meldmagazine.com.au

November 02, 2012

STILL deciding what to watch at the Greek Film Festival? Hieu Chau gives you a couple of options to help ease you into the genre that is Greek cinema. 

The Greek Film Festival 2012 is currently under-way in Melbourne, and doesn’t finish until November 4, so there is still time to catch your first-or second, Greek Film.

Having said this, what City of Children manages to accomplish in terms of its acting talent is rather outstanding. It’s a talkative feature but the actors are competent and shine in their roles.

Particularly noteworthy is actress Kika Georgiou. In the film, she plays an Iranian immigrant on the verge of giving birth. Her story is perhaps the most tender and much more emotionally eclipsing than the others, evidenced in the final moments of the film where we are given a glimmer of salvation.

artshub.com.au

October 25, 2012

The debut feature from director Giorgos Gikapeppas weaves separate stories of impending motherhood into a larger statement on the universal nature of life and death.

In a series of vivid vignettes linked by ideas rather than action, it is the commonalities of the circumstances that remain important, instead of the characters. Indeed, as interesting as their slight scenarios become over the course of the film – and as well performed as they are (Hellenic Academy Award best actress winner Kika Georgiou included) – the characters primarily serve to embody differences in class and creed, in order to to emphasise the similarities of the pregnancy-inspired chaos that surrounds them.

sbs.com.au

October 15, 2012

The movie’s sense of emotional claustrophobia is so intense

All the acting is fine. Particularly good are Natalia Kalimeratzi as Liza and Vassilis Bisbikis as Fotis, the young couple who spend most of the movie stranded out in the bush on the outskirts of Athens arguing the relative merits of an abortion, between bouts of sweaty sex.

But I think it’s Georgiou, who won best actress at the Hellenic Academy Awards last year, that is truly striking. Her performance is almost free of dialogue. It’s retrained and quiet. There’s a world of pain, and optimism just in the look of her eyes. This film is so brutal yet so poetic I’m not sure whether Gikapeppas has any time for cheap and pious morals. The film, though, is somehow weirdly optimistic. It depicts a cruel world, and yet people survive and move on because kindness is still possible.

FLIX

October 09, 2012

With the awards in the newly established Greek Short Film Competition having preceded the rest by a day, the 18th Athens International Film Festival handed out prizes at Danaos movie theater on September 30th to both the Official Competition and the Music & Film section winners.

Best Newcomer for a Greek Actress: Kika Georgiou in "The City of Children"

FLIX

June 09, 2012

After a successful run at the recent Hellenic Film Academy Awards, “The City of Children” by Giorgos Gikapeppas is skipping the country for a quick trip to Moscow and Montreal!

First stop Russia, where it will compete at the 34th Moscow International Film Festival, taking place June 21 to 30, along with a well-deserved slot at the Montreal World Film Festival as part of the “Focus on Wold Cinema” section.

FIPRESCI | The International Federation of Film Critics

November 14, 2011

Yorgos Gikapeppas' The City of Children (I poli ton paidion) was the big revelation of the 52nd Thessaloniki International Film Festival, outshining the year's other Greek selections. This is the first feature from Gikapeppas, a theatre and television director who has filmed several short stories. Interestingly, the production of the film was inspired by the country's economic crisis, which has undeniably affected local filmmaking. City of Children was shot without public subsidies from the Greek Film Center or ERT; it was self-financed with support from the private television station NOVA. Therefore it is an independent production, with a relatively low budget for a feature film.

FLIX

November 06, 2011

Η ταινία του Γιώργου Γκικαπέππα θα κάνει την επίσημη πρώτη της στο 52ο Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου Θεσσαλονίκης. Λίγο νωρίτερα, ο σκηνοθέτης μας ξεναγεί στα σπίτια της και μας συστήνει τους ανθρώπους της.

«Η Πόλη των Παιδιών» είναι μια προσωποκεντρική ταινία, άρα οι ηθοποιοί σας είναι ένας πολύ σημαντικός παράγοντας στη δημιουργία και την επιτυχία της. Πώς τους επιλέξατε; Ποιες ήταν οι βασικές οδηγίες που τους δώσατε;

Με κάποιους από τους έντεκα ηθοποιούς της ταινίας ήμασταν φίλοι ή είχαμε συνεργαστεί στο παρελθόν και κάποιους τους γνώρισα μέσω του συνεργάτη μου στο casting, του Ακη Γουρζουλίδη. Οφείλω πολλά σε όλους γιατί πίστεψαν στο εγχείρημα και δούλεψαν με πίστη και εμπιστοσύνη.

memrants

October 28, 2011

From what I see, the cast of "City of Children" consists of both established actors and newcomers. Again, unlike all the other sectors in "the motherland", it's nice to see that young people are welcomed and given the opportunity to shine. (If only they did the same with politics…)

November 01, 2012

Παρόλα αυτά, η αφηγηματική δεξιότητα του Γκικαπέππα και η ερμηνευτική ομοιογένεια του σωστά επιλεγμένου καστ δεν περνούν απαρατήρητες, χαρίζοντας στην ταινία τα βραβεία τόσο της Διεθνούς (FIPRESCI) όσο και της Πανελλήνιας Ένωσης Κριτικών στο περσινό Φεστιβάλ Θεσσαλονίκης.