Peter Malinauskas, the Premier of South Australia, inaugurated the 2023 Greek Film Festival in Adelaide with an official opening.
The evening event, which saw the sale of 240 tickets and featured an array of meze and local wines, was followed by two screenings of Asimina Proedrou’s acclaimed drama, ‘Behind the Haystacks,’ marking the commencement of the 6-day Film Festival dedicated to celebrating Greek culture.
Peter Gardiakos, the President of GOCSA (Greek Orthodox Community of South Australia), expressed his appreciation to the Premier for gracing the event with his presence and extended gratitude to both him and the State Government for their continued support.
In addressing the attendees, Premier Malinauskas shared his own family’s Lithuanian and Hungarian heritage and highlighted the importance of preserving one’s culture and language.
“The passing on of Hellenism and Hellenic culture is something you’ve done exceedingly well and it’s something you should be proud of, but it’s also worthy of further investment,” Mr Malinauskas said, adding “I have been very excited to hear, in recent months, about the prospect of a degree of unity existing among the broader Greek community throughout the state. I, for one, as Premier of the State, am excited to hear about that. I think it takes a degree of courage to work forward and focus on the future.”
“There are some people in my electorate who think I am Greek; that’s fine by me,” he said. “We went to community events from time to time, but they [Hungarian and Lithuanian] were such small communities. They didn’t have that critical mass to ensure the preservation of culture. But the Greek community here in our state, has done that so exceedingly well from one generation to the next. As a State Government we acknowledge the role that foreign language has to play, that is why we are committed to investing in community language schools which are a great opportunity for our schools to share and celebrate in diversity. But events like this matter too. I want to congratulate the Greek Orthodox Community for putting the Film Festival together.
The opening night was graced by representatives of local government, members, sponsors, cinephiles, and distinguished guests, including the Hon. Chief Justice Chris Kourakis, State Member for Adelaide Lucy Hood MP, Federal Member for Adelaide Steve Georganas MP, and the Consul General of Greece to Adelaide, George Psiachas.
Steve Georganas MP, the Federal Member for Adelaide, reflected on how Greek cinema, particularly the films screened at Thebarton Theatre on Saturday nights, connected migrants of his generation to their parents’ homeland. He praised the Greek community for preserving its culture from one generation to the next, through community events like the Greek Film Festival.
“We all recall, those that are my age, going to Thebarton theatre every single Saturday night and watching either a drama that dealt with a migration story or a comedy. That was the thing that connected us physically to Greece. That’s what we saw visually of our parents homeland. None of us have been there, none of us knew what it was like and that gave us a bit of a reality.”
He also acknowledged the significance of foreign language and the commitment of the State Government to invest in community language schools as a means to celebrate diversity.
In conclusion, he extended his congratulations to the Greek Orthodox Community for their efforts in organizing the Film Festival.
