Καλή Επιτυχία - Good Luck to our Global Greeks at the Oscars 2014

Oscar night in Los Angeles tonight and we look forward to seeing at least one of our Global Greeks below collecting an Academy Award and joining the ranks of our glorious Global Greeks who took home a prestigious Academy Award!

 

Alexander Payne - 
Best Picture/Best Director / Best original Screenplay  
Nebraska
In the photo he accepts his Oscar in  
2012 for Best Adapted Screenplay for
The Descendants, saying Σ'αγαπώ Μαμα - I love you Mom! 

Phedon Papamichael

Best Cinematography
Nebraska

 Alexandre Desplat 
Best Original Score 
Philomena



Alexandre Gavras (right)
Best Short film 
Before Losing Everything - Avant que de Tout Perdre

and of course, let's not forget our Honorary Global Greek 
'Mr 110% Greek' Tom Hanks
Best Picture/Best Director 
Captain Phillips 

Last but not least we just have to include the film whose setting is
Greece, beautiful Greece!

 

Greece  and the Southern Peloponnese are the stars of this fascinating film 
Best Adapted Screenplay
Before Midnight

Filmed in Messinia and the Costa Navarino

Good luck to all  - Καλή Επιτυχία σε όλους!
At Global Greek World we'll be watching with special  interest as we wait to see if our list of Global Greek Oscar winners gets to grow even more!

Here are a few of our past winners:

1960 Manos Hadjidakis 
Best Original Song 
Never on Sunday

Vassilis Fotopoulos
1962 Best Art Direction America-America
1964 Best Art Direction (Black and White) Zorba the Greek  

1975 for designing costumes for "The Great Gatsby, - See more at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/afterword/2011/01/theoni-v-aldredge-tony-and-oscar-winning-costume-designer-dies-at-78.html#sthash.tw62yQD1.dpuf

1969 Costa Gavras
Best Foreign Language Film
Z

1975  Theoni V Aldredge 
 Best Costume Design 
The Great Gatsby

78.html#sthash.tw62yQD1.dpuf

1982 Vangelis Papathanassiou 
Best original Score  
Chariots of Fire

2010 Louie Psihoyios   
Best Documentary Feature
The Cove

1975 for designing costumes for "The Great Gatsby, - See more at: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/afterword/2011/01/theoni-v-aldredge-tony-and-oscar-winning-costume-designer-dies-at-78.html#sthash.tw62yQD1.dpuf

 Alexander Payne 
2005 for Best Adapted Screenplay
Sideways
2012 for Best Adapted Screenplay
The Descendants

At Global Greek World, We ♥ Greece...and it shows!

© GlobalGreekWorld 2013 All Rights Reserved

Global Greeks: Tom Hanks, One of Hollywood's Best - I Feel 110% Greek!

We thought we would end this very difficult year for Greece on a positive note and dedicate our final post to one of the world's favourite actors  - the one and only, Tom Hanks! 

 

Tom Hanks is one of those people who doesn't really need any introduction - you've probably seen at least ONE of his movies and you can read all about him in any celebrity or movie magazine. Not just a famous Hollywood actor and producer, over and above all that, for us, Tom is a philhellene and a Global Greek in every sense of the word.

What you may not know is that Tom is married to Global Greek actress and producer Rita Wilson , although how you could  avoid knowing this particular fact if you have even a drop of Greek blood in you, beats us... his love for Greece is well-known and documented and his holiday home in Antiparos have made him and Rita as local as the locals. He and Rita are regulars in the audience at the Ancient Epidaurus Theatre each summer, and they got a guided tour of the New Acropolis Museum in the Summer of 2009 by the Minister of Culture, just after it opened to the public. 

In fact, we happened to see him at Epidaurus last year enjoying Dame Helen Mirren's performance of Racine's Phedre.

Tom is very much part of the Los Angeles Greek Community and is very forthcoming in his support of Greek issues every opportunity he gets. 

The Rebuilding of St Nicholas at Ground Zero is one of these issues and we were very pleased to hear him add his voice to those asking for the church to be rebuilt. 

 See the video on CNN from this year's LAGREEKFEST

More recently, he spoke to  Hollywood Greek Reporter, Anastasios Papapostolou, at the premiere of the mini series "The Pacific". 

He talked about his new movie with Nia Vardalos and said a couple of things about being Greek which we particularly loved and think are worth noting and sharing too! 

I think every Greek I've met is a spokesman for the Greek Ministry of Tourism (GGW note: so true!)

   on being asked by HGR whether he had been approached to be spokesman for Greece's Ministry of Tourism...

It's joyful to be married to a Greek. Come on, it's fantastic!     

          on being asked if it is hard to be married to a Greek...

 I feel 110% Greek being married to a Greek. I'm more Greek than a Greek  because I had the good sense to marry a Greek! Some Greeks marry non-Greeks...can you believe that?    

         on being asked how Greek he feels...

Watch the interview with Anastasios Papapostolou, Hollywood Greek Reporter - you'll enjoy it!

Thank you for your support Tom - We're really glad you feel 110% Greek! 

Funnily enough, that's how we feel about you too, and feel great knowing you are one of our Global Greeks, not just in name but in deed!

Kali Xronia! Happy New Year! 

Let's hope that 2011 will be the Year of Greece and its turnaround - in every way!

Is it True? Is US President Barack Obama Visiting Greece This Summer?

 President Barack Obama and Family

Photo Source: www.blackchristiannews.com

The Greek Blog-o-sphere is abuzz with the news that US President Barack Obama and his family are holidaying on the sunny Greek island of Antiparos. America's first family is rumoured to be here as guests of actor Tom Hanks and his  Global Greek wife Rita Wilson who own a  summer home on the island...

Apparently, according to one such blog, Sarotiko, security measures have increased dramatically, international paparazzi have arrived on the island and no-one is confirming or denying! 

We don't know if it's true or just wishful thinking, but wouldn't it be great?

Press Reports earlier in the year had suggested that fellow Chicagoan and close friend, illinois Treasurer Alexis Gianoullias had invited the first family to spend some time in his native Crete but nothing seems to have come of that... yet!

If it is true, we welcome President Obama and his family to Greece, we hope they have a great time and we hope that when they return home they will spread the word that Greece is the best and safest place on earth for a summer vacation!!!

If it is true, let's hope the world leaves them in peace, to enjoy every moment of the hospitality and the beauty of this unique country!

If Julia Roberts Can Do It Then YOU Can Too! Visit Greece This Summer!

Pretty Woman Julia Roberts has chosen the beautiful island of Crete as a summer holiday destination this year! 

Quietly and without much ado, as is usual for most of the  Hollywood celebrities who often visit  for a well-deserved and relaxing break in the sun drenched Mediterranean,  Julia flew into Greece at the invitation of a Greek American friend and is staying on the green and beautiful island of Crete. 

Accompanied by her two beloved dogs, since her husband has stayed home to look after the rest of their family, Julia's friends are showing her the beauties and beaches of Crete, visiting among other places, Sfakia and Iraklion, and enjoying the local hospitality and tasting the wonderful Mediterranean Cuisine Crete is famous for in every corner of the world!

Sfakia

Julia, thanks for the vote of confidence! Welcome to Greece! We know you are having a wonderful time! When you go back home, do be sure to spread the word... 

Greece is safe, it's gorgeous, it's definitely the ultimate summer destination!

In short, GREECE is the place to be this Summer! 

Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were here earlier this year, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson visit every year, Madonna's been as have hundreds of other celebrities...  

Why don't YOU join them? 

Call your travel agent NOW and as our Facebook Page says... Visit Greece this Summer! 

Greece will be waiting!

My Life in Ruins - Greek Something Nia Vardalos Latest Film Hits the Cinemas on June 5th - Don't Miss It!!! (see below for release dates)

"It was a dream come true to shoot in Greece, It was surreal on the set, to stand by the Acropolis, close my eyes before they say 'Action' and feel the wind blowing through the columns. It doesn't get any better."

Nia Vardalos - USA Today

Born Antonia Eugenia Vardalos, the Greek-Canadian-American writer and star who brought us so many laughs with the antics of her family-that-could-have-been-ours in My Big Fat Greek Wedding is about to do it again!

With special permission from the authorities and filmed against a magnificent and unparalleled backdrop - the Acropolis, Olympia , Delphi and other archaelogical sites of Greece, My Life in Ruins Nia's latest movie is 100% pure Greek! The best thing that could happen to Greek tourism after last year's Mamma Mia with Meryl Streep and Piers Brosnan.

Nia, who co-wrote the screenplay and has based part of it on her own experiences, stars as Georgia, a Greek-American who has moved back to Greece and who has lost her 'kefi' or zest for living. Discouraged by her lack of direction in life, she works as a travel guide, leading a group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece. Just as she has decided that it's not going to work out, the inevitable happens...

Apart from Nia Vardalos, the film stars Academy award winner Richard Dreyfus and Alexis Georgoulis, a Greek actor that she picked out from a magazine and who is perfect in the role of the tour bus driver. (Nia describes him as the George Clooney of Greece in an interview to USA Today. When women on the production team saw his audition tape during a lunch break, "we didn't move, breathe or chew," Nia Vardalos said. "When the scene was finished, everyone jumped up and down and said, 'We've found him!' " )

Greek American Rita Wilson with Richard Dreyfuss in a scene from the movie

Executive producers are Tom Hanks and wife, also Greek-American, Rita Wilson, who has a brief role in the film. This is the fourth time Wilson and her husband have collaborated with Nia. "We don't have a deal with Nia," she says to USA Today. "We just love her. Actually, the script came to us, and it just happened to take place in Greece. We wanted her to rewrite it, and it was just serendipitous."

My Life in Ruins - a hilarious comedy which will leave you with a smile on your face and a let's go-on-holiday feeling - had it's world premiere in Greece in April and has just opened at cinemas all over Greece. It opens in the USA on June 5th!

Don't miss it !!

As Nia says on Twitter 'My Life In Ruins is the small movie vs. 2 biggies. Hey, see all 3. Just please see My Life In Ruins on June 5th. We don't have billboards, we need your mouth!'


Click here to watch Nia speak about the film and other things on Good Morning America just before the American Premiere this week...

Click here to watch Nia and Alexis tell us about the movie...

Click here to watch the official trailer of My Life in Ruins...

Click here to follow Nia on Twitter.

Click here to read more about Nia on Wikipedia.

Nia is heavily involved in the Global Greek Community, promoting and working passionately for causes which are dear to all our hearts. Thanks a million, Nia !!!

She will be at the Gabby Awards on June 19 in Chicago, and as a member of the Advisory Board, at the 3rd Los Angeles Greek Film Festival being held June 25 to 28, in LA, along with other prominent, and not-so-prominent but equally important, Greek-Americans involved in the movie industry.

Release dates for My Life in Ruins by country...some have already been but we are including them to give the total picture.

France 15 May 2008 (Cannes Film Market)

Germany 6 February 2009 (European Film Market)

USA 3 May 2009 (Tribeca Film Festival)

Greece 28 May 2009

USA 5 June 2009

Australia/ New Zealand 16 July 2009

Bulgaria 7 August 2009

Spain 7 August 2009

Netherlands 27 August 2009

Portugal 27 August 2009

Czech Republic 3 September 2009

Germany 3 September 2009

France 9 September 2009

Good Luck Nia! Kali Epityhia! Καλή Επιτυχία!

'My Life in Ruins' - Greek-Something Nia Vardalos' Latest Movie Premieres in Athens

"It was a dream come true to shoot in Greece, It was surreal on the set, to stand by the Acropolis, close my eyes before they say 'Action' and feel the wind blowing through the columns. It doesn't get any better."

Nia Vardalos - USA Today

Nia Vardalos is one of our Global Greeks!

Born Antonia Eugenia Vardalos, the Greek-Canadian-American writer and star who brought us so many laughs with the antics of her family-that-could-have-been-ours in My Big Fat Greek Wedding is about to do it again! At the Megaron Mousikis (The Athens Concert Hall) on Friday April 3, Nia wowed everybody present with her latest movie My Life in Ruins.

With special permission from the authorities and filmed against a magnificent and unparalleled backdrop - the Acropolis, Olympia , Delphi and other archaelogical sites of Greece, Nia's latest movie is 100% pure Greek! The best thing that could happen to Greek tourism after last year's Mama Mia with Meryl Streep and Piers Brosnan.

Nia stars as Georgia, a Greek-American who has moved back to Greece and who has lost her 'kefi' or zest for living. Discouraged by her lack of direction in life, she works as a travel guide, leading a group of tourists as she tries to show them the beauty of her native Greece.

Apart from Nia Vardalos, the film stars Academy award winner Richard Dreyfus and Alexis Georgoulis, a Greek actor that she picked out from a magazine and who is perfect in the role of the tour bus driver. (Nia describes him as the George Clooney of Greece in an interview to USA Today. When women on the production team saw his audition tape during a lunch break, "we didn't move, breathe or chew," Nia Vardalos said. "When the scene was finished, everyone jumped up and down and said, 'We've found him!' " )

Executive producers are Tom Hanks and wife, also Greek-American, Rita Wilson, who has a brief role in the film. This is the fourth time Wilson and her husband have collaborated with her fellow Greek. "We don't have a deal with Nia," she says to USA Today. "We just love her. Actually, the script came to us, and it just happened to take place in Greece. We wanted her to rewrite it, and it was just serendipitous."

Due to hit the cinemas in May this year, the film is a hilarious comedy which will leave you with a smile on your face and a let's go-on-holiday feeling.

What better advertisement for Greece?

Click here to watch Nia speak about the film on Good Morning America just before the American Premiere this week.

Click here to watch the official trailer of My Life in Ruins.

Read more about Nia on Wikipedia.

You may like to note that Nia is also on the Advisory Board of the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival , being held from 25 to 28 June 2009, along with several other prominent Greek-Americans involved in the movie industry. We look forward to featuring these Greek-Somethings on our pages in the very near future.