New Greek Cinema @ Washington’s National Gallery of Art

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, in association with the New York City Greek Film Festival, is presenting ATHENS TODAY: NEW GREEK CINEMA (on weekends of January and February , 9/1- 28/2), a series of six recent films representing the artistic resurgence from a new wave in Greek cinematography. This special presentation features the work of a new generation of Greek filmmakers with “disarming and at times disquieting narratives” that have created momentum in the film industry and have gathered widespread attention at international festivals, winning positive reviews from foreign audiences.

The series started last Friday (9/1) with the film “A family affair” by Angeliki Aristomenopoulou a feature documentary about the intertwined lives of a unique musical family from Crete –the famous Xylouris family- brought together and apart by their love of music. This weekend‘s screening (16/1) is “Little England” by Greek veteran director Pantelis Voulgaris”, a lush melodrama taking place in the island of Andros during the 1930’s which won a series of prizes creating momentum at the Greek box office too.

The third film is “Chevalier” by Athina Rachel Tsangari (24/1), a drama that is not deprived from comic encounters in the middle of the Aegean Sea, with six men on a fishing trip that have decided to play a game.“Xenia” by Panos Koutras (7/2) touches the issue of identity from different perspectives with the story of 16-year-old Danny and 18-year-old Odysseus who cross the entire country in search of their estranged Greek father, after their Albanian mother passes away.

Romance and poetry intertwine in “Forever” by Margarita Manda (14/2), while the questions about how humans are really able to communicate in this new era of mass communication, are clearly raised in the film “Silent” by Yorgos Gkikapeppas that will close this amazing film journey on February 28th.