Thursday, May 21, 2020

Documentary Film: "Joseph the Hesychast" (2020)


A new documentary on the great 20th-century Athonite spiritual father St. Joseph the Hesychast, starring the Emmy-award winning Jonathan Jackson.






Tuesday, May 19, 2020

A Turkish Film About a Crypto-Christian from Pontus


Directed by Yusuf Kurcenli, Yuregine Sor (Ask Your Heart) is a 2010 Turkish film which is a true story about a woman of Muslim faith (Esma) who falls in love with a Crypto-Christian (Mustafa). Prior to 1856, Christians had fewer rights than Muslims as citizens of the Ottoman Empire. For that reason, many Christians chose to practice Islam in public and Christianity in private.

Saturday, May 16, 2020

Interview With Yelena Popovic, Director of the Upcoming Film about Saint Nektarios, titled "Man of God"


In the video below is an interview with Director Yelena Popovic, with updates on her upcoming film about Saint Nektarios titled "Man of God". Currently it is in pre-production, although they were scheduled to be in production back in March, but due to the coronavirus outbreak production had to be temporarily halted, with hopes of resuming by the end of May. The video interview is followed by an essay she wrote on why she is doing the film. Then there are some photos with the star of the film, Aris Servetalis, who will play Saint Nektarios, at a talk he did in Greece back in December.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The Confession of Aliki Vougiouklaki at the Monastery of Saint Ephraim of Nea Makri


Aliki Vougiouklaki was one of the most popular actresses in Greece, and was given the title of the National Star of Greece. She died on 23 July 1996 at the age of 62, just three months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer while touring in Thessaloniki for a performance of "The Sound of Music". Her funeral was held in the Athens Cathedral on 25 July 1996 and she was buried in the First Cemetery of Athens.

A month before her death, in June of 1996, Vougiouklaki visited the Monastery of Saint Ephraim in Nea Makri. Archimandrite Philotheos Theodoropoulos, who was present during this visit, revealed the emotional conversation that Aliki Vougiouklaki had with the abbess Makaria at the monastery she founded and to whom Saint Ephraim wondrously revealed his martyrdom and the location of his relics: