Following a strong opening and first few days of programming, the 2023 Greek Film Festival is on track to set a new high mark with over 4000 tickets already sold to this year’s offering.
“We are well on the way of surpassing the 4900 tickets sold to last year’s festival” said Greek Community of Melbourne Vice President Dr Jim Bossinakis.
The Festival, which runs through to Sunday 29 October, is adding sessions by popular demand to a number of its titles including the Opening Night feature, Behind The Haystacks and Trip to Kythera.
Greek Community Cultural Committee Chair, Leo Vlahakis reflected on the opening weekend of the festival and its strong showing by saying: “The Festival is a well-established cultural brand in this city and the 2023 results are showing this to be very true.”
Vlahakis pointed to the addition of Palace Balwyn Cinema to this year’s program as another reason for the increased interest in the Festival: “We have for some time looked at expanding the Festival’s footprint and the Balwyn project looks to be succeeding exceptionally well”.
The Greek Film Festival 2023 features a diverse selection of Greek films, including compelling dramas, heartwarming comedies, and a diverse range of documentaries that explore a multitude of themes from history and art to social issues and personal narratives.
Bill Papastergiadis OAM, President of the Greek Community of Melbourne, expressed his excitement about the strong response to the festival by saying: “Our festival has always been a labour of love, a tribute to the art of storytelling through film, and a celebration of the vibrant and diverse Greek diaspora. We are overwhelmed by the tremendous support and the strong ticket sales. The success of the 2023 Greek Film Festival is a reminder that the power of cinema transcends borders, languages, and backgrounds”.
The Film Festival continues this week at Palace Cinema Balwyn, Palace Como Cinemas and returns to the Astor Theatre on Sunday 29 October for the Closing event.
Meanwhile, The 28th Greek Film Festival already announced additional screenings have been added to the program, due to popular demand.
After several sold out sessions since Opening Night on Thursday 19 October, additional sessions have been added to allow audiences to catch the Festival’s most popular films.
“These encore screenings are an excellent last chance for Sydneysiders to catch some of the most talked-about titles at this year’s Festival,” says Festival Chair, Nia Karteris.
Audiences will be treated to additional screenings of the highly anticipated documentary Geoge Bizos Icon; the multi-award-winning film by Asimina Proedrou Behind the Haystacks; the 1st Greek animation Film Karagiozis; the signature film by Manousos Manousakis Cloudy Sunday (part of our From Thessaloniki to Auschwitz 80 years special tribute); Sydney-based director James Prineas’ comedy Lost on Kythera; and IMAN, our thought-provoking Closing Night film.
Encore sessions at Palace Norton Street:
Friday 27 October – Behind the Haystacks – 6.30pm
Saturday 28 October – Cloudy Sunday – 8.30pm
Sunday 29 October – Iman – 7pm
Monday 30 October – Lost on Kythera – 6.30pm
Tuesday 31 October – George Bizos Icon – 6.30pm
Saturday 4 November– Karagiozis the movie – 10am
The 28th Greek Film Festival officially runs 19 – 29 October 2023 at Palace Norton Street with extra screenings being booked by popular demand till Saturday 4 November 2023.
Tickets are available at www.greekfilmfestival.com.au/sydney/films
For the latest Melbourne Festival ticket information, film schedules, and additional festival details visit this link.