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General News
Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
LOS ANGELES – While there is no Red Carpet Closing Night and Orpheus Awards Gala at the 15th Annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF) this year, the festival’s award winners were announced on May 28. The online screenings wrapped up on May 30.
Orpheus Winners were selected by the esteemed jury made up of Eugene (Gino) Brancolini, Gérard Dessere, Ruah Edelstein, Marlon Johnson, Andreas Manolikakis, Carla Marcantonio, Adam Montgomery, Mohamed Saïd Ouma, Brenna Sanchez, Aliki Theofilopoulos, Geri Ulrey, and Masha Vasilkovsky.
“A lot more films, a lot more fun, a lot more to experience,” explained Festival Director Aris Katopodis. “A juror’s life becomes hectic, as decisions are difficult and sparks fly at deliberation time.”
The LAGFF thanked the jurors, filmmakers, and friends for supporting this exceptional festival. The Orpheus winners were announced in a virtual Awards presentation and are listed below. The People’s Choice Awards will be announced next week.
In the Feature Film category, Best Fiction Feature was awarded to Pari by Siamak Etemadi. Best Performance went to Nikolas Kisker for his role in Daniel ’16. The Special Jury Award for Best Performance went to Melika Foroutan in Pari. Best Director was awarded to Janis Rafa for the film Kala Azar.
In the Documentary category, Best Documentary was awarded to Being Present by Yorgos Avgeropoulos. The Special Jury Award went to Passage to Europe by Dimitra Kouzi.
In the Short Film category, Best Short Film was awarded to Iskioma by Kostas Gerampinis.
The LAGFF also announced that it would be honoring animated film for the first time with a new category for the Orpheus Award, Best Animation Film, which went to Parrot Lady by Michalis Kalopaidis. The Special Jury Award in Animation went to Lazy Dragon by Fokion Xenos and Joan Zhonga.
The LAGFF also announced its Audience Awards. Man of God, directed by Yelena Popovic, had its West Coast premiere at this year’s Festival and was honored with the Feature Film Audience Award.
The Documentary Audience Award went to The Unlost Homeland, directed by Eftychia Fragou, in its Los Angeles premiere.
Also making its Los Angeles premiere, Vouta, directed by Dimitris Zahos, was honored with the Short Film Audience Award.
The Animation Film Audience Award went to Bucket Hat!, directed by Demetrios Tzamaras who spoke with TNH about the film in a previous interview. The film made its North American premiere at this year’s LAGFF.
The Festival’s online events which included several fascinating discussions with the filmmakers were recorded and are available for viewing online: https://www.lagff.org/lagff-2021-online-events/.
More information about the LAGFF is available online: https://www.lagff.org.
