Peter Caranicas Deputy Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor Moving in parallel with the recent upsurge of film production in Greece, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF), an annual showcase for new works from Greek filmmakers worldwide, plans to expand its activities on an international scale. The fest, now in its 17th year, is launching the Global Greek Film Initiative (GGFI), an umbrella program to advance cultural exchange between Greece, the U.S. and the Greek diaspora, provide opportunities for employment and economic growth within Greece, and serve as the North American hub for Greek film programs and initiatives.  Lia Bozonelis, a Greek-American writer-producer and LAGFF Board Member who conceived the idea of the year-round multifaceted program, said that “Greece is experiencing a hard-won opportunity with the amount of international production pouring in.”

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor“Smyrna My Beloved,” a tale weaving together tragic refugee stories of the past and present on the island of Lesbos, and “Holy Emi,” portraying the lives of two Filipino sisters living in Athens who are beset by mysterious forces (pictured above), will serve, respectively, as opening and closing night presentations at the 16th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF), set to unspool on May 9-15.LAGFF returns live this year following a pandemic hiatus in 2021 and 2020. “We’re thrilled to physically welcome back filmgoers and filmmakers,” says artistic and festival director Aristotle Katopodis.

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor“Pari,” the story of an Iranian mother’s search for her missing son in Athens, directed by Siamak Etemadi, an Iranian who lives in Greece, won the top feature film prize at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, an annual showcase for Greek cinema that wrapped its fifteenth edition on May 30.“Parontes,” under its English title “Being Present,” a penetrating look at the COVID-19 crisis in Greece (pictured above), directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, took home LAGFF’s