Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria

Greece, 2013, 94mins (Comedy)

Director Kyriacos Tofarides

Who said the financial crisis couldn't be funny?

A light-hearted antidote to the existentialist cinematic angst of the contemporary Greek film industry, Block 12 remains truly Greek while unashamedly incorporating Bollywood-accented song and dance routines (yes, you heard correctly).

English spy satellites discover a massive oil reserve on abandoned mining land in Cyprus, but a cantankerous and hermitic retiree Costantas Rizites (Costas Demetriou) and his wife Ellou (Karmen Rouggeri) have lay claim to it first.

A hilarious race to secure access to the precious black gold ensues when Costantas and his uproariously dysfunctional family – already hit by the financial crisis – stubbornly refuse to sell-out. The family become the centre of a faux siege as cross-continental oil powers compete against each other for Con's signature on a much-coveted mining lease.

Block 12 is the kind of delightful comedic romp that all the family can enjoy... although maybe not the Rizites family!

Written by: Panos Stathogiannis, Kyriakos Tofaridis

Produced by: Kyriakos Tofaridis, Dionyssis Samiotis

Cast: Costas Demetriou, Karmen Rouggeri, Michalis Marinos, Yiannis Tsimitselis, Irine Constantinou, Neetu Chandra

About the Director:

Kyriacos Tofarides studied theatre direction at the Sofia Academy of Theatre and Film Art in Bulgaria, before returning to Cyprus. As well as working as a television director at the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation, he established the independent film company AVRA Productions in 1999. Block 12 is his feature film direction debut.

Greek Synopsis:

Μια φτωχή και ασήμαντη οικογένεια ζει κοντά σε ένα εγκαταλειμένο ορυχείο κάπου στην Κύπρο, στο οποίο οι κατασκοπευτικοί δορυφόροι των μεγάλων δυνάμεων εντόπισαν κοιτάσματα πετρελαίου.