Movies about pimps, prostitutes and perverts highlight a festival that presents films from Greece.
The University’s Hellenic Student Association and the U Film Society will show four modern films at the first Greek Film Festival. Two movies will be shown July 11 and 12, and the other two during the following weekend at the Bell Auditorium on the University’s East Bank.
“It is a good thing to see what is going on in Greece now,” said Stamatios Pothos, 26, who is the president of the 35-member Hellenic Student Association.
Pothos said he sees the festival as a way to introduce Greek culture and Greek films to the Twin Cities area. It is also the first public event the organization has held since its chapter started up again last November after a two-year hiatus.
A member of the association, Costas Aggelidis, 26, said poor leadership was the cause of the inactivity.
Pothos hopes to follow in New York’s footsteps by having an annual Greek film festival.
Admission is $5 for the general public, $4 for students, and $3 for U Film Society members. The money is expected to barely cover cost of the movies, the projector and advertising. Any profit will be put toward a film festival next year.
“We think it is a worthwhile event because we want to encourage Greek culture,” said Anna Christoforides, co-owner of the Gardens of Salonica New Greek Cafe & Deli. Her husband, Lazros, was one of the founders of the Association in 1974.
Many owners of Twin Cities’ Greek restaurants support the Association’s attempts to promote Greek culture.
“I am not promoting the film, I am promoting the effort of the people who are introducing the art of Greece,” said Aris Arambadjias, the owner of the restaurant It’s Greek to Me.