ASTORIA, NY – After a one-year absence due to the pandemic, Greek films were back in movie theaters for the New York Greek Film Expo 2021 presented by Hellenic Film Society USA. Following public health protocols, 13 screenings of eight feature-length films and five film shorts were held at the Directors Guild Theater in Manhattan and the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. Three screenings were sold out, prompting the Museum to schedule an additional screening, which also sold out.

“We were unsure what to expect when we decided to present in-person screenings, but we felt it was important to get back into movie theaters to show films where they were intended to be shown,” said Jimmy DeMetro, president Hellenic Film Society. “We really didn’t know if people were ready to return to theaters, but the turnout was better than we could have imagined, and it was truly inspiring.”

The films presented were the best of what Greek filmmakers have created over the past two years, including two films and a short subject written and directed by women. The films, including award-winning features and New York theatrical premieres, were The Audience, Digger, Green Sea, In the Strange Pursuit of Laura Durand, The Man with the Answers, My Name is Eftyhia, Senior Citizen, and Tailor.

My Name is Eftyhia was the winner of the Expo’s Audience Award for most popular film. The biographical drama about Eftyhia Papagiannopoulou, the beloved lyricist of Greece, won eight Hellenic Film Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Supporting Actor.

Audience members wore masks during the screenings at the New York Greek Film Expo presented by the Hellenic Film Society USA. Photo by Eleni Sakellis

The Alexis Mouyiaris Memorial Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film was given to Dimitris Imellos, who starred in the award-winning film, Tailor, about a man forced to reinvent himself as the world he knows begins to change. Imellos is well known for his work on the Greek stage and in film and television.

After more than a year of streaming Greek films worldwide, the Hellenic Film Society will resume Always on Sunday, its series of monthly Sunday Greek film screenings at the Museum of the Moving Image on Sunday, November 14. The feature film will be Digger, winner of ten 2021 Hellenic Film Academy Awards, including Best Feature Film. Written and directed by Georgis Grigorakis, the film is Greece’s contender for Oscar consideration this year as Best International Feature.

Presentations by the Hellenic Film Society are made possible with support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF). Additional funding is providing by the Kallinikeion Foundation, the Greek National Tourism Organization, and Queens Council on the Arts with public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

For further information about the Hellenic Film Society, please visit hellenicfilmusa.org or call 347-934-9497.