Actor, filmmaker, producer and model, Nikita Chronis, hopes that his organisation, the Greek-Australian Film Society (GAFS), will unite all the Greek-Australians working in the country's film industry.
At the same time, as he says in an interview with the SBS Greek, he hopes to promote through art, the beauty of Greek culture.
As he confides, he always had in him the desire to combine his love for the arts and acting with his Greek heritage, while he found the idea of working with other Greek-Australians in the film industry very attractive.
"The Greek-Australian Film Society was originally conceived during the lockdown period in Melbourne. I have always been inspired because I am an actor to combine my love of the arts and acting and my Greek heritage. I have always found the idea of working with other Greek-Australians in the film industry very appealing. Not only that, but I felt it was necessary to get involved in something that would not only reflect the beauty of my culture, but also promote its growth in the Australian media," he said.
Referring to the goals and mission of the Hellenic-Australian Film Society, he notes that the primary goal is to create beautiful Greek-Australian films that will be based on the philanthropy, the love and spirit of the Greeks, but also to highlight the work done by other Greek-Australian filmmakers and artists in the past.
"The main goal of the Greek-Australian Film Society is, first of all, to create beautiful Greek-Australian films based on those principles I just described, philotimo, love, and leventia, and to tell these stories, whether in short form, as a feature film, or as a documentary, it doesn't matter. The goal is to tell stories that we believe reflect the essence of what it means to be Greek-Australian, but also to preserve and place on the platform the works of past Greek-Australians.
I think it's very important to highlight the work that other Greek-Australians have done in the past, so that we can have them for future generations to see what kind of work we did," he said.
Mr Chronis did not fail to mention the challenges he has faced in promoting Greek-Australian culture through cinema, saying that he is actually a charity organisation that has mainly focused on preserving films and organising networking events.
"We're a relatively new organisation, we're a charity, actually. At the moment, we're mainly focused on preservation and film platform, organising networking events. We are currently in the process of putting our own ideas into practice. So far, the challenges have been pretty minimal, to be honest with you. The support we've received from the wider Greek community, from people like you at SBS, and from people I know in the network of Greek Australians in the wider Australian film industry has been very beneficial to us, and the support has been overwhelming. So there are no real challenges so far," he said.
He concluded by mentioning his plans for the Greek-Australian Film Society.
"In the next 8-12 months, our primary plan is to have our own short films and beyond, so that we can show the Greek community and the wider Australian film industry what we can do and the kinds of stories we want to tell.
Ideally, this aligns with my mission or our mission as a society, to preserve but also to present to the Australian film industry, as best we can, a picture of what it means to be Greek Australian, the Greek Australian experience from the time when my grandparents or other people's parents or people who were born in Greece and moved to Australia. What that experience is like, what are the lessons, the trials and tribulations and the struggles that these individuals faced during their years, and to put that into a work of art like a film," he said.
