We are thrilled to announce that the 17th annual San Francisco Greek Film Festival will take place online October 3-10, 2020 with all screenings available free of charge. In this time of need, we have decided to give back to the community that has supported us these last 17 years, with this year’s free, virtual Festival. Although going to movie theatres is still not possible, we are excited to bring Greek and Cypriot films from around the world into everyone’s homes.
Please read the FAQs first, before proceeding to our platform.
2020 VIRTUAL FILM FESTIVAL FAQs
2020 VIRTUAL FILM FESTIVAL PLATFORM
Feature Films
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Digger
Greece, France, 2020, 101m
Directed by Georgis Grigorakis
A contemporary Western about a native farmer who lives and works alone in a farmhouse in the heart of a mountainous forest in northern Greece. For years, he has been fighting with an expanding industrial monster, which has been digging up the forest, disturbing the lush flora and threatening his property. Yet, the greatest threat comes with the sudden arrival of his young son, after a twenty-year estrangement. The two become enemies under one roof and confront each other head on, with nature as their only observer. To keep the muddy ground from being pulled out from under their feet for profit, father and son must dig deep into it.
*Berlinale 2020: World Premiere; CICAE Art Cinema Award
*Sarajevo International Film Festival 2020: Heart of Sarajevo Award for Best Actor
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Entwined
Greece, 2019, 88min
Directed by Minos Nikolakakis
City doctor Panos relocates to a remote village in order to offer his services to the community. It’s love at first sight when he sets eyes on Danae, who lives in isolation, with a mysterious skin condition. Determined to cure her, Panos will soon discover Danae is not the helpless princess he thought she was, and time is of the essence for both of them.
*Toronto International Film Festival: World Premiere
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Markos
Greece, 2020, 93min
Directed by Nikos Skarentzos
Composers, musicologists and artists from all around the world bring out Markos Vamvakaris’ important musical heritage into the 21st century.
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My Name is Eftihia
Greece, 2019, 122min
Directed by Angelos Frantzis
Inspired by the life of the most prolific Greek female poet and lyricist, Eftihia Papagianopoulou, an extraordinary woman and artist who has created a massive volume of timeless and popular songs. She got married when she was too young, and she quickly became a mother of two little girls. She travelled from Smyrna to Greece, with only one little pillow clutched between her arms. On board the ship that took her away from her home for ever, she decided she would never let life pass her by. She vowed to live on her own terms.
Her name means Happiness, but destiny made sure she knew very little of it. She challenged death every day of her life, hoping to ward off its cold, ruthless grip.
*Hellenic Academy Award Winner for Best Feature Film, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Production Design, Best Sound and Best Make-Up
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Siege on Liperti Street
Greece, Cyprus, 2019, 88min
Directed by Stavros Pamballis
Austerity took everything but the roof over their heads, and today it will come for that too. But this time, they will finally fight back, like a family with nothing left to lose… Set beside the UN Buffer Zone that divides the city of Nicosia, SIEGE ON LIPERTI STREET tells the story of one bankrupt family’s struggle to hold on to their home, no matter the price.
*Thessaloniki International Film Festival: Winner of the FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Award, Greek Federation of Film Critics Award, Audience Award (Greek Section) and ERT (National Broadcaster) award.
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When Tomatoes Met Wagner
Greece, 2019, 72min
Directed by Marianna Economou
Do tomatoes taste better when they listen to the music of Richard Wagner? Elias, a small farming village in central Greece, is dying out. But two cousins team up with the village grannies to cultivate tomatoes. With a little help from Wagner’s music, the villagers export their little jars with organic tomato recipes across the world. The film follows the protagonists of this unlikely story, as they struggle to make their dream come true. Humorous and bittersweet, this surreal story speaks to us about the importance of reinventing oneself in times of crisis and the power of human relationships.
*Berlinale: World Premiere
*Hellenic Film Academy Award for Best Documentary
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Window to the Sea
Spain, Greece, 2019, 105min
Directed by Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Faced with life changing news, Maria, a fifty-five year old Spanish woman from Bilbao, chooses to take a trip to Greece with her closest girlfriends against the advice of her son and doctors. A spontaneous decision leads her to the island of Nisyros, a tiny haven of peace and calm that immediately feels like home. While exploring the beautiful island and soaking in its hidden treasures, she meets Stefanos and finds herself falling in love against all odds. What seemed like a brief escape from reality soon turns into an unexpected chance at happiness, in a luminous story of a woman, who takes a leap of faith and dares to live for the moment on her own terms.
*San Sebastian International Film Festival: World Premiere
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Short Films
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A Jar of Nuts
Cyprus, 2019, 17min
Directed by Savvas Stavrou
Isolated in his apartment, the lonely forty-year old Giorgos meticulously devises an intricate plan to take his life after his beloved mother chokes to death on a pistachio. As the day progresses, Giorgos allows excuses, obstacles and people to hinder his final deadly leap from the balcony, completely oblivious to the true reason behind all his stalling.
*Tirana Film Festival: Best Balkan Film Award
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Confession
Cyprus, 2019, 22min
Directed by Andreas Sheittanis
The film takes place in 1957, during the Cypriot Revolution against the British Crown.
A guerrilla fighter, who has been hiding in a monastery, needs to pretend to be a priest in order to evade capture when soldiers come into the monastery and start looking for him.
*Drama International Short Film Festival: World Premiere; #ThisisEU Award
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Electric Swan
Argentina, France, Greece, 2019, 40min
Directed by Konstantina Kotzamani
Buildings are not supposed to move. But on Avenida Libertador 2050, a building moves and the ceiling shivers, causing a strange nausea that devours its residents. Those who live on the top are afraid they’ll fall – the ones who live beneath are afraid they’ll drown.
*La Biennale di Venezia: World Premiere
*Hellenic Film Academy Award for Best Short Film
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Hippo
Greece, USA, 2018, 24min
Directed by Theofylaktos Argyrou
Sotiris is an overweight boy with a special talent in drawing who receives daily psychological and physical violence in school. Joy, one of the school’s biggest troublemakers, will help Sotiris to get out of his shell.
*Drama International Short Film Festival: World Premiere
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In the Room
Greece, 2019, 14min
Directed by Yeorgia M. Sotirchou
When God is absent, someone has to take his place. In a modern day urban environment, three characters come together: an old ill man, the young woman who looks after him and his unemployed middle-aged daughter, all face the fine line that separates ethics and freewill.
*Drama International Short Film Festival: World Premiere; Greek Film Center Motivation Award
*Tirana International Film Festival: Special Mention, Balkan Short Film
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It’s a Greek Thing
USA, 2020, 5min
Directed by Arianna Papalexopoulos
In Episode One, a Greek-American woman and her superstitious Greek aunt are running late to an appointment when their car breaks down.
In Episode Two, a Greek aunt tells her Greek-American niece her fortune by reading her coffee cup.
In Episode Three, the frustration of Greek birthdays: Greek Americans must accept that they are one year older than they actually are.
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Last Stop
Cyprus, 2019, 6min
Directed by Christos Zeniou
Trying to find his way back to where he belongs, the stimulus for the outside world is a bus stop.
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Olla
France, 2019, 27min
Directed by Ariane Labed
Olla answers an ad on a dating website for Eastern European women. Shortly thereafter, she moves in with Pierre who lives with his elderly mother, and things don’t go as expected.
*Cannes – Quinzaine des Réalisateurs: World Premiere
*Clermont International Short Film Festival; Grand Prix, Youth Jury Award and SACD Award
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Postcards from the End of the World
Greece, 2019, 23min
Directed by Konstantinos Antonopoulos
Trapped in their marriage, Dimitra and Dimitris try to endure their summer vacation with their two daughters on a remote island. Unexpectedly, human civilization collapses.
*Sarajevo Film Festival: World Premiere
*Qualified for Academy Award consideration in the Live Action Short category
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Rouge
Greece, 2019, 18min
Directed by Kostis Theodosopoulos
A sexist violent incident fires tension in Danai’s friendship with Ilona and Toufa. Torn between theory and practice, the three friends realize that patriarchy won’t die with bottles (only), and they now have marks to prove it.
*Drama International Short Film Festival: National Premiere; Best Newcomer Director, Best Screenplay, Best Make-Up
*International Film Festival Rotterdam: International Premiere
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The Distance Between Us and the Sky
Greece, France, 2019, 9min
Directed by Vasilis Kekatos
Night, national road. Two strangers meet for the first time at an old gas station. One has stopped to gas up his bike, while the other is just stranded. Lacking the 22.50€ he needs to get home, he will try to sell him the distance that separates them from the sky.
*Cannes: World Premiere; Short Film Palme d’Or and Short Film Queer Palm
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The Dude
Greece, 2019, 17min
Directed by Alexandros Kakaniaris
Stratis, a 12-year-old boy, is the greatest dude in his ‘hood. He is such a great dude, that everybody calls him The Dude. Almost everybody, that is. All he has to do is prove himself. To those who don’t believe him. Almost everybody, that is.
*Drama International Short Film Festival: World Premiere
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The House in the Suburbs
Greece, 2018, 15min
Directed by Konstantinos Gerakis
In a house not far from Athens, there is an isolated family with an unusual lifestyle. Katerina and Yannis are a young couple who live in Yannis’ family home with his mother Ariadne. They both try hard to comply with Ariadne’s anachronistic rules, but this is quite hard. Yiannis and Katerina face a crisis in their relationship due to Ariadne’s rules. They seek a solution to change their lives for the better, but their secret plan to send Ariadne to an elderly care home is revealed too early.
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