Happy Easter April 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Editorial.comments closed
To all our valued readers and friends around the world we send our sincerest and warmest wishes for a Peaceful and a Happy Easter! and in Greek, Kalo Pascha!
May the Ressurected Jesus Christ bring to all of you all His Blessings!
Please note that as from today we shall be on our Easter holidays and as such we shall resume back to our normal postings as from next Tuesday. In the meantime do enjoy a great Easter time!
Berlinale coming over to Athens April 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Movies Life Greek.comments closed
Screenings from this year’s Berlin Film Festival’s program at four of the capital’s cinemas
Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas star in Gregory Nava’s crime-drama ‘Bordertown.’
For the third year running, the Berlinale, one of the world’s leading film festivals, is visiting Athens almost in its entirety. Apart from the films, which will be screened from April 19 to 26 at the Asty cinema, the two Danaos cinemas and the Microcosmos cinema, the event aims to revive the festival’s atmosphere.
Screenings from the Berlinale’s official competition program will include Gregory Nava’s “Bordertown,” starring Jennifer Lopez and Antonio Banderas, as well as Ryan Eslinger’s “When a Man Falls in the Forest,” featuring Timothy Hutton and Sharon Stone.
The “Berlinale in Athens” will feature altogether 19 films from the Berlinale’s Panorama section. These will include Eytan Fox’s “The Bubble,” the story of a gay relationship between an Israeli and a Palestinian, Karoly Esztergalyos’s Hungarian film “Men in the Nude,” which follows the emotional turmoil a middle-aged man feels for a ruthless young man, as well as Dusan Milic’s Balkan-flavored “Guca!”
Paulo Caldas’s Brazilian-German production “Happy Desert” tells the story of Jessica, who turns to prostitution after being raped by her stepfather, while young Tracey walks the streets at night in Canadian Bruce McDonald’s “The Tracey Fragments.”
The documentary section also deals with a series of challenging topics. Documentary screenings will include Teddy award-winner Oliver Meyrou’s “Celebration,” which looks into the world of fashion through the life and work of acclaimed designer Yves Saint-Laurent, a look into the sexual life of homosexuals in New York in Abigail Child and Lala Endara’s “Fucking Different New York,” and Andre Schafer’s “Here’s Looking at You, Boy,” an exploration of the evolution of queer cinema.
The “Berlinale in Athens” will screen films from all of the Berlinale’s sections, hence film buffs will also be able to enjoy screenings from contemporary German cinema, the World Cinema Fund, films from the Forum and three films from the tribute to Arthur Penn, which will include “Bonnie and Clyde.” Finally, the City Girls retrospective will present Ernst Lubitsch’s 1925 “Lady Windermere’s Fan,” with a live presentation of the music that Aljoscha Zimmermann composed and which he will play on the piano, accompanied by his violinist daughter.
“Berlinale in Athens” is organized by Cultural Action in collaboration with Cinemad, under the guidance and the full support of the Berlin Film Festival. The event unfolds under the aegis of the German Embassy, the City of Athens and the Goethe Institute.
Ancient and modern ‘Electra’ at Concert Hall April 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Ballet Dance Opera.comments closed
One of the spring season’s leading cultural events is the upcoming production of Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s “Electra” at the Athens Concert Hall.
The play’s premiere is scheduled for April 20, with additional performances on April 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25.
Directed by Thomas Moschopoulos, with set and costume design by acclaimed Dionysis Fotopoulos and music by Cornilios Selamsis, the cast includes Anna Mascha (Electra), Amalia Moutoussi (Clytemnestra), Maria Skoula (Chrysothemis), Argyris Xafis (Orestes) and Grigoris Galatis (Aegisthus). The play was translated by Koralia Sotiriadou, with lighting by Lefteris Pavlopoulos and choreography by Martha Kloukina.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Hugo von Hofmannsthal revisited Sophocles’ tragedy and staged “Electra” at Berlin’s Kleines Theater in 1903. A study on psychological disorder and obsession, the play is heavily influenced by Freud’s psychoanalytical theories published just a few years earlier.
At the Athens Concert Hall, the “Electra” performances are dedicated to the memory of theater director Marios Ploritis.
Athens Concert Hall,1 Kokkali Street and Vasilissis Sofias Avenue, Athens, tel 210 7282333. For more information > www.megaron.gr.
DESTE opens new library April 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Books Life Greek.comments closed
In the past few years the DESTE foundation for contemporary art has adopted a new approach, placing emphasis on highlighting emerging art trends in Greece and abroad. At the same time it has been a hospitable place for artists who didn’t always have good contacts with museums and galleries or who had something fresh and original to offer.
Now DESTE is reaching out to people involved in art through study and other activities. It has opened a library on its premises at Filellinon and Papa Streets in Nea Ionia and a special reading room for visitors.
The library, which specializes in the visual arts, slanted toward Greek and international contemporary art, includes works on architecture, design and contemporary culture in general. There are books, exhibition catalogs, periodicals, special editions, books about artists, albums, an auction catalog archive, audiovisual material and art videos.
The library and the Archive of Modern Greek Artists, already in operation, are part of a DESTE project aimed at promoting knowledge of contemporary art.
Recognizing that the library will need constant updating and enrichment, DESTE has plans for further purchases, is open to exchanges and welcomes donations.
Help sought for security in Beijing April 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Olympic Games.comments closed
Beijing organizers have taken advice from the security chiefs of the last two Summer Games on how to keep the 2008 Olympics safe, an official said yesterday.
China has made much of relying on its own security forces for next year’s Olympics and believes it can deliver a secure Games for a fraction of the $1.8 billion that Athens paid in 2004.
Liu Shaowu, head of security for Beijing, however, said that foreign consultants were being hired. “Last month we invited Peter Ryan from Sydney to discuss with us about some particular security problems. We learnt valuable experiences from them.”
Liu said Major-General Vassilis Constantinidis, who headed security for the 2004 Athens Games, had been consulted in addition to Ryan, commissioner of the New South Wales Police during the 2000 Sydney Games.
Foreign e-mail fraud ring had Greek link April 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Police & Crime.comments closed
A 30-year-old Ukrainian man has been arrested in Greece on suspicion of being a member of an international ring that stole Internet user bank details to withdraw money from their accounts, the electronic crimes squad said yesterday.
The unnamed man allegedly worked for a gang based in St Petersburg, Russia. The gang attaches a Trojan horse program to e-mails that it sends to potential victims. If the messages are opened, the program installs itself on the user’s computer and gives the sender access to personal information, including the victim’s bank details.
Police did not indicate how many people the 30-year-old had targeted but said that he had managed to steal 6,000 euros from a man in Germany. The suspect would keep a percentage of the money he stole and send the remainder to the gang in Russia, police said.
Cephallonia > A Roman-era funerary chamber April 5, 2007
Posted by grhomeboy in Archaeology Greece.comments closed
A Roman-era funerary chamber, discovered by archaeologists on the Ionian island of Cephalonia, is pictured yesterday.
Experts unearthed a stone sarcophagus, gold jewelry, pottery and bronze offerings at the site near the village of Fiscardo, as well as the remains of a small theater nearby. This is the first discovery of such a monument on an Ionian island, suggesting a link between ancient Greece and Italy, experts said.
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