By Eleni Patsalides.
Oscar award-winning director, screenwriter and producer, Alexander Payne, was sworn in as a Greek citizen on Monday, February 7 at the Consulate General of Greece in Boston.
The event was celebrated by Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias in a statement on social media: “Oscar-winning director, screenwriter, and producer Constantine Alexander Payne is now a Greek citizen. He has proven once again that he does not forget his family’s heritage.”
The director born Constantine Alexander Payne has previously paid homage to his Greek roots as he was made an honorary citizen of Aigialeia in the Peloponnese in 2016.
During this event, Payne was also named Aigialeia’s Ambassador of Art and Culture, and he addressed the audience in Greek and told them of his grandfather who had moved to Omaha, Nebraska in 1912.
In an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos in 2013, Payne explained how his grandfather’s decision to change the family name from Papadopoulos to Payne came as a result of the “anti-Greek riots of 1909” and how this motivated him to “totally Americanise it.”
Payne is best known for the films “Sideways,” “The Descendants,” and “Nebraska,” having won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay twice and been nominated three times for Best Director.
Source: Ekathimerini.
