The 2009 programme of the International Short Film and Debut works Festival Maremetraggio includes a tribute dedicated to Greece. The film festival of Trieste thanks to the cooperation with the Hellenic Foundation for Culture will organize a tribute to the Greek cinema of the last decade, especially for short films as well as the screening of the film "El Greco" by Yannis Smaragdis (3/7/09). The Greek director Y. Smaragdis will be the guest of honour.
The film "El Greco" was released in 2007. It is an international co-production (Greece, Spain, England, Hungary and Italy), an epic tale about the life of Greek painter Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known worldwide as El Greco. D. Theotokopoulos is the most famous Cretan painter of the Renaissance, a great artist with an uncompromising character, who stands out and searches for freedom. Based on the biographical novel "EL GRECO - the Painter of God" by Dimitris Siatopoulos, it was written by Jackie Pavlenko and Yannis Smaragdis, who also directed the film. Music by Vangelis Papathanassiou.
Cast: Nick Ashdon (as El Greco), Juan Diego Botto, Lakis Lazopoulos, Dimitra Matsouka, Dina Konsta, Sotiris Moustakas. The film is the most expensive co-production in the history of Greek cinema.
Comments on the screening
  
Photos: Marco Pregnolato
The crowning touch to the tribute to the Greek cinema was the premiere of the film "El Greco" by Yannis Smaragdis, welcomed with enthusiasm by the audience of Trieste and the wider area. The local press wrote dithyrambic comments about the film - the audience in Trieste welcomed "El Greco" with rounds of applause and deep emotion. The screening was on July 3, at the Cinema Ariston, in the presence of the film director Yannis Smaragdis, following the screening of the short film "When fish fly" by Vilka Tzoura, in the presence of the star Mrs. Katerina Helmi.
 
Photos: Marco Pregnolato
Around 400 people watched the films, many of them travelling a long way in order to be present at the Premiere. Both films raised the audience's enthusiastic applause. The impressive element was not the great enthusiasm, but the emotion expressed by the audience. The premiere was followed by a discussion of the director Yannis Smaragdis with the viewers. Mr. Smaragdis conquered the audience with his warmth, smartness, sense of humour and his spontaneous answers to the viewers' questions. On July 4, during the awarding ceremony to the winners of the Maremetraggio Festival, Yannis Smaragdis was given an honourable distinction as the guest of honour of the festival's 10th edition. The Festival's closing event was a dinner with Greek food, offered by the Hellenic Community of Trieste at the Club Adriaco.
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