RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Acheron” (Short)

Acheron is that mythical river in northwestern Greece where legend would have it Charon the ferryman transported souls of the damned to Hades.  Coins were given to Charon in return for transportation. Yet there is a school of thought describing the Acheron River as a place of healing, cleansing and the purging of sin fromContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Acheron” (Short)”

RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The Strangers’ Case”

The Strangers’ Case” was filmed in Jordan, Turkey and Greece. It recounts the journey of several refugees from Aleppo in Syria to the island of Lesvos, Greece in the Eastern Aegean Sea. Amira is a successful pediatric radiologist working in a hospital running short of supplies but is never short of blood and suffering.  AfterContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “The Strangers’ Case””

RKS 2024 Wine in Greece: Nicolas Repanis Agiorgitiko from Nemea

Here in Greece as far as red wine goes in larger urban areas, you’ll find a great deal of Agiorgitiko in supermarket and corner market shelves. You have to discover a large liquor store where for example here at Thessaloniki at a Cash and Carry Store primarily supplying restaurants there must have been close toContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine in Greece: Nicolas Repanis Agiorgitiko from Nemea”

RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Utopolis”: An Extreme Case of Migrant Bashing

Under international law Greece and all other countries having “asylum seekers” land on their shores must offer basic assistance until asylum proceedings have been completed. The cost simply can’t be deported away as deportation is not a legal option. The numbers are so staggering that Italy has outsourced migrant housing and administration to Albania! AreContinue reading “RKS 2024 Film: The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival: “Utopolis”: An Extreme Case of Migrant Bashing”

RKS 2024 Wine:  The Black Sheep from Nico Lazaridi and “The Attack of the Giant Moussaka”

The Black Sheep is a blend of non-indigenous grapes to Greece, namely Syrah and Merlot. The grapes are from vineyards grown on the foothills of Mount Pangeon in Kavala. Aroma: Think of black fruit particularly blackberry, black currant, cassis and black cherry enveloped in a gentle smoke. Palate: At room temperature expect a dullard asContinue reading “RKS 2024 Wine:  The Black Sheep from Nico Lazaridi and “The Attack of the Giant Moussaka””

The 4th Annual Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Listen to Who’s Talking”:  Yes, Greeks Can Make Romcoms

Looking for something bright, breezy and humorous? Look no further than “Listen to Who’s Talking” a Greek feature film playing at the Greek International Film Festival Tour 1-31October24 in 11 Canadian cities. Buried under the covers or dreamt up by my film weary mind is the concept of mindfulness meditation possibly present in the film.Continue reading “The 4th Annual Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Listen to Who’s Talking”:  Yes, Greeks Can Make Romcoms”

The 4th Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Kapetan Mihalis”: Can a Greek Classic Modernist Novel Survive the Big Screen?

The Greek film “Kapetan Mihalis” is based on the Nikos Kazantzakis novel “Freedom or Death” chronicling the struggle of Cretans for independence in their Ottoman occupied Crete in the late 19th century. To transform this epic novel onto the screen requires guts! “Tampering” with a national treasure is risky business. However the filmmakers here haveContinue reading “The 4th Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Kapetan Mihalis”: Can a Greek Classic Modernist Novel Survive the Big Screen?”

The 4th Annual Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Behind the Haystacks”: Reality Trumps the Façade

If you travel through farmland you often see haystacks. They can be domed, square or circular and pleasing to look at, almost artistic. Behind the perfect structure what is hiding? In “Behind the Haystacks” could it be that the haystack is the public persona and the private person is what hides behind the haystack. ItsContinue reading “The 4th Annual Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Behind the Haystacks”: Reality Trumps the Façade”

The 4th Annual Greek Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Operation Star”

“Operation Star” is a WW II film set in Northern Greece. British planned Operation Star mission fails. Eight men, 5 Greek and 3 British, are sent to blow up a mountain railway bridge but are ambushed by the Germans leaving two survivors Major Vasilis Kostakis (Konstantinos Lagos) and Seargent Pavlos Linos (Lefteris Dimiropoulos). They mustContinue reading “The 4th Annual Greek Film Festival Tour (Canada): “Operation Star””

The 4th Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “The Promotion”

“The Promotion” could only have been made by a film director about a film director who is himself! It rolls along like a traditional film. In 1973 Nikos (Alexandros Logothetis) and his father Mr. Andrikos (Vasilis Kolovos) take the train from Athens to Thessaloniki. Mr. Andrikos wants to see where his son Nikos is livingContinue reading “The 4th Greek International Film Festival Tour (Canada): “The Promotion””