With the help of a Chicago-based group called The FilmHellenes, Terkourafi chose the seven films that will appeal to general audiences to be shown at the Art Theater. The movies feature universal themes - intergenerational relationships, what it's like to be young, leaving home, life in the big city, exploring sexual identity. However, their frustration with the Greek government and the lack of luxurious trailers and craft services doesn't have a starring role on screen. "They work with the director because they are friends. "What is happening is that people perform in their own clothes, they are filmed in their own houses, the actors are not paid," Terkourafi said. Calling themselves Filmmakers in the Mist (alluding to near-extinct gorillas), the 200 or so members of this group resorted to "guerrilla" filmmaking - creating movies out of barebones budgets. "There has been an outburst of artistic activity in Greece," she said, "because people feel the need to express themselves when they're not heard by the politicians."Ībout four years ago, as a means of protesting outdated movie-making regulations, Greek filmmakers organized a boycott of the competitive portion of the nation's annual film festival. Marina Terkourafi, the program director and a linguistics professor, calls this event the "first" Greek film fest, because she hopes it will become an annual event. The Modern Greek Studies program at the University of Illinois will showcase a selection of these new movies in a Greek Film Festival March 2 and 3 (Friday and Saturday) at the Art Theater in downtown Champaign.
Marina Terkourafi, the director of the Modern Greek Studies program and a linguistics professor, says the Greek film industry is revitalized "because people feel the need to express themselves when they're not heard by the politicians."
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