Smyrna: The Destruction of a Cosmopolitan City, 1900-1922

Dear friends of Modern Greek Studies,

Our program is very pleased to screen Maria Iliou's recently produced documentary: "Smyrna: The Destruction of A Cosmpolitan City, 1900-1922." The screening will be taking place on Tuesday, November 5, 7-9:30 PM at the Knight Auditorium in the Spurlock Museum (600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL 61801).

The documentary is free to the public !!

The documentary's director, Maria Iliou, will be on campus that day and will be pleased to answer questions by the audience in the last 30 minutes. The historical consultant of the documentary, Dr. Alexander Kitroeff, will join us through skype and answer questions at the end of the event. The documentary will be screened at 21 Modern Greek Studies Programs at selected US and Canadian universities during fall 2013 and winter 2014; the program at the University of Illinois has the honor to be one of those. This screening was made possible by a generous sponsorship from Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

More information about the documentary follow below, OR you can visit the "calendars of events" at the Modern Greek Studies Program's homepage (http://www.moderngreek.illinois.edu/) or look at the poster which is attached to this message. I'll look forward to seeing as many of you at the event as possible.

A brief synopsis of the film and some info:

The documentary film "Smyrna: the Destruction of a Cosmopolitan City, 1900-1922" (directed by Maria Iliou, historical consultant Alexander Kitroeff, produced by Proteus), is based on a broad range of unknown footage and photographs discovered in archives in the United States and Europe and preserved by the non-profit organization Proteus. It includes appearences by Giles Milton, author of the best-selling Paradise Lost who is the film's main narrator and Eleni Batsea (University of New Mexico), Jacques Nalbantian (who escaped from Smyrna as a child in 1922), Leyla Neyzi (Sabanci University), Vana Solomonidou (whose London University doctorate dissertation is on Smyrna's governor Aristides Stergiades) and Thanos Veremis (University of Athens).

"Smyrna: the Destruction of Cosmopolitan City, 1900-1922" (87 minutes), focuses on the cosmopolitan character of the city and how it was destroyed in an era of nationalist conflict. It seeks to present a balanced narrative tha honors the discipline of historyas well as ll the victims of the city's destruction. It premiered at the Benaki Museum in Athens in January 2012 and in New York City in October 2012 as part of the Greek Film Festival and was screened in film theaters in Athens, Thessaloniki, London, Paris, and New York City. It was met with wide acclaim and warm praise by audiences and film critics. For more information please go to: http://www.smyrnadocumentary.org/