This October, as the summer buzz fades and New York settles into the softer light of autumn, the city’s cultural season comes alive again. Among the theaters, concert halls, and galleries, one event adds a distinctly Hellenic brushstroke: the New York Greek Film Expo. From October 2 to 12, 2025, the Hellenic Film Society USA invites audiences to discover the language, artistry, and spirit of today’s Greek cinema.
Greek Stories Take the Stage in New York
The Hellenic Film Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, was founded by Bronx Community College professor Jimmy DeMetro to preserve Greek language and culture through film. DeMetro, now President Emeritus, often said cinema is “the most fun way to learn.” Since January 2024, the society has been led by Maria Miles, who continues that mission while broadening the festival’s reach. Major supporters include the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Kallinikeion Foundation, Microsoft, the Greek National Tourism Organization, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
Tickets and Access
All screenings are in Greek with English subtitles. The Expo Manhattan Pass, priced at $130, provides access to multiple films, with a 20 percent early-bird discount available through September 19. Seniors and students can also receive reduced prices. Full details and tickets are available at hellenicfilmsociety.org.
Four Venues, Ten Days of Film
The Expo moves across the New York metropolitan area:
October 2 – Opening night at the Directors Guild Theater in Manhattan begins with a 5:00 p.m. reception and the U.S. premiere of Murphy’s Law, a bold mix of psychoanalysis and comedy by director Angelos Frantzis. Stars Katia Goulioni, in a bravura turn as a forty-year-old actress confronting the roads not taken, and Andreas Konstantinou will join the director for a post-screening conversation.
October 3–5 – Village East Cinema in Manhattan presents six new Greek features with filmmaker Q&As, including a session led by Dimitris Nakos, director of Meat, on October 3.
October 7–8 – Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, New Jersey continues the screenings and special presentations.
October 10–12 – The Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens hosts a Pantelis Voulgaris Retrospective and the presentation of the Hellenic Film Society Lifetime Achievement Award.
Spotlight on This Year’s Films
Alongside Murphy’s Law, the festival showcases a strong slate of recent Greek productions:
- Arcadia, winner of Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay at the Hellenic Film Academy Awards.
- Kyuka: Before Summer’s End, a Cannes selection in which a single father takes his children on holiday where they encounter their birth mother without realizing who she is.
- Meat, a psychological drama about moral decay and the breakdown of a family, featuring Kostas Nikouli in an Iris Award–winning performance for Best Actor.
- Utopolis, a timely story confronting anti-migration sentiment and social conflict.
- Wishbone, a moving portrait of a hospital security guard forced into moral compromise.
- Takis, a documentary about a former nightclub owner who rescues stray dogs in Crete.
A Salute to Master Storyteller Pantelis Voulgaris
The retrospective celebrates one of Greece’s most acclaimed directors, Pantelis Voulgaris, who will receive the society’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Screenings include:
- Little England (2013), winner of the Hellenic Film Academy Award for Best Picture.
- The Last Note (2017), a powerful account of Greek resistance fighters in World War II.
- Brides (2004), the story of Greek mail-order brides in 1922, starring Damian Lewis.
- The Engagement of Anna (1972), winner of the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.
More Than Movies: A Living Link to Greece
For the Greek-American community and anyone curious about Greece beyond postcard views, the New York Greek Film Expo offers more than entertainment. It brings the sound of the Greek language and the landscapes of modern Greece to American screens and reminds audiences that Greece is not only myth and history but a living culture of contemporary artistic creation.
Cosmos Philly invites readers from the Delaware Valley and beyond to join this celebration of Greek cinema and the cultural ties that continue to unite Greeks on both sides of the Atlantic.