ASTORIA – The Hellenic Film Society (HFS) has announced its May program featuring City of Children, a powerful, award-winning drama, and Jenny Jenny, a romantic comedy from the golden age of Greek cinema. Both films will be streaming worldwide through Memorial Day, Monday, May 31.

Directed by Yorgos Gkikapeppas, City of Children (Η Πόλη των Παιδιών), interweaves four powerful stories dealing with pregnancy and childbirth, each representing a harrowing perspective of the lives of couples in a city gripped by despondency. The film was named Best Greek Film of 2011 at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Additional accolades include three Hellenic Film Academy Awards, including Best Actress (Kika Georgiou) and the Greek Federation of Film Critics Award for Best Film. Greek audiences may be familiar with the popular actors Vassilis Bisbikis and Leonidas Kakouris, known for their work in the Greek television drama Agries Melisses. The film is in Greek and some Arabic, with English subtitles and is not suitable for young viewers.

Also being presented is Jenny Jenny (Τζένη-Τζένη), starring the incomparable Tzeni Karezi, Andreas Barkoulis, and Lambros Konstantaras, key players in the Greek film industry in the 1960s, who add special sparkle to this romantic comedy from the golden age of Greek cinema. In the film, Karezi consents to a marriage of convenience to a parliamentary candidate, to help her father, a political influencer, solve his financial problems.

A scene from Jenny Jenny (Τζένη-Τζένη), directed by Dimos Dimopoulos. Photo: Courtesy of Hellenic Film Society USA

The film, directed by Dimos Dimopoulos, is in Greek, with English subtitles.

“Each of these films represents a very different aspect of Greek filmmaking,” said Jimmy DeMetro, president, Hellenic Film Society. “As such, it’s the ideal pair of films to present as we prepare to go on summer hiatus to lay the groundwork for the New York Greek Film Expo, the film festival we’re planning for the fall.”

This month’s program is sponsored by The Greek Online School, which offers live Greek language courses online to children and adults. For further information or to purchase tickets to these films, please visit www.hellenicfilmusa.org.

The two films are presented as part of the Hellenic Film Society’s Always on Sunday on Demand film series, an outgrowth of the Always on Sunday film series which began at the prestigious Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, NY in 2018. The monthly online series follows the successful virtual Greek film festival that HFS presented in July 2020 after the pandemic forced movie theaters to close indefinitely, precluding the presentation of the New York Greek Film Expo, the Society’s annual film festival in theaters around the New York metropolitan area.

About the Hellenic Film Society USA

The Hellenic Film Society USA (HFS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization rooted in the belief that Greek cinema can and should be part of the American cultural landscape. Based in Astoria, NY, the organization promotes feature films, documentaries, and film shorts made by Greek filmmakers and those of Greek descent, as well as films that promote the cultures of Greece and Cyprus.

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation is the lead supporter of the Hellenic Film Society. Additional support is provided by Onassis Foundation USA, the Kallinikeion Foundation, Queens Council on the Arts, and the New York City Council through the office of Council Member Costa Constantinides.

For additional information or to purchase tickets, visit www.hellenicfilmusa.org or call 646-844-1488.