South Australian filmmakers and twin brothers, Danny and Michael Philippou, have been named as the recipients of Talent Gateway and the Global Producers Exchange 2022, Screen Australia and Australians in Film (AiF) announced on October 12.
The two joint initiatives are aimed at supporting established Australian creatives in an increasingly global market by connecting them with key US decision makers and expanding their skills.
The Philippou twins, also known as RackaRacka, are online purveyors of comic action. Between Facebook and YouTube, RackaRacka has over 2 billion views and over 6 million subscribers.
Named one of Variety’s FameChangers, and ranked fifth on the Australian Financial Review’s Cultural Power List, the brothers have won numerous awards, including the Best International Channel Streamy Award, Best Overall at the Online Video Awards and the AACTA Award for the Best Web Show.
Screen Australia CEO, Graeme Mason, congratulated the boys and other recipients on their recognition.
“In such a global market we’re passionate about cultivating a strong pipeline of Australian screen projects and talent to gain exposure in the US, and leverage opportunities to reach international audiences and create strategic international alliances,” Mr Mason concluded.
Staff and players of Greece’s squad have given up payment for appearing in the imminent Rugby League World Cup, Zero Tackle has reported.
Head coach, Steve Georgallis, said a decision was made squad-wide to forego any tournament allowances or payments and reinvest them into the Greek Rugby League Federation (GRLF).
“It’s actually costing a lot of the guys to play but they understand what we are trying to achieve,” Georgallis told AAP.
“Even the professional guys like Lachlan Ilias and Peter Mamouzelos (Rabbitohs), you’d think they would get paid but they said ‘no, we get what you’re trying to build’.”
This decision came after a ten-year battle with the GRLF to have rugby league recognised as a unique and separate sport in the Greece.
The GRLF can now legally play, advertise and promote matches and are hopeful the decision will improve access to better fields and government funding, and lead to the creation of youth teams, school programs and future government funding.
In the meantime, Georgallis said the squad’s focus remains on their upcoming match against France at Eco-Power Stadium in Doncaster, UK, followed by matches against Samoa and England on October 23 and October 29 respectively.
Deputy Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikramenos told an international conference in Ioannina that the government will be drafting the countries first comprehensive national plan against antisemitism.
During the opening of a two-day conference on ‘Fighting Antisemitism and Holocaust Distortion and Denial on the Digital Battlefield’, the deputy prime minister stated that the government will be starting the process to create an action plan for this in the coming weeks.
File photos depicting Neo-Nazi graffiti daubed on the Holocaust Memorial in Athens.
In a pre-recorded message played at the conference, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said that he felt it was their duty to stop the spread of hate circling the internet and social media.
“A torrent of fake news, hate speech and conspiracy theories is spreading through the internet and social media,” says Mr Dendias.
We support & aspire to be at the forefront in introducing the best practices in the fight against anti-Semitism. We will win the battle, as long as we do not rest on our laurels. Τhis phenomenon won’t disappear on its own (address at a conference @GreeceMFA & @dimosioanniton) pic.twitter.com/xrBrJ6fZRK
“It is our duty to stop this new ‘pandemic’ as soon as possible.”
Amongst those in attendance at the conference were Ioannina Mayor Moses Elisaf, Israeli Ambassador to Greece, Noam Katz and President of the Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece David Saltiel, who along with relevant ministries and public bodies will participate in the process.
The Defence Minister of Greece, Nikos Panagiotopoulos, and his Turkish counterpart, Hulusi Akar, met on the sidelines of the meeting of NATO defence ministers held in Brussels on Thursday.
Panagiotopoulos and Akar stressed “the need to create a climate of stability in the region on the basis of international law and good neighbourly conduct.”
A new Greek tourism film has been nominated for the World’s Best Tourism Film 2022 in the CIFFT’s People’s Choice Awards competition.
The Greek National Tourism Organisation’s (GNTO) new video “Greece DOES Have a Winter” launched in December and is part of the country’s main “All you want is Greece” campaign.
The online competition, which is run by the International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals (CIFFT), aims to inspire viewers to watch new travel videos and vote for their favourites.
“Nowadays, video plays a central role in the efforts of most brands,” CIFFT said in an announcement.
“The CIFFT ‘People’s Choice’ Award brings attention to the potential of this format to promote tourism experiences in an authentic and engaging way.”
GNTO Secretary General Dimitris Fragakis said in a social media post how proud he was of this campaign and that it emphasises that it is the first time that such a promotional effort focused on winter tourism has been made in Greece.
“Our main goal is for Greece to be included among the winter destinations in Europe,” Fragakis said.
“Through the campaign we wanted to show that our Greece ALSO has a winter and that it is worth travelling here to live the experience.”
The CIFFT “People’s Choice” Award, now in its fifth year, includes 49 videos from 22 different nations which include participants from Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Fiji, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Taiwan, and Uganda.
Universally known as a famous poet and playwright, Oscar Wilde is known and loved for his witty humour that he showcased in his writings and his plays.
A little-known fact about the poet is his deep love for Greece and the poems he wrote on his journey there in 1877.
We are taking a look back at the incredible life of Oscar Wilde.
Early Life:
Oscar Wilde was born in 1854 to a prosperous family and was introduced to the ancient Greek language and culture from a young age by his parents.
He received a superior education, first at home with foreign governesses and then at the exclusive Portora Royal School where he became fluent in French, Greek and Latin.
In November 1878, he graduated from Magdalen College, Oxford with a double first in his B.A. of Classical Moderations and Literae Humaniores
Work and journey to Greece:
Wilde would go on to become a very successful author, and the most significant representative of the Aesthetic Movement.
He is mostly famous for his plays, such as Lady Windermere’s Fan, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, which were performed with great success.
Oscar Wilde.
Wilde, accompanied by friends, travelled to Greece and reached the island of Corfu where it is said that he was immediately immersed in the spirit of Hellenism, as evidenced in the poem he wrote on the island, titled “Santa Decca” (from a mountain in the area called Hagioi Deka, meaning “Ten Saints”) – a lament for the death of the old gods, now replaced by Christianity.
After Corfu, and a brief stay in Zakynthos, Wilde and his friends sailed to the mainland; their first landfall was at the seaside town of Katakolo in the Peloponnese, where Wilde wrote the poem “Impression de Voyage”; they would go on to visit Ancient Olympia.
Wilde continued travelling through Greece and ended up in Argos where he wrote the poem “The Theatre of Argos”, where he seems even more mournful at the bygone glory of Greek antiquity.
Death:
In 1895, the writer was convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years’ hard labour, for being a homosexual. While in prison, he wrote a famous letter, posthumously published under the title De Profundis.
Due to the harsh conditions of his imprisonment, he would develop meningitis, which led to his death, on 30 November 1900, in Paris.
Euro 2004 legend of Greece’s national team, George Karagounis, arrived in Sydney, Australia on Thursday night ahead of his official tour this month.
Karagounis was welcomed at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport by Nick Mouzourakis from the Football Brilliance Academy, as well as The Greek Herald and a large number of fans.
During his time in Sydney, Karagounis will be attending a charity gala dinner on Friday, October 14 at the Grand Roxy at Brighton-Le-Sands, where he will talk about his football experiences and the historic win.
Later in the month, Karagounis will be winding back the clock, putting on his boots and reliving the glory days as he partakes in the ‘Karagounis Legends Game’ at Leichhardt’s Lambert Park on Sunday, 23 October.
With gates opening at 2pm, Football Brilliance Academy and Karagounis himself will be conducting a training session for children before the charity match kick-offs at 5pm.
Karagounis’ 11 players will be playing against a mixed team of ex-football stars and current professional footballers.
Tickets for the Sunday, October 23 ‘Karagounis Legends Game’ are being sold individually for $25 or $100 for a family pack of 5. Tickets are available online via Eventbrite.
Towns across Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania are being urged to evacuate as the states brace for more wild weather after being lashed by heavy rainfall on Thursday.
State emergency services are expecting heavy rainfall and potential flooding to continue in the south-east of Australia over the coming weeks.
Victoria:
Residents in northern and central Victoria are on high alert, as six areas are being ordered to ‘evacuate immediately’ on Friday morning.
Locals in Wedderburn, Benalla, Carisbrook, Seymour, Rochester and those who are near the Maribyrnong river in Melbourne’s west are all directed to leave.
This EMERGENCY WARNING – RIVERINE FLOOD – Too Late to Leave has been issued for Seymour
An Evacuation Warning remains current, but it is now too late to leave. If you haven't evacuated you should shelter in the highest location possible.
There are also emergency warnings in place for many other communities, including directions for people to move to higher ground in locations such as Barnadown and Euroa.
Community relief centres have been set up in Echuca and Seymour in the north, Skipton and Creswick near Ballarat, and Maryborough north-west of Melbourne.
A gazebo in Seymour’s Goulburn Park was under water on Thursday. Photo: ABC News / Dylan Anderson.
New South Wales:
In New South Wales, an evacuation order was issued on Thursday for the central west town of Forbes. The order was expected to affect around 500 residents, who were urged to leave on Thursday night.
The Lachlan River is expected to reach a major flood peak of 10.6 metres on Friday.
An evacuation centre was set up at the Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian Church on Harold Street.
The Lachlan River rising to moderate flood levels around Forbes in NSW’s Central West. Picture from NSW SES footage.
A search was continuing in the area for a 63-year-old man thought to have been swept into floodwaters.
Tasmania:
Major warnings were issued for the Mersey and Meander rivers in the north of Tasmania, and four evacuation centres have been set up in Railton, Latrobe, Ulverstone and Deloraine.
A property in Liffey in northern Tasmania was cut off by floodwaters on Thursday. Photo: ABC News / Luke Bowden.
Evacuation orders were issued between Liena and Latrobe and between Meander and Hadspen.
People were also urged to evacuate from the area of Lake Isandula Dam, which is at risk of failure in the areas of Isandula Road, Preston Road and Gawler Road towards Ulverstone.
In the early hours of Friday morning, an evacuate now order was issued for residents in parts of Newstead, near Hart Street.
The Kalavryta Massacre is remembered as one of the darkest moments in Greek history.
That’s why the CEO of Foss Productions and producer, Stelios Cotionis, jumped at the chance to join a team of creatives working on the film Echoes of the Past.
The 2021 fictional drama film is inspired by the Kalavryta Massacre and the atrocities committed by the invading German troops in the Greek town in December 1943. The massacre saw the near-extermination of the town’s male population.
The film follows high-flying lawyer, Caroline Martin, as she visits Kalavryta to investigate after the Greek government launches a claim for war reparations. An unexpected encounter with the last survivor of the tragedy, Nikolaos Andreou, leads them both down a dark chapter of history.
Echoes of the Past.
This year, Australian viewers will be able to watch Echoes of the Past at the Greek Film Festival at Leichardt’s Palace Norton Street Cinema from October 13 – 23. The festival is being presented by the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW (GOCNSW) and the Greek Festival of Sydney.
To find out more, The Greek Herald spoke with Stelios about how the film came about.
Tell us about yourself.
Born and raised in Athens, I am the Lead Producer and CEO of Foss Productions, one of the biggest production companies in Greece. Over the course of my 14-year career in the advertising, film and TV production industry, I had the opportunity to be involved as a producer in several multi-awarded short films including but not limited to Eighth Continent (74th Venice IFF & Rotterdam IFF 2018) and Third Kind (Semaine de la Critique at Cannes 2018, Telluride Film Festival), and a co-producer in multi-awarded films such as Suntan (Rotterdam IFF 2016, SXSW 2016) and Pity (Sundance Film Festival 2018, Rotterdam IFF 2018). Echoes of the Past is one of the latest feature films that I have contributed to as delegate producer and is one of the biggest productions in the history of Greek cinema.
Stelios Cotionis.
How did you get involved in the film?
Echoes of the Past was brought to my attention by the director of the film, a friend and one of our regular collaborators, Nicholas Dimitropoulos. We at Foss Productions, as a team, decided to hop onboard for such an important cause in an attempt to present the terrible atrocity of the Kalavryta Massacre to the entire world with the appropriate respect and responsibility towards the victims and their descendants.
With the help and support of Tom and Cia Souleles, the gifted scriptwriter and my co-producer Dimitrios Katsantonis and the talented Dimitropoulos, we managed to produce a movie comparable to foreign productions, that has already managed to be distributed to the US and LATAM and most recently, in the UK.
The powerful performance of Max von Sydow was crucial to bring the script to life and, along with the exceptional cast, we have achieved a very strong result representing the story in its deepest form, blending emotions with historical facts and drama with passion.
I remember with great gratitude Sydow’s comment after the end of the filming process that “this is (Foss Production) the best crew” he “ever had” and I would like to thank all the people, companies and organisations who made Echoes of the Past possible and believed in our vision and hard work. This was just the beginning of a super promising slate for Foss Productions.
Why do you think it’s important to tell this story?
Even from the ashes, hope is born – this is the key message the film tries to highlight. The search for hope and how humanity can raise hope despite its dark sides. The Kalavryta Massacre will always be remembered as one of the darkest moments in contemporary Greek history and it is crucial to educate the audiences about what has happened in the past to prevent some of those mistakes to repeat in the future.
How is the history of the massacre reflected in the film?
Echoes of the Past is a powerful historical drama reflecting the clash between both sides of the war, while raising diachronic questions about catharsis and the wound that every human being carries, regardless. Despite the controversy which emerged after the release of the film, I would like to highlight that as Dimitropoulos has stated, we were inspired to “share the tragic story of Kalavryta which remains little-known outside of Greece, to teach audiences about a dark chapter in Europe’s recent past at a time when fascism around the world is on the rise.”
What’s next for you?
There is a plethora of promising projects in the making such as Milky Way, the first-ever limited series of the multi-awarded director Vasilis Kekatos; Maestro, a dramatic series of cinematic character and high aesthetics, filmed in the stunning Ionian landscape; The Great Chimera, a television series based on the characteristic novel by M. Karagatsis directed by Denis Iliadis; Arcadia, a feature film directed by the emblematic Yorgos Zois; What Mary didn’t Know, Konstantina Kotzamani’s latest fictional mid-length film; and many more to come.
Foss Productions, within the framework of the established Film Department, under my supervision, personal involvement, and guidance, has managed to collaborate with top-notch companies and creators, to deliver an eclectic filmography that contains multi-awarded winning films, documentaries and series, such as Echoes of the Past, Third Kind, Broken Sound, Suntan, Pity, All the Fires the Fire, Memoir of a Veering Storm, Enomena and many more.
Foss’ content has been multi-awarded in A-list international film festivals (Cannes: La Semaine De La Critique, Venice, Sundance, Locarno, Rotterdam, Telluride, Clermont-Ferrand) and sold globally through important international hubs, distributors (Strand Releasing, Visit Films, New Europe Film Sales, Salaud Morisset) and broadcasters (Arte, Canal+, Critirion Channel) worldwide.
The Greek Film Festival, presented by the Greek Orthodox Community of NSW and the Greek Festival of Sydney, runs from Thursday, October 13 to Sunday, October 23. Screenings will be at Palace Norton Street, 99 Norton Street, Leichhardt, NSW, 2040.
The Greek Orthodox Parish and Community of Burwood and District is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a Luncheon and Service Awards on Sunday, November 6 at 12pm at Le Montage in Lilyfield, Sydney and all parishioners and friends are invited to join in the celebration.
“2020 officially marked our 50th anniversary of service, however, given the ongoing uncertainty, lockdowns and restrictions during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we postponed some of our key celebrations to this year,” Penelopy Kioussis, President of the Parish and Community, said.
“We will therefore be celebrating this important milestone with a special 50th Anniversary Luncheon and Service Awards and we look forward to seeing those who have a special place in their hearts for our Parish and Community, joining us on this very special occasion.”
Tickets are $140 each and include a 3-course meal, beverages and entertainment – bookings can be made online at stnectariosburwood.ecwid.com or by telephoning 0417 207 107.
The event will also include the presentation of 50th Anniversary Service Awards, honouring those who have served the Parish and Community for significant periods of time during its history (10-plus years, 15-plus years, 20-plus years and 25-plus years), either as a volunteer or in a formal capacity.
If you, or someone you know, is eligible to receive a Service Award, please ensure that a Nomination Form is submitted by no later than Wednesday, October 19, so that the appropriate acknowledgements can be made. Nomination Forms can be obtained by emailing events@stnectariosburwood.com.au or ringing 0417 207 107.
“We look forward to seeing you all as we celebrate 50-plus years of contribution, memorable moments and achievements since our establishment in 1970,” Ms Kioussis said.
The Greek Orthodox Parish and Community of Burwood and District Saint Nectarios was established in 1970 to serve the spiritual, cultural, educational and social needs of the local and broader Greek community.
The Church attracts worshippers from all over the metropolitan area, many of whom make a pilgrimage to Burwood to worship its Patron Saint, Saint Nectarios, whose Feast Day is celebrated on November 9 each year.
They also come to admire the historic Neo-Gothic style sandstone Church building, which was opened by the Methodists in 1879, along with its magnificent leadlight windows and the beautiful iconography. Restoration works have recently been completed to faithfully maintain this important cultural asset.
The Church is honoured by bearing the name of Saint Nectarios, Bishop of Pentapolis, The Miracle Maker of Aegina, the Saint of the 20th Century, as he is called. 2020 marked 100 years since his repose and 2021 marked 60 years since he was declared a Saint.
