As a Screenwriting major and Classics minor, I was very excited by Dr. Zacharia’s, Professor of Classics and Archaeology at Loyola Marymount University, class, “Representation of Greece: Ancient & Modern” which partnered with the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, providing a framework for the sixteen students to further explore the concepts of the class. Before we started reviewing film submissions made to the LAGFF, our learning focus centered around theories of representation that would help us better understand what we were viewing and the context around them. With Stuart Hall’s book, Representation, we delved into the concepts of what it means to have meaning, and how that meaning changes in regards to the power binary of Us vs. “The Other.” Through Stuart Hall, we learned much about the significance of power and how it has an effect on peoples’ identity. This was abundantly clear in regards to the commodification of culture which we studied in the documentary, Cannibal Tours, as well as with the power museums hold over the people/culture they represent as they decide how a group is viewed. However, Dr. Zacharia always brought what we were learning in terms of theory back to Greece which brings me the LAGFF portion of the class. We were split up into four groups of focus in terms of the films submitted to the festival: Food & Travel, Film & Theater, Family, Religion & State, and Politics & Economics, and would watch and review the submitted films, accordingly. I, along with three of my classmates were placed in the group centered around Politics & Economics. Because of this, I was able to see many films regarding the Economic and Refugee Crisis in Greece, and learned more about the emotional context around them. Being in the Politics & Economics group was not my first choice as my interest lied elsewhere. However, after viewing multiple films in this category, I am so thankful for this placement as there is so much emotional depth as these are very present issues in Greece. The films were eye-opening, as I bore witness to the tragedies currently occurring in modern-day Greece, something I was not very familiar with until now. With films such as Vassilis Mazomenos’ Lines and Yannis Sakaridis’ Amerika Square, I became fascinated with the idea concerning what happens to a person when they are faced with a crisis, and how can that person remake themselves to move forward? I decided to focus my blog on discussing those questions. Knowing that it is not just problems of the State that can affect a person’s meaning, but also more intimate crises, I discussed films like Alexander Zwart’s “You’ve Made Your Bed, Now Lie in It,” Thelyia Petraki’s, whom I had the honor to interview, “Helga is in Lund,” and Elias Dimitriou’s SMAC. This project was particularly interesting to me as the struggle to retain one’s identity can apply to everyone and in many situations, so I was able to explore these universal ideas in the context of Greece which allowed for a more insightful discovery.
For the rest of the summer, I will continue to work with LAGFF with a fellow intern, André Enriquez, in the International Project Discovery Forum (IPDF) which helps develop Greek and Balkan films in pre-production, under the guidance and supervision of Araceli Lemos. As someone who has been a Development Intern at three production companies, this is something I am rather familiar with, and I am looking forward to applying my knowledge to Greek stories. At a recent meeting, André and I got more of an idea of what we will be doing for the festival in regards to this specific internship. We will help write the LAGFF booklets and website by submitting bios and descriptions of the accepted IPDF projects along with providing descriptions of the events, and we will also work with social media for the public IPDF events. As a part of the IPDF program, entertainment industry experts are required for several of the events to provide feedback and education to the accepted filmmakers. Since I have experience working with industry professionals, to Araceli, I have suggested a filmmaker to be invited, as I think he would be a great fit. Because of the IPDF internship, I will be working the days of the Festival, June 7-11. I have never been at a film festival, much less worked at one, so I am very eager to experience this part of the entertainment industry and learn as much as I can.
For the rest of the summer, I will continue to work with LAGFF with a fellow intern, André Enriquez, in the International Project Discovery Forum (IPDF) which helps develop Greek and Balkan films in pre-production, under the guidance and supervision of Araceli Lemos. As someone who has been a Development Intern at three production companies, this is something I am rather familiar with, and I am looking forward to applying my knowledge to Greek stories. At a recent meeting, André and I got more of an idea of what we will be doing for the festival in regards to this specific internship. We will help write the LAGFF booklets and website by submitting bios and descriptions of the accepted IPDF projects along with providing descriptions of the events, and we will also work with social media for the public IPDF events. As a part of the IPDF program, entertainment industry experts are required for several of the events to provide feedback and education to the accepted filmmakers. Since I have experience working with industry professionals, to Araceli, I have suggested a filmmaker to be invited, as I think he would be a great fit. Because of the IPDF internship, I will be working the days of the Festival, June 7-11. I have never been at a film festival, much less worked at one, so I am very eager to experience this part of the entertainment industry and learn as much as I can.