Savor Cinema [November 9] A Prosecco Reception with director & cast members prior to the 5pm screening HERE’S YIANNI!, will take place in the John Mager Courtyard. Complimentary with your film ticket.
USA / 2024 / 101 min / English / Bittersweet Dramedy
Yianni and Plousia own a charming family diner by the beach, where Yianni is a convivial host. Lately, Plousia has noticed that her husband of 40 years is not quite himself and is often wistfully distracted.
The film is a wonderful combination of comedy, drama and reality setting in. The cast includes Joe Cortese (GREEN BOOK, AMERICAN HISTORY X), Julia Ormond (SABRINA, MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, SMILLA’S SENSE OF SNOW, FIRST KNIGHT), Kevin Pollak (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, A FEW GOOD MEN, THE WHOLE TEN YARDS), Rosanna Arquette (DESPERATLY SEEKING SUSAN, PULP FICTION, AFTER HOURS), Eric Roberts (POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE, STAR 80, RUNAWAY TRAIN), and Sofia Vassilieva (Medium, and last year’s LISSA’S TRIP at FLIFF)
DIRECTOR: Christina Eliopoulos is a writer-director and first-generation Greek-American born in the fabled Asbury Park, New Jersey, exploring a mythic, fractured Americana in each project she creates.
Christina has directed and produced two documentary features, Demon On Wheels and Greetings From Asbury Park, and several documentary shorts, brand films, and commercials. She is the co-writer and co-creator of Old Made Men (in development) and the supernatural drama The Schaduwen (in development). Next on her slate is the narrative feature film Motherland, which Christina will direct from her own screenplay.
Christina was a finalist in the Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Competition for her script “King Of Florida,” which also won 1st Place in the Family/Animated genre in the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest.
DIRECTOR STATEMENT: HERE’S YIANNI! is inspired by the story of my Greek parents, two nearly penniless dreamers who immigrated from their homeland and fell in love on the boardwalk of Asbury Park, NJ.
One day, in the course of my father’s battle with dementia, he imagined himself to be Johnny Carson. My Mom, his first love, was celebrated as a “special guest star” on the show that played in his mind. She happily played along in a chair beside him as he would interview her. Mom and I often wondered if the “show” was a kind of storehouse for his fading memories or if creating the show somehow soothed his fractured mind.
Contact: nancy@cinemacollet.com
Special Guests: Christina Eliopoulos, Joe Cortese, Kevin Pollak, Sofia Vassilieva
Sponsored by:
