“Smyrni Mou Agapimeni” (Smyrna My Beloved), the critically acclaimed film which portrays the 1922 Smyrna Catastrophe through the perspective of the Baltatzis family, will screen in Cleveland, Ohio, on Sunday, October 2.
The screening will take place at the Capitol Theatre located at 1390 W 65th St. Doors will open at 1:00pm and the film will begin at 1:30pm. The film’s runtime is 120 minutes.
The screening is organized by the Greek America Foundation, a New York-based charity which aims to promote, preserve and perpetuate Greek culture, history and ideals in North America. The organization’s founder and president, Gregory Pappas, will offer brief remarks before and after the event.
Tickets cost $25 per guest and can be purchased here.
All proceeds from the screening will benefit the Greek America Foundation’s philanthropic and charitable endeavors, including its annual Greek America Corps program which sends young North Americans to volunteer with non-profit organizations in Greece serving vulnerable populations during the summer.
“Smyrni Mou Agapimeni” (Smyrna My Beloved), based on a play of the same name by Mimi Denisi, is a renowned blockbuster film with an international cast that celebrates the culture of Anatolia.
The film recounts the historical incidents and facts that preceded and occurred during the occupation of Smyrna in 1922 by the Turkish army, including the massacre of the local Greek and Armenian population. The story follows the lives of the Baltatzis family.
Filio Williams, an elderly Greek-American woman, rushes to Lesvos with her granddaughter Helen to help Syrian refugees. No one knows her origin and that her Smyrnian grandmother Filio Baltatzis once found herself on the same island, persecuted and a refugee.
A notebook with recipes from Filio’s grandmother unfolds the turbulent history of the cosmopolitan Baltatzis family, as shaped by the tragic international developments that determined the fate of entire nations. Different generations of women of the same family are united in space and time, through the threads of history. Present and past become one.
“Smyrni Mou Agapimeni” bears universal messages and aspires to convincingly portray the atmosphere of the time on the big screen through intricately designed sets and costumes. It also recreates the heartbreaking destruction of Smyrna through modern digital effects.
The film is directed by Grigoris Karantinakis and stars Mimi Denisi, Leonidas Kakouris, Burak Hakki, Krateros Katsoulis, Tamilla Koulieva and Katerina Geronikolou, among others.
Filming took place in Lesvos, Chios, Athens, Piraeus and Faliro.
Click here to purchase tickets to the screening in Cleveland on Sunday, October 2.
Click here to watch the official trailer of “Smyrni Mou Agapimeni.”
