The Story of GIFFT

The idea for a Greek film festival in Canada began over dinner one evening in 2019.

Around the table were Tom Michalopoulos, President of Chairman’s Brands Corporation, and Agape Greek Radio personalities Dora Konomi and Irene Anargyou. Joining the conversation virtually was Stan Papulkas, who would eventually become the festival’s Executive Director.

What began as a conversation among people who shared a passion for Greek culture, storytelling, and community quickly grew into a shared vision: to bring Greek cinema to Canadian audiences and unite Greek communities and organizations across the country through one national festival.

More Than a Film Festival

At the heart of that vision was the belief that film could do more than entertain. It could connect people, celebrate culture, and build bridges between communities.

For Stan Papulkas, the festival was never simply about screening Greek films. It was about storytelling, connection, and creating bridges between people and cultures—using the universal language of cinema to cross borders, generations, and cultural differences.

For Stan, that vision also meant looking beyond films simply produced in Greece.

From the beginning, the festival was conceived as a celebration of Greek and Hellenic connections to cinema from around the world. A film could qualify because its director, writer, lead actor or actress was Greek, because its story or subject was connected to Greece or Greek culture, or because it explored the Greek experience in some meaningful way.

In other words, GIFFT was never intended to be simply a festival of films from Greece—it was created to celebrate films connected to Greece and the Greek world.

That broader vision is what made it the Greek International Film Festival.

From an Idea to a Festival

The vision became a reality with the creation of the Greek International Film Festival of Toronto.

The Hellenic Heritage Foundation played a pivotal role in bringing the idea to life, helping transform an initial conversation into a fully realized film festival.

Together with the passion and commitment of the individuals and community organizations involved, the Foundation helped establish the foundation for what would become a national celebration of Greek cinema.

From Toronto to Canada

But from the beginning, the ambition was bigger than one city.

The goal was to bring Greek communities, organizations, filmmakers, and audiences together across Canada to create one shared celebration of Greek cinema.

That vision ultimately gave birth to the Greek International Film Festival Tour of Canada.

The Tour was intentionally created as a national event. While screenings take place in communities across the country, they are not separate local festivals. They are part of one festival, taking place across Canada simultaneously, united by one identity, one vision, and one celebration of Greek cinema.

One Festival. Across Canada.

Today, GIFFT reaches 11 cities across Canada, connecting audiences from coast to coast with contemporary Greek cinema and the filmmakers behind it.

It is one festival.
One national event.
One celebration of Greek cinema.

And at its heart remains the original belief that brought the idea to life around that dinner table in 2019:

Film has the power to bring people together—across communities, cultures, generations, and borders.