A series of five films about or made in Greece will continue in January at the University of Southern Maine. The free film screenings are supported by the USM Cultural Affairs Committee and the Hellenic Society Paideia of Maine. The first film, “Trojan Women,” (USA, 1971) directed by Michael Cacoyiannis, was shown in December.
The second film is “Politiki Kouzina” (“A Touch of Spice” Greece, 2003) directed by Tassos Boulmetis. It will be shown at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19, in 10 Bailey Hall on the USM Gorham campus, and again at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29, in Luther Bonney Auditorium on the USM Portland campus. The film is in Greek with English subtitles.
This bittersweet epic about the travails of the embattled Greek minority in Istanbul, has, as one critic stated, an “emotional punch that leaves you weak at the knees.” Made partly in Turkey, and starring one of its best-known actors, the film is a part of the slow and uneasy rapprochement between the two enemies who have spent most of the last 80 years on the precipice of war. The film confronts prejudice in both countries. The ethnic Greeks who were forced to leave Asia Minor in 1922 were greeted as Turks in Greece. They were caught in the middle, confused and ill at ease in a homeland that wasn’t really theirs.
The following films and screening times in the series are:
“A Matter of Dignity” on Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. on the Gorham Campus (10 Bailey Hall) and Sunday, Feb. 12 at 3 p.m. on the Portland Campus in Luther Bonney Auditorium.
“Nifes” (Brides) airing Thursday, Mar. 2 at 7 p.m. on the Gorham Campus (10 Bailey Hall) and Sunday, Mar. 5 at 3 p.m. on the Portland Campus in Luther Bonney Auditorium.
“Z” on Thursday, Apr. 27 at 7 p.m. on the Gorham Campus (10 Bailey Hall) and
Sunday, Apr. 30 at 3 p.m. on the Portland Campus in Luther Bonney Auditorium.
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