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HFS’s “Always on Sunday” Resumes with Screening of Fonissa at MoMI, Nov. 10

Photo by Marilena Anastasiadou

ASTORIA, NY – Greek News USA

The Hellenic Film Society (HFS) begins a new season of monthly Greek films with a screening of the dramatic film, Fonissa, which played to a sold-out audience during the Society’s recent New York Greek Film Expo, a film festival for all New Yorkers, October 3—13. Following the screening, director Eva Nathena, who HFS is hosting from Greece, will participate in an audience Q&A. The screening, to be held on Sunday, November 10 at 3pm at the prestigious Museum of the Moving Image, is part of HFS’s Always on Sunday monthly Greek film series. Fonissa will be co-presented with New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT).

Based on the classic 1903 novel by Alexandros Papadiamantis, Fonissa tells the story of a midwife who, traumatized by the patriarchal society in which she lives, decides to take matters into her own hands to spare the baby girls she delivers from the oppression and abuse that village women were forced to endure at that time.

The film received sixteen (16) 2024 Hellenic Film Academy Award nominations, including Best Film, Best Director (Eva Nathena), Best Actress (Karyofyllia Karabeti) and Best Screenplay (Katerina Bei). Despite disturbing themes of domestic violence, feminicide, and infanticide, Fonissa was a box office hit in Greece before its sell-out screening at the Expo.

“Fonissa is one of the biggest commercial hits in Greece in recent years and we are thrilled to be able to show it again, since so many people didn’t get a chance to see it the first time,” says Maria C. Miles, Hellenic Film Society president. “It’s a powerful film with very moving performances by the entire cast and particularly the star, Karyofyllia Karabeti. It’s a film that will remain with audiences for a very long time.”

For further information or to purchase tickets, you can visit www.hellenicfilmusa.org.

About the Hellenic Film Society USA

The Hellenic Film Society USA (HFS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization rooted in the belief that Greek cinema should be part of the American cultural landscape. Based in Astoria, NY, the organization promotes feature films, documentaries, and film shorts made by Greek filmmakers and those of Greek descent, as well as films that promote the cultures of Greece and Cyprus. HFS collaborates with other film festivals in the US, including the Chicago Film Expo, the South Florida Greek Film Festival, and the Atlanta Greek Film Expo, all of which are hosting Greek film festivals this fall.

The Kallinikeion Foundation and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) are the lead supporters of the Hellenic Film Society USA. Additional support is provided by Microsoft, Greek National Tourism Organization, the New York City Council, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, and Antenna Satellite TV.

The series is partially supported by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, Statewide Community Regrants Program with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature and administered by Flushing Town Hall.