The third film in the Magna Graecia (Greater Greece) documentary series by Billy Cotsis, will premiere on Sunday 1 May at the Pallaconian Brotherhood headquarters.
The documentary follows and explores the lives of the Greek people who live in Calabria and speak an ancient and Byzantine dialect.
Billy Cotsis attempts to include 2800 years of history in a 53-minute documentary filmed in collaboration with Basil Genimahaliotis.
“I met a number of younger speakers in Reggio, the capital of Calabria where neighbourhoods still have Greko speakers, and of course via Maria-Olimpia Squillaci,” Billy Cotsis told Neos Kosmos noting that he wants the audience to see and hear the elders but also the younger speakers.
“She learned from her wonderful, passionate father at a young age, a Greko from Bova Marina. The Cambridge educated Maria Olimpia introduced me to a range of younger Greko who speak the language, and I am grateful to have met so many youth who speak Greko.
“I came here the first time in 2002 and I was worried the language would end. It hasn’t; it remains spoken in homes and towns. I would not have been able to get around without my version of Greek, during my most recent visit!”
The President of the Pallaconian Brotherhood of Melbourne and Victoria ‘Leonidas’, Mr Chris Paikopoulos, also expressed his excitement for the screening and welcoming Greko and Greek history in Calabria to their venue.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos he said that “The Pallaconian Brotherhood is proud to see the Greko maintain their dialect, history and culture, over 2800 years after the first Greek colonies in Southern Italy”.
“Our association is happy to present this wonderful documentary on its international premiere, and it is our pleasure to help promote Hellenism here in Australia and around the global diaspora. We are a non-profit organisation founded in 1961 by migrants from the Greek region of Laconia. We organise countless charitable, cultural, historical, philanthropic and social events each year, and we are excited to see our fellow Melbournians join us once more to engage with our events, after the trying times these past few years.”
Dr John Martino, academic, author and former military officer of Greek and Italian heritage will also provide a few words on his experiences followed by a Q&A with Billy Cotsis who will also launch his sixth book on the night, The Aegean Seven Take Back The Marbles – a new historical fiction about the stolen Parthenon Marbles.
Entry is $5 to the Brotherhood. Non alcoholic drinks and food available for purchase.
Book your place or for more information contact: https://fb.me/e/2wcCvVIfR pallaconianyouth@gmail.com or 0419245372
When: Sunday, 1 May 2022 at 6 pm
Where: Pallaconian Brotherhood, 253 Albert St, Brunswick
