yiannis Kyrilis, Pavlos Emmanouilidis, Marianna Pouloutiadou, Alexandra Poulou, Rosamalia Kyriou
[TRAILER COMING SOON]

A young love between a boy and a girl in elementary school turns into a heartbreak when their family dramas end up affecting their sensitive interaction.

* 2014 Athens International Film Festival
* 2015 Film Festival International London – Best Story Nomination, Best Director of a Foreign Film Nomination, Best Lead Actress Nomination
* Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award

CINEASTES
USA, 2014, 20 minutes

Director: Alexander Vo
Writers: Peter Mackie, Alexander Vo
Producer: Peter Mackie
Cast: Yorgos Karamihos, Lydia Muijen, Scarlett Redmond

A lonely, obsessive moviegoer develops complicated feelings for a female stranger who he feels to be a kindred spirit.

CITIZEN DAY (JOURNÉE D’APPEL)
France, 2014, 21 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer: Basile Doganis
Producer: Jean-Christophe Reymond
Cast: Christopher Bécherot, Mohamed Ghanem, Malamine Sissoko, Rabah Naït Oufella, Lamine Cissokho
[TRAILER COMING SOON]

A crew of teenagers from a Parisian suburb have to attend their Citizen Day at the military base in Versailles, but one of them, Chris, is turned away for arriving too late. Chris wants to go straight back home, but Momo, the hood’s “loser”, convinces him to spend the day with him at the Château de Versailles.

* 2015 Aubange International Film Festival – Special Prize of the Jury
* 2015 Rencontres Ciné en Herbe Montluçon – City Prize

DINNER FOR FEW
Greece, 2014, 10 min

Director/Writer: Nassos Vakalis
Producers: Nassos Vakalis, Katerina Stergiopoulou

Those who eat their fill speak to the hungry of wonderful times to come.

* 2014 SITGES, Festival International de Cinema Fantastic, Spain – Special Mention
* 2014 Curtacinema, Rio de Janeiro ISFF, Brazil – Audience Award
* 2015 Medina del Campo Film Festival, Argentina – Best International short film
* 2015 Rio de Janeiro International Short Film Festival – Audience Award
* 2015 Unicipar Film Festival, Argentina – Best International Short Film

FOREVER YOUNG (DEN THA GERASOUME POTE)
Greece, 2014, 21 min, LA Premiere

Director: Spiros Charalambous
Writer: Dimitris Papanastasiou
Producers: Alexantra Mpousiou, Spiros Charalambous
Cast: Vana Pefany, Costas Nikoyli, Giorgos Tsialos, Nansy Mpoukli, Chistina Hela Fameli, Maria Kaliba
[TRAILER COMING SOON]

On the last night of August, Nikos will make love for the first time. When September dawns, Maria will start her new life.

* 2014 20th International Film Festival of Athens
* 2015 Cannes Short Film Corner

GREEK SCHOOL PRAYER (PROSEFHI)
Greece, 2014, 20 min, US Premiere

Director: Thanasis Neofotistos
Writers: Thanasis Neofotistos, Grigoris Skarakis
Producers: Kyriakos Hatzimichailidis, Thanasis Neofotistos
Cast: Christos Karavevas, Stelios Karambinas

While seeking their identity, two high school students will inevitably test each other’s boundaries through violence.

* 2014 Drama Film Festival – Golden Dionysus Award, Best Sound Award
* 2014 Athens Film Festival – Honorable Mention
* 2014 Greek Film Academy Awards – Best Short Film Nomination

KILLING MY GIRL
United Kingdom/Greece, 2014, 12 min

Director/Writer: Tasos Giapoutzis
Producers: Michael Carter, Tasos Giapoutzis
Cast: Samila Kularatne, Kanchan Raval, Ludovic Moktary, Vinod Ghei

A young South Asian woman living in London is forced to undergo sex-selective abortion against her will.

* 34th Black Maria Film Festival – Director’s Choice Award
* International Euro Film Festival – Art, Human Rights, Drama, Woman, Social Category Winner
* 2015 Learning On Screen Awards – Best Student Film Nomination
* 2015 London Short Film Festival

LULLABY OF THE BUTTERFLY
Cyprus, 2014, 20 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer/Producer: Tonia Mishiali
Cast: Alexia Charalambidou, Yiannis Kokkinos

Following a mysterious phone call, a woman grabs a kitchen knife and sets out on a journey to an unknown destination, leaving ‘her life’ behind.

* 2015 Berlin Feminist Film Week
* 2015 Leiden International Film Experience 
* 2014 ISFFC International Short Film Festival of Cyprus – Best National Film Award, Best Cinematography Special Mention
* 2014 20th Athens International Film Festival
* Sarajevo Film Festival
* Short Film Festival in Drama

NARCISSA
USA, 2015, 7 min, World Premiere

Directors/Writers: Andreas Ignatiou, Josh Maddox
Producers: Jared Jacovich, Michael Ignatiou, Mary Joannow
Cast: Paulina Cerrilla, Gus Renaud, Lola Kelly, Ben Hicks

A modern take on the Greek myth of Narcissus set in the fashion industry.

THE NOIR PROJECT
Greece, 2014, 27 min, US Premiere

Director: Gregory Vardarinos
Writer: Anastasia Bartzoulianou
Producer: Gregory Vardarinos
Cast: Vaggelis Kosteas, Dimitris Tsilinikos, Maria Xatzhioanidou

On the eve of an escape from his abusive father, Jacob enters the world of “The Noir Project.” The comic story that he designed in his spare time, and the characters, which reflect the morbid reality in which he lives, predict, in a strange way, the events that will follow that night.

* 2014 20th International Film Festival of Athens – Best Screenplay Award
* 2014 8th International Short Film Festival of Thessaloniki – Cinematic Achievement Award

NOTICED
USA, 2015, 15 Min

Director: Limor Diamant
Writers: Limor Diamant, Sigal Diamant
Producer: Nikos Karamigios
Cast: Sigal Diamant, Tomas Andren

Olga is a postal worker who lives in her imaginative reclusive world of Spaghetti Westerns and the whimsical life of bugs. Her self-created universe is interrupted one night when she discovers that a suspicious “peeping Tom” lives across from her.

* 2015 Festival de Cannes – Short Film Corner Official Selection
* IFS
* MIFF (Milan International Film Festival) – nominated for Best International Short

PIECE OF SKY
Greece, 2014, 24 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer/Producer: Nikolas Makris
Cast: Danny Giannakopoulou, Nikolas Makris, Orestis Tziovas, Lazaros Zois

When a star falls from Orestis’ bedroom ceiling, he makes a wish for what he misses the most: That his parents lose their jobs and stay home with him. But the stars keep on falling. Can this story last?

* 2014 Athens International Film Festival
* 2014 Thessaloniki International Short Film

STRAW DOLLS
US, 2014, 18 min, World Premiere

Director: Jon L. Milano
Writer: Caitlin Riblett
Producer: Chris Naughton
Cast: Marco Khan, Anthony Skordi, Mary Apick, Michelle Yolyan, Celine Talia, Sy Ozcan, Bahram Khosraviani
[TRAILER COMING SOON]

A look at the Armenian genocide through the lens of a father desperately trying to protect his daughter from the deportation being forced upon them by Turkish soldiers.

UNDESIRABLE (ANEPITHIMITOS)
Greece, 2014, 6 min, US Premiere

Director: Fivos Kontogiannis
Writers: Stephanos Koutsardakis, Sotiris Tsafoulias
Producer: Aris J. Xylas
Cast: Vaggelis Mourikis, Vaggelis Romnios, Chryssa Markata

A Stelios Kazantides song becomes a short film.

* 2014 Athens International Film Festival – Special Mention
* Hellenic Film Academy Awards – Best Short Film Nomination

VOLTA
Greece, 2014, 11 min, LA Premiere

Director/Writer: Stella Kyriakopoulos
Producers: Valerie Kontakos, Despina Pavlaki, Stella Kyriakopoulos
Cast: Marisha Triantafyllidou, Katerina Douka, Yiorgos Valais

A mother and daughter start out from downtown Athens and head to the northern suburbs of the city. Nina thinks she’s just going on a walk…

* 37th Drama International Short Film Festival, Best Actress
* 2014 Sundance – Women in Film Award
* 2015 Aspen Short Fest
* 2015 Hellenic Film Academy Awards – Best Short Film

WASHINGTONIA
Greece, 2014, 24 min, LA Premiere

Director/Writer: Konstantina Kotzamani
Producer: Artemis Pattakou
Cast: Mamadou Diallo, Eutychia Stefanidou

In the heart of the summer, in the midst of the tropical heat, the giraffe’s heartbeat is no longer heard, and the animals are thrown into confusion. As they search for this beat, it is then —when the strangest things happen.

* 2014 Berlin International Film Festival
* 2014 Hellenic Film Academy Award – Best Short Film
* 2014 Gent International Film Festival – European Film Academy Award

II
Greece, 2014, 17 min, US Premiere

Director/Writer: Efthimis Kosemund Sanidis
Producer: Yorgos Tsourgiannis
Cast: Kostas Laskos, Fani Apostolidou, Yannis Tsortekism, Nikos Flessas, Koula Spyropoulou

“II” symbolizes parallel lines struggling to meet. Sometimes they do, but this only happens without awareness. “II” is desire drawing the line upon which the characters are trying to balance, treading in a world that is not.

* 2014 Festival Del Film Locarno 
* 2014 International Short Film Festival In Drama – Special Award, Best Cinematography Award
* 2014 Athens International Film Festival 
* 2014 Leeds International Film Festival