The Cinema Club

Formed in 1986, the Cinema Club was founded with the hope of creating a deeper understanding of the development of film as an artistic and social force. It aims to provide a perspective into the relationship between society and the media. At the time of its inception the Center would dedicate two days every spring to Independent Filmmakers. Today, the film showcase has expanded into a four-day presentation.
The Center’s goal is to expand the annual program into “Seven Days of Indie Cinema,” a week of independent film screenings. Although there is an emphasis on presenting the works of Greek-American filmmakers, the Center continues to welcome non-Greek filmmakers. The purpose of these screenings is for filmmakers, writers, actors, and artists to interact with each other, to be introduced to the general audience and most importantly, for their work to be recognized.

Cinema Club with Year-Round Screenings

This program includes an annual independent showcase, Greek film series, silent movies, American Classics, and award-winning films from international cinema. Film presentations have included a Greek Film Celebration with the cooperation of AMMI (American Museum of Moving Image) and outdoor summer series in coordination with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, at Astoria Park. Currently, the GCC organizes an Annual Film and Video Festival in cooperation with the Queens Museum of Art, and outdoor summer series at Athens Square Park in association with the NYC Department of Parks a Recreation.

FREE EVENT

a TRIBUTE TO

Greek American Actor/Director/Writer, and Academy Award winner, Elia Kazan

Sunday August 14 - Saturday September 3 at 6:00pm. Kazan became known as an "actor's director" because he was able to elicit some of the best performances in the careers of many of his stars, such as Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Karl Malden, James Dean, Julie Harris, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach and Natalie Wood. Under his direction, his actors received 21 Academy Award nominations and won nine Oscars. He won as Best Director for Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and for On the Waterfront (1954), which is considered "one of the greatest films in the history of international cinema." Both A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and On the Waterfront were nominated for twelve Academy Awards, respectively winning four and eight.

Sunday August 14 Boomerang! (1947) 88 min - Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Director: Elia Kazan
Writers: Richard Murphy (screenplay), Fulton Oursler (article)

Starring:Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt and Lee J. Cobb

Boomerang! is a chilling film noir, the true story about the murder of a priest, the subsequent arrest and trial of a jobless drifter, and the efforts of young state's attorney Henry Harvey (Dana Andrews) to uncover the truth. Closely based on the actual 1924 murder of Fr. Hubert Dahme in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the film was directed by the young Elia Kazan in a highly effective, semi-documentary style. Kazan shot most of the film on location, using high-contrast cinematography and an extremely mobile camera to create a palpable sense of urgency. The screenplay, expertly crafted by Richard Murphy received an Academy Award nomination. The film was entered into the 1947 Cannes Film Festival.

Saturday August 20 Gentleman's Agreement (1947) 118 min - Drama | Romance

Directed by Elia Kazan

Written by Laura Z. Hobson (novel) Moss Hart (screenplay)

Music by Alfred Newman Cinematography Arthur C. Miller

Editing by Harmon Jones Produced by Darryl F. Zanuck

Starring: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, John Garfield, Celeste Holm, June Havoc, Anne Revere.

Gentleman's Agreement is a 1947 drama film about a journalist (played by Gregory Peck) who goes undercover as a Jew to conduct research for an exposé on antisemitism in New York City and the affluent community of Darien, Connecticut. The movie was controversial in its time, as was a similar film on the same subject, Crossfire, which was also released the same year and also nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. The Gentleman's Agreement won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Elia Kazan) and Best Supporting Actress (Celeste Holm).

Sunday August 21 Pinky (1949) 102 min - Drama

Director: Elia Kazan

Writers:
Cid Ricketts Sumner (novel), Philip Dunne (screenplay)

Starring: Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, William Lundigan and Ethel Waters

Elia Kazan directed this, one of Hollywood's early attacks on racism. Patricia is a light-skinned black woman who is studying nursing at a New England medical institute. A white doctor, Thomas Adams, has fallen in love with Patricia and wants to marry her, but Patricia refuses his proposal. Convinced their interracial union would never work out, Patricia believes Thomas would never be able to endure the acrimony that would be heaped upon their marriage. Patricia leaves New England to return to her childhood home in the South, where her grandmother works for rich widow Miss Em. When Miss Em takes ill, Patricia cares for her. Upon Miss Em's death, it is discovered that she has bequeathed her entire estate to Patricia. Miss Em's family disputes the will because Patricia is black, and a courtroom battle ensues over the estate.

Saturday August 27 Panic in the Streets (1950) 96 min - Crime | Film-Noir | Thriller

Director: Elia Kazan

Writers: Richard Murphy (screenplay), Daniel Fuchs (adaptation)

Music by Alfred Newman Cinematography Joseph MacDonald

Starring: Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas and Barbara Bel Geddes, Jack Palance, Zero Mostel
A doctor and a policeman in New Orleans have only 48 hours to locate a killer infected with pneumonic plague. It was shot exclusively on location in New Orleans, Louisiana and features numerous New Orleans citizens in speaking and non-speaking roles.

Wins: Venice Film Festival: International Award, Elia Kazan; 1950.
• Academy Awards: Oscar, Best Writing, Motion Picture Story, Edna Anhalt and Edward Anhalt; 1951.

Nominations: Venice Film Festival: Golden Lion, Elia Kazan; 1950.
• Writers Guild of America: WGA Award, Best Written American Drama, Richard Murphy; The Robert Meltzer Award (Screenplay Dealing Most Ably with Problems of the American Scene), Richard Murphy.

Sunday August 28 Baby Doll (1956) 114 min - Drama

Director: Elia Kazan
Writer: Tennessee Williams (screenplay)

Starring: Karl Malden, Carroll Baker, Eli Wallach, Mildred Dunnock, Rip Torn

The film was controversial when it was released, provoking a response from the National Legion of Decency, which attempted to have the film banned. Nevertheless, the film received nominations for major awards. Elia Kazan won the Golden Globe Award for Best Director and the film was nominated for four other Golden Globe awards, as well as four Academy awards and four BAFTA Awards awards, with Eli Wallach taking the BAFTA prize for "Most Promising Newcomer to Film". The movie was banned in many countries, such as Sweden, due to what was called exaggerated sexual content. The film was also condemned by Time magazine, which called it the "dirtiest American-made motion picture that had ever been legally exhibited". The film is credited with originating the name and popularity of the babydoll nightgown, which derives from the costume worn by Baker's character.

Saturday September 3 A Face in the Crowd (1957) 125 min - Drama

Director: Elia Kazan
Writers: Budd Schulberg (story), Budd Schulberg (screenplay)

Starring: Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal and Anthony Franciosa, Walter Matthau, Lee Remick.

The story centers on a drifter named Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes (Griffith, in a role starkly different from the amiable "Sheriff Andy Taylor" persona), who is discovered by the producer (Neal) of a small-market radio program in rural northeast Arkansas. Rhodes ultimately rises to great fame and influence on national television.
The film launched Griffith into stardom, but earned mixed reviews upon its original release. Later decades have seen reappraisals of the movie, and in 2008 A Face in the Crowd was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

All screenings take place at the Greek Cultural Center. ADMISSION IS FREE.
26-80 30th Street, Astoria, NY 11102
Phone: 718- 726 7329


the annual INDEPENDENT FILM SHOWCASE

Sunday September 4, at 6:00pm

STILL Documentary[Year of production: 2009[Running time:18:00[Shooting format: HDV
Written and directed by Alana Kakoyiannis

A poetic documentary reflecting on the notion of home through the lens of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot displacement on the divided island of Cyprus. The testimonies of two female voices living on opposing sides of the Green Line combined with the filmmaker’s own observations of the present day, capture the potency of the political conflict through personal perspectives.

Screenings: 18th Raindance Film Festival, Saving Private Reels, Homeward Series, Thessaloniki International DocMarket, Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival, Moglichkeisraum.

A FRAYED TRADITION Documentary[Year of production: 2011[Running time: 5:43
Written and directed by Alana Kakoyiannis

Women in the village of Lefkara, Cyprus, have been embroidering lace since the 15th century. Now this regional handicraft, recently nominated to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Element collection, is dying out -- replaced by machine-made replicas imported from abroad to meet the demand of tourists.

BIO: Alana Kakoyiannis is a filmmaker and artist based in New York City and Nicosia, Cyprus. Her work ranges from interview-based documentary to abstract, image-dominated experimentalism. She has worked independently to produce several short films that have been broadcast nationally and screened internationally, including Current TV, The Anthology Film Archives and the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. Her 2008 film 'Cosmopolis' garnered the Grand Jury Prize for Best International Documentary in the Migr@tions Online Festival held by Radio Canada International. Originally from Pennsylvania, she earned her M.F.A from Hunter College, CUNY in Integrated Media Arts and her B.A. in Communications from Denison University. In her professional experience, she has worked with various networks including MTV, NBC and CBS as well as regional film production companies in Greece and Cyprus.

PARAMOUR Fiction[Year of production: 2011[Running time: 6:39[Shooting format: High Definition
Written and directed by Minos Papas
Starring Tjasa Ferme, Joyce Miller, Miguel Coias and Ed Bergtold

A short film inspired by the legend of the hetaeres of Paphos in Ancient Cyprus. Produced in NYC by Cyprian Films, New York.

BIO: Minos Papas is a Greek-Cypriot filmmaker living and working in New York City. His debut feature film, Shutterbug was released in NY and LA in 2010 and in Cyprus in 2011 and is currently available on DVD and online streaming. He is a producer/director for Cyprian Films, New York, a production company specializing in features and commercials and also a freelance cinematographer.

SEC Year of production: 2008[Running time: 14:00[Shooting format: High Definition
Written and Directed by Mirto Ioanna Kassis
Starring Sarafelina Simonsen

Susanne, scared of aging and time passing by so fast, finds her own way to stop time.
By entering the world of seconds she tries to erase them, preventing the new day to come
Who is going to win?

DAY OFF Year of Production: 2010[Running time: 27:00[Shooting format: High Definition (Red One)
Written and Directed by Mirto Ioanna Kassis
Starring William Apps and Sophie Sorensen

Set in Brooklyn when 2010 meets 1985, recently released ex-con Jake Todd finds information about one final perfect score: A dying old man's safe. But before he can make the grab, fate guides him into taking his young son on the job. As it turns out, the information is not so perfect.
In the meantime, Grace and her daughter Sally want to unpack and be together in their new apartment, but fate has chosen another role for them . All four lives are irreparably altered in one unusual Day Off.

BIO: Mirto Ioanna Kassis was born in Athens in 1985. In 2002, while still in high school, Mirto and her classmates at the 5th Lyceum of Petroupoli won the National Prize at the Thessaloniki Student Film Festival for the film Zoe (???) which she wrote, directed and acted in. She studied filmmaking at the Hellenic Cinema and Television School of Lycurgus Stavrakos from 2004 to 2006. She continued her studies in Denmark at the European Film College of Denmark in 2008 were she made the film SEC. The film participated in the SFC Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Ever since. Mirto has been writing & directing her own short films and video art pieces. In 2009 she moved in New York and attended the one year filmmaking course at the New York Film Academy. Day Off is her thesis film.

MIKE'S BARBER SHOP Documentary[Year of production: 2011[Running time: 2:55[Format: 16mm

Written and directed by Lena Vasileiou
Featuring Mike Fuiaxis and Lobsang

In Queens, NY, a Greek barber is taking care of his customer. His name is Mike and in his barber shop you can see a Greek world.

WHEN EFI IS SINGING AT JIMBO'S Documentary[Year of production: 2011[ Time: 4:54 min

Written and directed by Lena Vasileiou

Efi is a Greek singer who works in a Greek night bar (bouzoukia) in Astoria, NY.
The atmosphere in the bar, the music and the attitude reminds us of how Greek bars used to be many years ago, in the 1980's and 1990's.

BIO: Lena Vasileiou studied photography at TEI of Athens. She worked for two years with Nikos Economopoulos (Magnum Agency photographer.) She participated in photographic workshops in Europe and the Balkans, as well as exhibitions in Greece and Belgium. Her previous documentary Live Show took part in various festivals around the world.

LUCID Year of production: 2010[Running time: 9:25[Shooting format: DV
Written and directed by Stefanos Melikidis
Starring Alberto Onofrietti, Piotr Szpak and Rebecca Williams

How do you know what is real and what is a dream? How do you deal with a dream when it becomes reality? How do you deal with reality once you wake up from the dream?

BIO: Stefanos Melikidis was born in 1988 in Georgia and raised in Cyprus where he discovered his passion for film. In 2010, during his studies of video and film production at University of Wolverhampton, the short film “Lost Pride” which he edited premiered at the Festival of Cannes. Melikidis currently continues his education at the New York Film Academy. His recent short films show his interest in politics and present reality in a very metaphorical way.

GONE Fiction[Year of production: 2011[Running time: 8:00[Shooting format: High Definition

Written and directed by Costa Sirdenis

Starring Grant Shaud, Pilar Varela and Christian Graham.

Gone is the story of an adopted daughter's attempt to escape her father's oppressive behavior. The father battles his own demons as well, aware that his domineering and slightly incestuous relationship with his daughter is becoming more and more apparent as she matures. The story comes to an abrupt end when the daughter decides to finally leave their prison of an apartment, and entrusts the difficult task of telling her father to her boyfriend.

BIO: Costa Sirdenis graduated from Michigan State University in 2010, with degrees in English Literature and Film Studies, and with minors in Theater and Sociology. A recent graduate of the New York Film Academy's 6 week filmmaking course in Manhattan, Costa now resides in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan, currently pursuing a career in photography and filmmaking.

SOLDIER RETURN Fiction[Year of Production: 2011[Running time: 19:56[Format: High Definition
Written and directed by Micah Stathis

Soldier Return is the story of Nick and Maria, a young married couple, recently out of the U.S. Army. Maria is pregnant and studying nursing at a local community college. Nick works as a security guard and is looking for something more fulfilling and more financially rewarding. Together, they are determined to succeed in the harsh economic climate that is today’s civilian world. They have promised each other to provide a better life for their unborn child, than the ones they had as children.

Nick has gone on more interviews than he cares to remember. They always end the same way: “We will let you know.” He is growing increasingly frustrated and is realizing that the way things are going, he and Maria will not be able to provide the life they want for their child. Maria is staying positive, constantly encouraging and reassuring Nick. She is certain their break is just around the corner. Nick has decided to go on one last interview. He, recently, heard that the Army is paying $20,000 bonuses to re-enlist. If this interview does not go well, Nick has decided to begin pursuing the idea of going back to the military, even though he and Maria swore they would never return. Maria knows Nick is nearing the end of his patience and is determined to keep thoughts of the military and its benefits out of Nick’s head.

BIO: Micah Stathis grew up in Athens, Greece. A product of a multi cultural home, he grew up learning about both Greek and American culture. At the age of 25, he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served 12 months in Iraq. He holds a B.A. in Art History from Deree College (Athens, Greece) and an M.A. in Media Studies and Communications from the University of Indianapolis. Soldier Return is his third short film.

This event is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, with the Support of the Queens Borough President’s Office and Materials for the Arts