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Now in its 12th year, the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival ended its 12th run on Sunday evening with Orpheus Awards handed out in several categories, plus an honorary Orpheus for Greek-American actor George Chakiris, who won the Oscar for best supporting actor Academy Award in 1961’s “West Side Story.” His costar, Rita Moreno, who scored a best supporting actress Oscar for the same film, presented Chakiris with his trophy.

The ceremony was held at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater, capping a week of screenings, seminars and social events. Stand-up comedian Anthony Steven Kalloniatis, aka Ant, opened the event, and network warm-up host Chuck Dukas served as Mc.

Historical drama “Polyxeni,” directed by Dora Masclavanou, a tale of orphan girl from Istanbul unaware of the devious plan others are weaving behind her back, won the Orpheus Award for best fiction feature film. Katia Goulioni (pictured above in a scene from the...

Stormy awards sees Greek Academy blast government.

Argyris Papadimitropoulos’s (Wasted Youth) drama Suntan was the big winner at the Iris Hellenic Film Academy Awards on Tuesday evening (March 21) winning six prizes out of the 11 for which it was nominated including best film and director.

The film, which played in the Rotterdam, Brussels, Edinburgh, SXSW, Odessa and Jeonju festivals, was also awarded best screenplay, best actor for Makis Padimitriou and best supporting actress for Elli Tringou.

The Faliro House, Marni and Oxymoron production is a bitter sweet drama about a middle-aged doctor on a Greek island whose life turns upside down when he gets embroiled with a group of hedonist tourists.

The film is widely tipped to be Greece’s submission in the best foreign language category at next year’s Oscars.

World sales are handled by Us outlet Visit Films. Strand Releasing is the Us distributor.

Also winning awards was Tasos Boulmetis’ coming of age story...

Stormy awards sees Greek Academy blast government.

Argyris Papadimitropoulos’s (Wasted Youth) drama Suntan swept the Iris Hellenic Film Academy Awards on Tuesday evening (March 21) winning six prizes out of the 11 for which it was nominated including best film and director.

The film, which played in the Rotterdam, Brussels, Edinburgh, SXSW, Odessa and Jeonju festivals, was also awarded best screenplay, best actor for Makis Padimitriou and best supporting actress for Elli Tringou.

The Faliro House, Marni and Oxymoron production is a bitter sweet drama about a middle-aged doctor on a Greek island whose life turns upside down when he gets embroiled with a group of hedonist tourists.

The film is widely tipped to be Greece’s submission in the best foreign language category at next year’s Oscars.

World sales are handled by Us outlet Visit Films. Strand Releasing is the Us distributor.

Also winning awards was Tasos Boulmetis’ coming of age story Mythopathy, which won three...

Istanbul Film Festival unveils line-up and Meetings On The Bridge details.

The İstanbul Film Festival (April 5-15) has unveiled the programme for its 36th edition.

Scroll down for lineups

Despite intensive political campaigning ahead of the Turkish constitutional referendum on April 16 and an ongoing state of emergency in the country following last year’s July putsch, festival director Kerem Ayan revealed the line-up at a relatively relaxed press conference in Istanbul.

The festival will host a total of 203 films in 21 categories from 61 countries in nine venues on both sides of the Bosphorous. Among those are 13 Turkish features getting their world premieres.

Among films to compete in the international competition are Toronto hit Lady Macbeth and French immigration drama This is Our Land.

While the number of international guests set to attend the festival is expected to be down on previous years due to a series of terror attacks in the city, notable guests...

Istanbul Film Festival unveils line-up and Meetings On The Bridge details.

The İstanbul Film Festival (April 5-15) has unveiled the programme for its 36th edition.

Scroll down for lineups

Despite intensive political campaigning ahead of the Turkish constitutional referendum on April 16 and an ongoing state of emergency in the country following last year’s July putsch, festival director Kerem Ayan revealed the line-up at a relatively relaxed press conference in Istanbul.

The festival will host a total of 203 films in 21 categories from 61 countries in nine venues on both sides of the Bosphorous. Among those are 13 Turkish features getting their world premieres.

Among films to compete in the international competition are Toronto hit Lady Macbeth and French immigration drama This is Our Land.

While the number of international guests set to attend the festival is expected to be down on previous years due to a series of terror attacks in the city, notable guests...

Hedi won best film, while Matt Johnson won best director for Operation Avalanche.

The Tunisian-French-Belgian co-production Hedi by Mohamed Ben Attia has won the best film award, the Golden Athena, at the 22nd Athens International Film Festival (September 22-October 2).

The film was co-produced by Tanit Films, Nomadis Images and the Dardenne brothers production outlet Les Films du Fleuve.

Majd Mastoura stars in the lead role as a young man who tries to break loose from his dominant mother and some of Tunisia’s more conservative social norms.

The film debuted at Berlin Film Festival 2016, winning the best first film award and a best actor prize for Mastoura.

The Aiff awards were decided by a five-member international jury presided over by the BFI programmes curator Nicola Gallani. The jury included German film critic Julia Teichmann (Film Dienst), French producer Sylvia Perel and her compatriot film critic Bernard Nave (Jeune Cinema).

Matt Johnson won the best director trophy for [link...

The Greek Film Centre (Eek) has appointed a female filmmaker for the first time in its history.

The versatile filmmaker Electra Venaki has been appointed director general of the Greek Film Centre (Ekk), marking the first time that a woman has helmed the organisation.

The appointment follows sweeping changes within the organisation last January and the installation of a new board by the Culture minister.

During her 20-year experience in the film industry Venaki specialized in editing and sound design and is known for her close association with the acclaimed late Greek director Alida Dimitriou.

Venaki was in charge of audiovisual production in the Lambrakis Press Group and chief editor of Greek media site in.gr from 1999 to 2005.

Among her immediate tasks will be lobbying for the re-establishment of the special levy on cinema admissions, which was unexpectedly scrapped last August by the government.

The levy was generating between four and eight million Euros for the industry...

The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (November 6-14) offers busy industry programme including works in progress and Crossroads co-production strand.The 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival kicks off today with the Berlin prizewinner Victoria by Sebastian Schipper.

The festival closes Nov 14 with the Cannes awarded My Golden Days (Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse) by Arnaud Desplechin, who receives an homage, enjoys a full retrospective of his films and will deliver a masterclass.

Also receiving homages are veteran Romanian director Mircea Daneliuc and Greek master cinematographer Nikos Kavoukidis, accompanied by tributes to the 70 years of Greek animation and to the recent Austrian cinema.The late Belgian director Chantal.Akerman is receiving a special homage with the presentation of her 2011 film Almayer’s Folly (La folie Almayer).

The competition program includes 15 first and second films (the full list is below). The five members of the international jury set to award the Golden, Silver and Bronze...

From Turkish versions of Tarzan and Dracula to wintry weepies, via (whisper it) Midnight Express, Fiachra Gibbons picks out the best films shot in Istanbul

• As featured in our Istanbul city guide

From Russia with Love, Terence Young, 1963

"They dance for him, they yearn for him, they die for him …" From Russia with Love is not only arguably the best of the Bond films, it set the template for all that followed, right down to the corny one-liners. This is Tatiana, the Russian double-agent love interest succumbing to Sean Connery's charms: "The mechanism is… Oh James… Will you make love to me all the time in England?" "Day and night, darling… Go on about the mechanism…" The film was shot when the city's population was less than two million (it has mushroomed to more than 13 million today), and it's a magic carpet ride back to a time when Istanbul teemed with hamals,...