Community Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary of the Burning of Smyrna

Sunday, September 25, 2022
4 pm reception followed by the film screenings
Free admission and mezedes (No RSVP required)
Jim Gianopulos Family Theater, St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral
1324 S. Normandie Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90006

This moving historical saga, Smyrna, My Beloved, follows a prominent Greek family forced to endure the burning of the vibrant cosmopolitan city of Smyrna in 1922 by the Turks and the killing of its Greek and Armenian populations. In the present, a young Greek-American woman, visiting Greece with her grandmother to support the Syrian refugees, discovers that the Smyrna tragedy destroyed her own family 100 years earlier.

Directed by Grigoris Karantinakis, the film features Mimi Denissi, Leonidas Kakouris, Burak Hakki, Katerina Geronikolou, Jane Lapotaire, Susan Hampshire, Rupert Graves, Christos Stergioglou, and Daphne Alexander. In English, Greek, Turkish, and French with English subtitles.
Note: This film contains scenes that may be too intense for young viewers.

In addition, the event will include the short documentary, The Full Catastrophe, which was written and produced by Linda Reid Chassiakos. This film is based on the true story of the writer’s mother’s family in 1922; her family members were slaughtered by the Turkish soldiers as the survivors tried to make a heroic escape from Smyrna amidst the devastation and genocide.

Before the screenings, the Honorable Ioannis Stamatekos, Consul General of Greece in Los Angeles, the Honorable Andreas Kyprianides, Honorary Consul General of Cyprus in Los Angeles, and Dr. James F. Dimitriou, President & Chairman of the American Hellenic Council will address the community on the 100th anniversary of the burning of Smyrna.

This event, presented by the American Hellenic Council of California, the UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture, and the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, is further supported by St. Sophia Cathedral and the Hellenic Society of Constantinople. Further support has been provided by AHEPA.

The event is held under the auspices of the Consulates General of Greece and Cyprus in Los Angeles.

Suggested donation: $10