Newsletter  55

June 2006

Mark your Calendar

Greek Movie (Politiki Kouzina) at St. George on June 9. 

On Friday, June 9 at 8:00 pm at St. George Church, Bethesda MD, Prometheas will show the beautiful Greek movie "Politiki Kouzina". For more information see attached flyer.

Prometheas Events                                                                                 

Prometheas’ Hellenic Culture Achievement Awards

Prometheas presented, for the first time this year, the Hellenic Culture Achievement Awards to students of the Greek elementary schools of the Washington DC metropolitan area.  The honored students are selected by the teachers or the School Board of each school, not by Prometheas, based on proven high record in studying  the Greek language or obtaining “Πιστοποιητικό Ελληνομάθειας”, as well as on demonstrated interest in Hellenic Cultural activities like dance, music, art, and the like. 

The students who received this recognition are:

1. Constantine Loukos, Greek School of St. George,
2. Christos Krasias, Greek School of St. George,
3. Sappho Zoe Gilbert, Greek School of St. George,
4. Dimitrios Daskalakis, Greek School of St. Katherine,
5. Maria G. Kosmakos, Greek School of St. Katherine,
6. Kristina-Maria Paspalis, Greek School of Sts. Constantine and Helen and
7. Michael Antypas, Greek School of St. Sophia.

With the establishment of this award Prometheas wishes to encourage the effort of both the students and of the teachers in the learning and teaching the Greek language.   Also, to encourage the preservation and practice of Greek Culture.

The award is symbolic consisting of a nice commemorative plague and of a very small monetary gift in the form of a check which in the case of more than one nominee per school is shared equally among all students of that school.

Other Events

Ambassador Mallias at Brunetta C. Hill Elementary School in Birmingham, AL

On the closing of the school year yesterday, the Ambassador of Greece to Washington, Alexandros Mallias, visited the Brunetta C. Hill Elementary School in Birmingham, Alabama, which has been adopted by the Greek Embassy in Washington as part of its outreach program.

Decorated in the Greek colors of blue and white and Greek flags, the school received the Greek Ambassador, members of the City Council of Birmingham, members of the Greek community of the city, journalists and parents.

In a special ceremony organized by the school, the students spoke with great enthusiasm about what they learned about Greece and Greek culture during the year, and said that they consider Greek values a source of inspiration and hope for humanity.  The school principal, Mr. Taylor Greene, teachers and parents, underlined that the students’ recent trip to Washington, organized and sponsored by the Greek Embassy on the occasion of the March 25th Greek Independence Day festivities, opened up new horizons for the students and increased their self-confidence.

In his speech, the Greek Ambassador pointed out that Birmingham holds a special place in the heart of Greeks, who are aware of the city’s contribution to the Civil Rights Movement, and that the principles that inspired Martin Luther King and other leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, the values of equality, justice, freedom and democracy, had their beginning in ancient Greece and constitute Greece’s legacy to the world.

Conveying the warm greetings of Ms. Dora Bakoyianni, Greece’s Foreign Minister, who discussed the school’s adoption with Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, during their meeting in Washington on March 23, the Ambassador presented the teachers and students with books on Greek history and mythology, commemorative gifts and posters provided by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourist Development and the Pan-Hellenic Federation of Editors and Booksellers. He also announced the second annual student competition for the Greek Embassy’s Christmas card. 

Following the ceremony, everyone visited the Civil Rights Museum, located in the Birmingham city square, symbol of the struggle against segregation.

Ambassador Mallias was also interviewed by local TV stations about his visit to the school.

Sunday, May 28, 2006; Page N06

ARTS Section: HERE & NOW

FILM

SOME RARELY SEEN FILMS by the great Greek auteur Theo Angelopoulos will make their way to the National Gallery of Art over the next several weeks, among them the first installment of the 71-year-old director's newest trilogy.

 

Since making his first film in 1970s, Angelopoulos has become a beloved figure in world cinema, by turns charming and confounding audiences with his meditative films about Greek history and his devotion to the long, unbroken take. On Saturday, the National Gallery will begin a series devoted to Angelopoulos, who although revered overseas remains a relatively unknown figure in the United States. The museum will show "The Travelling Players," Angelopoulos's 1975 film about the Nazi, Fascist and Communist movements in Greek politics from 1939 through the early 1950s, as seen through the eyes of a family of itinerant performers.


The Angelopoulos series will continue throughout June, with screenings of "Alexander the Great" (1980), "Voyage to Cythera" (1984), "The Beekeeper" (1986), "Landscape in the Mist" (1988), "Eternity and a Day" (1998) and "The Weeping Meadow" (2004), the film that began the director's latest trilogy, about a family of refugees who begin a new life in Thessaloniki in 1919.

-- Ann Hornaday
At the National Gallery of Art East Building Auditorium, Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. "The Travelling Players" will be shown Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Free. Call 202-737-4215 or visit http://www.nga.gov.