Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-11-27

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Film festival honors Coppola, Tavoularis

[02] Papandreou meets with Karditsa area farmers

[03] WWII-era bridge sabotage anniversary celebrated

[01] Film festival honors Coppola, Tavoularis

The exhibition, held at the Macedonian Museum of Modern Art, brought the Greek-American Tavoularis, his French actress wife Aurore Clément as well as legendary director Francis Ford Coppola to the northern Greek port city on the sidelines of the 46th annual Thessaloniki Film Festival.

The 73-year-old Lowell, Mass. native along with Clément and Coppola -- who was accompanied by his family, including actress/director daughter Sofia -- were honoured on Saturday evening with the Golden Alexander Award by the film festival's organisers.

Tavoularis, an Oscar-winning (co-shared for &quot;Godfather II&quot;) production designer and film director since the late 1960s, referred to his initial reservations during a first meeting with Coppola in the early 1970s, when the latter was looking for a production designer for the &quot;Godfather&quot;.

Speaking at a standing-room-only press conference, Tavoularis explained that a young Francis Ford Coppola was bent on filming a &quot;gangster movie&quot; on-site in New York City and not in a movie studio. He quickly added that the meeting proved to be &quot;decisive&quot; for his life and career.

The prolific art director later met his wife on the set of &quot;Apocalypse Now&quot;, Coppola's subsequent masterpiece.

ANA/MEGAPRESS Photo: Coppola accepting his award.

[02] Papandreou meets with Karditsa area farmers

His visit is part of a tour of the entire Karditsa prefecture.

Following talks with a group of farmers in the village of Karpohori, in the Sofades municipality, Papandreou continued his attack on the government's agriculture policies, saying the ruling New Democracy party promised a great deal to farmers before the election but has failed to deliver since then. He also charged that a promise, as he said, by ND to subsidise cotton growers' entire crop was made despite the fact that the EU's Common Agriculture Policy clearly forbids this.

Specifically concerning the controversial cotton crop subsidies, Papandreou merely noted that the "gap between cotton and the market" must be reduced, while adding that PASOK has a farm policy and will implement it when in power.

In response to Papandreou's comments, Agriculture Development Minister Evangelos Basiakos charged that "instead of asking for forgiveness from farmers for their mistakes, as well as for the unfavourable Community regulations that they accepted, they (PASOK) want prevent, with lies no less, our responsible leadership, which has already ensured more subsidies for our farmers."

Finally, Development Minister Dimitris Sioufas, whose election district is in the Karditsa area, first welcomed Papandreou to the region, before stressing that "it is an opportunity for him (Papandreou) to see up close a part of our country that the governments of his party described as the 'other Greece', and to ascertain how many things could have been accomplished and weren't over the last 20 years..."

[03] WWII-era bridge sabotage anniversary celebrated

Representatives of political parties, local government officials and veterans of the resistance attended a ceremony at the modern-day Gorgopotamos bridge.

British ambassador to Athens, Simon Gass, also attended the ceremony, where he referred to the cooperation of two allies in achieving a strong blow against powerful and arrogant adversary.

ANA photo/ N. Axelis

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article