This year’s San Francisco Greek Film Festival (SFGFF) will take place from April 22 to 30, and 2023 is a special year for the organization as this year it celebrates its 20th anniversary. It was in 2004 when a dedicated group of Greek-Americans decided to combine their love for their homeland Greece and their appreciation for cinema with a Greek identity in order to bring this combination to the public of the San Francisco Bay Area.

In fact, when SFGFF was inaugurated in 2004, it was the first Greek film festival in the USA. Today, it still fights for the recognition, support and promotion of the best film work of Greek and Cypriot filmmakers from all over the world. With screenings of new, innovative and acclaimed films as well as a variety of events during its annual week, SFGFF seeks to inspire, engage and entertain its audience.

Celebrating the importance and beauty of Greek culture is also the reason for SFGFF’s collaboration with the Foundation for Modern Greek Studies (MGSF.org), which already has two decades of work behind it. Therefore, this year will not only be the 20th year of the San Francisco Greek Film Festival, but also the first year of the relationship of the Foundation for Modern Greek Studies with the Program of Modern Greek and Greek Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, as well as the establishment of the Program Visiting Scholar Nikos Kazantzakis.

On this occasion, a special event will be held on April 18th to celebrate the opening of the Nikos Kazantzakis visiting fellows program at UC Berkeley and at the same time the San Francisco Greek Film Festival will be celebrated for its 20th anniversary. The honored persons will be Mrs. Niki Stavrou, intellectual beneficiary of the work of Nikos Kazantzakis and CEO of the Kazantzakis estate, Mr. Pavlos Kavouras, Professor of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, based in the UNESCO Cultural Heritage and Mr. Sokratis Sourvinos, General Consul of Greece.

The programming of the films that will be screened as well as the activities that will also take place during the 20th SFGFF will soon be published with all the details on the festival’s website, at  grfilm.com . Finally, the Festival team is pleased to have nine full days of in-person screenings at the Delancey Screening Room in San Francisco in addition to online program offerings.