Editor

The Los Angeles Greek Film Festival announces Christos Georgiou's SMALL CRIME as the festival’s Opening Night Gala presentation and Alexis Kardaras' GUINNESS, starring Antonis Kafetzopoulos, as its Closing Night Gala presentation. This marks the 3rd year of the Festival, which takes place at The Egyptian Theatre from June 25 through June 28, and will feature 7 feature films, 7 documentaries and 8 shorts, with 15 films enjoying their U.S. premieres.

The four-day festival highlights include: Opening Night Ceremonies; a tribute to director Penelope Spheeris with a special screening of her 1984 feature SUBURBIA and 1998 short NO USE WALKIN’ WHEN YOU CAN STROLL; "Beyond Borders: Greece on the International Film Stage", a special panel discussion sponsored by Greece's Ministry of Tourism Development with slated panelists Nia Vardalos (MY LIFE IN RUINS) and Phedon Papamichael (ARCADIA LOST) who recently shot films in Greece; a newly established one-on-one Industry/filmmaker program; and Closing Night Ceremonies with the Orpheus Awards honoring the filmmakers and films for Best Dramatic Feature, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, Special Jury Award, and Audience Choice.

SMALL CRIME will screen as the LAGFF Opening Night Gala presentation on Thursday, June 25, at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. Directed by Christos Georgiou and starring Aris Servetalis and Viki Papadopoulou, the charming comedy is about a frustrated young policeman who has just been assigned duty on a beautiful but ragged Greek island in the Aegean. There he discovers murder, mystery and love.

GUINNESS will screen as the LAGFF Closing Night Gala presentation on Sunday, June 28 at the Egyptian Theatre. Alexis Kardaras directs Yorgos Pyrpassopoulos, Marcella Giannatou, Stelios Mainas, and Antonis Kafetzopoulos, in this amusing action adventure about a young luckless gambler who tries to escape the “lethal spell” of an unhappy wife and ends up running off with a case of her husband’s gold.

“The primary focus of the LA Greek Film Festival is to discover talented Greek filmmakers and to share their movies with cinema lovers that would not have an opportunity to see these films otherwise,” said Ersi Danou, Festival Co-Founder and Director of Programming. “We are proud of this year’s line-up, which not only represents the evolution of our Festival, but of Greek cinema as well."

“As the LA Greek Film Festival celebrates its third year, we now know there is an audience in Los Angeles who is not only receptive, but eager to see films made in Greece and/or by Greek Filmmakers. For four days the Festival is akin to a ‘platia’ (village square)", comments Ambassador Dimitris Caramitsos-Tziras, Consul General of Greece in Los Angeles. “In addition to the screenings, this year we are proud to announce a special panel discussion, sponsored by Greece's Ministry of Tourism Development, on the benefits of making movies in Greece.”

"With the recent success of MAMMA MIA! and the soon-to-be-released MY LIFE IN RUINS starring Nia Vardalos, the Greek culture is making its way to the mainstream through the art of filmmaking," said Angeliki Giannakopoulos, Festival Co-Founder and Director. "We are gradually experiencing a bridging of the gap between Greece and Hollywood, and we are very excited about this!"

The screenings will take place at the Egyptian Theatre, located at 6712 Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood, CA 90028
For more information please visit www.lagreekfilmfestival.org.