{"id":67799,"date":"2007-02-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-02-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-alumnus-wins-major-prize-at-greek-film-festival\/"},"modified":"2007-02-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-02-07T00:00:00","slug":"uri-alumnus-wins-major-prize-at-greek-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2007\/02\/uri-alumnus-wins-major-prize-at-greek-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 alumnus wins major prize at Greek film festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013February 7, 2007\u2014In some ways Evangelos Giovanis\u2019 life reads like a film script. There\u2019s rejection, acceptance, hard luck, hard work and above all a passion for filmmaking.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe credits began rolling in real life when his film \u201cLand of Nod\u201d won first place in the digital wave category at the International Thessaloniki Film Festival. The award came with a 15,000 Euro prize, nearly $20,000, and praise from film critics who hailed the 29-year-old as a \u201cyoung Scorsese\u201d and liken him to John Cassavetes. A Greek theater professor required his class to see the film.<\/p>\n


\nThe festival, which is held in Thessaloniki, Greece, showcases the work of new and emerging filmmakers. Famous directors, such as Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci, have had their work shown at previous festivals. <\/p>\n


\nGiovanis, who now lives in Johnston, became intrigued with filmmaking after taking some experimental film classes with associate art professor Sheri Wills at the 溏心vlog免费B站. After graduating from the University in 2002 with a degree in English literature, he applied to film schools, but was rejected. Undeterred he and his brother George decided to become independent filmmakers. <\/p>\n


\nBorn two years apart, the brothers appear to be different sides of the same coin. While George is the rational head deciding the logistics, Evangelos is the heart creating emotionally charged scripts. \u201cWe inspire each other,\u201d they say almost in unison.<\/p>\n


\nTheir independent filmmaking got off to an inauspicious start. Giovanis purchased a used digital camera online for $1,700. He never received it. \u201cLet me put it this way, some Italian is having a cappuccino on me,\u201d he says with a wide smile.<\/p>\n


\n\tPiecing together an uncle\u2019s loan, a hot streak at the Sarasota race track, and earnings from working full-time at a restaurant in Florida, the brothers shot their first feature film \u201cTaking the Turn\u201d about inner-city kids who mess up their lives. Although it had the technical difficulties of a first film, it was distributed on a small scale and can be found on NetFlix.<\/p>\n


\nGiovanis wrote the script, directed, edited and had a small role in the film, which also stars his mother, father, and George. The family members proved to be good actors. \u201cDon\u2019t forget it was the Greeks who invented theater,\u201d says Giovanis who was born in Warwick, R.I. but lived the first six years of his life in Ioannina, Greece. <\/p>\n


\n\u201cLand of Nod\u201d which was made in Sedona, Ariz. is the brothers\u2019 second film. In addition to writing the script, directing, and editing, he has the lead role. It takes an uncompromising look at the AIDs epidemic that Giovanis says has created fake sociality and the death of romance. His director\u2019s note reads: \u201cAIDS has destroyed the carefreeness and youth of my generation, and replaced it with fears and concerns that accompany the simplest interactions between people. It has altered the mental and physical consciousness of health, and transformed it into a hostile and helpless abyss. In its littered path it has left behind beautiful bodies that refuse to rot, and twisted sex into a puritanical myth complete with condom monsters, pill cocktails, and pandering money heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThere are no kittens and puppies in the film,\u201d notes George. \u201cIt\u2019s controversial and not politically correct.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nThe brothers entered \u201cLand of Nod\u201d in American film festivals but heard nothing. They concede that their films are probably more suited to European audiences who prefer character and plot-driven films rather American films that tend to rely on action and special effects. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cLand of Nod\u201d will be screened during 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s annual spring Visualizations Film Festival, which is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cIn my classes, Evangelos was a galvanizing influence,\u201d recall Wills. \u201cHe responded passionately to films I screened and to other students\u2019 work. Evangelos really responded to the avant-garde films and his current work really reflects that influence. He has always worked with sophisticated themes and has a great eye for color and camera angle. His work often includes references to the beat poets and Greek myths. His films are intense and powerful.\u201d <\/p>\n


\nIn addition to his film classes, Evangelos says the literature he read in classes taught by 溏心vlog免费B站 English Professors Jules Seigel, Richard Neuse, and Felix Okeke-Ezigbo influence all of his scripts.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above

\nFilmmakers Evangelos (closest to the camera) and George Giovanis. 溏心vlog免费B站 News Bureau Photo by Michael Salerno Photography.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013February 7, 2007\u2014In some ways Evangelos Giovanis\u2019 life reads like a film script. There\u2019s rejection, acceptance, hard luck, hard work and above all a passion for filmmaking. The credits began rolling in real life when his film \u201cLand of Nod\u201d won first place in the digital wave category at the International Thessaloniki […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67801,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}