Enjoy the holidays with special Christmas programming on the international version of ERTFLIX
The international version of ERTFLIX brings special content during the Christmas season showcasing short and feature Greek films, children’s programming and festive shows which Greeks all over the world can enjoy.
OPERA
The Godson
ERT and the Contemporary Music Orchestra in collaboration with the Culture, Sports & Youth Organization of the Municipality of Piraeus and the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus present Theofrastos Sakellaridis’ unsurpassed operetta “The Godson”, in a new one-of-a-kind recording from the historic theater.
The story: In Athens, in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars and in the throes of World War I, a series of amusing misunderstandings arise when Petros Charmidis, a soldier at the front and Kiki’s husband, decides to pose as Vivika’s godson, as she does not remember what he looks like. Charmidis visits Vivika at the house where she lives with her husband and where, coincidentally, she hosts her friend, Kiki.
The work is presented in concert form, concertante, with a wonderful quartet of opera singers, performing arias and duets, including the great hits “Sto Stoma” (In the Mouth), “I Kardia mou Ponei gia Sas” (My Heart Aches for You) and the emblematic war march “Psila sto Metopo (Up on the Front).
Performed by: Mina Polychronou (Vivika), Maria Katsoura (Kiki), Antonis Koroneos (Charmidis), Nikos Karagiaouris (Zacharoulis / Colonel)
Orchestration: Samy Elgazzar
Sound Engineering: Michalis Sygletos, Vasilis Chaniotis, Dionysis Liberis
Directed by: Michalis Dais
Director of Photography: Kostas Blougouras
ERT Contemporary Music Orchestra
Music Direction: George Aravidis
Photography by: Lefteris Samothrakis
GREEK CINEMA
The Boy and the Tree (Animated Children’s Film)
One of the most beloved books of Evgenios Trivizas, which promotes environmental awareness and conveys timely messages, concerning the lives of marginalized people in modern megacities, in a high-quality 3D animation film.
The fairy tale unfolds on a Christmas night when a neglected tree growing on the bleak sidewalk of a city and a poor boy meet. The tree, seeing the decorated Christmas trees from inside house windows and being jealous, asks the boy to decorate it. This tree has no ornaments and no money. How is it possible to decorate a withered tree in the middle of a freezing, dirty sidewalk? And yet… that night is not like any other, a night of dreams, a night of magic…
Directed by Panagiotis Rappas.
The Little Mouse Who Wanted to Touch a Star (Animated Children’s Film)
Every time he sees the stars in the sky, Troktikoulis the mouse longs to touch them. The more his grandfather tries to make him understand that such a thing is impossible, the more his longing grows stronger. Until one Christmas night, as he is coming out of his mouse hole, he sees a decorated Christmas tree in the middle of the living room, with a silver star on top.
However, the journey to the top of the tree turns out to be a difficult one and filled with tempting traps. The toy soldier, the doll, the sailor – all tree ornaments – try to put a stop to his plans.
But Troktikoulis, defying temptation, is determined to make his dream come true.
Directed by Panagiotis Rappas, Angelos Rouvas
Written by Evgenios Trivizas
Christmas of a Vagrant
A man from Thessaloniki travels down to Athens to punish the fraudster who tricked his well-meaning father. Along the way, however, he falls in love with a girl and when she becomes pregnant, they decide to get married. When the fraudster is murdered, the authorities arrest the young man. The confession of the real killer sets the man free, seven years later. The woman he fell in love with is missing and he ends up walking around like a bum.
Directed by Stelios Tatassopoulos
Visitors
Christmas holidays are closely linked to family, love, solidarity and above all the joy of children. There are times you may think you have no one to share these precious moments with. Yet, redemption may be found where you don’t expect it. Even under a wet tarpaulin in the back of a pick-up truck.
Directed by Thodoris Papadoulakis
Merry Kitschmas
It is Christmas Eve. A young couple invites Santa Claus for dinner…
Actors Titos Vandis, Anatoli Athanassiadou, Giorgos Makris
Directed by Ilias Dimitriou
Writing credits Ilias Dimitriou
- Best Screenplay Award – Ministry of Culture of Cyprus.
- Distinction for quality – State Awards of the Greek Ministry of Culture. Honorable Mention for direction Drama Festival.
- Distinction and commission of a feature film script by the GFC.
Traffic Flow: Normal
An everyday story of two ordinary people in their common, and quite narrow, workplace; a school bus. They are two contrasting characters, Eleni, the exuberant and dynamic driver, and Nikos, the introverted and lonely school bus attendant. The festive Christmas atmosphere at the school where they work draws them into an externalization of emotions, gradually leading them to a relationship of affection, acceptance and mutual support.
Actors: Anna Mascha, Yannis Stankoglou
Directed by Konstantis Fragkopoulos
Writing credits Konstantis Fragkopoulos
For more information please visit the website https://www.ert.gr/international/ertflix-gr/
