ZORBAS – The Real Life Story of George Zorbas

ZORBAS - The Real-Life Story of George Zorbas

With ENGLISH Subtitles

Messinian Amfiktyonia, the Messinian Brotherhood of Canada, and the HCGM Fundraising Committee proudly present the film ZORBAS The Real Life Story of George Zorbas.

Join us for the first-ever screening in Canada on April 30, 2023, at 5:00 pm at the Hellenic Community Centre Adrian Maris. Tickets are $30 and include wine and cheese following the showing of the film. All proceeds will benefit the Greek Schools of the HCGM.

Alexis Zorbas in Zorba the Greek is one of the most memorable characters in all of film history, and the Nikos Kazantzakis book on which it is based is one of the best works of modern Greek literature.

Kazantzakis was considered a giant of modern Greek writing and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in nine different years. He admired five people in his life: Homer, Buddha, Neitze, Bergson, and George Zorbas.

The plot is based on documents about the life of the real George Zorbas, whose name was not Alexis and who went down and worked in the mine of "Pastrovas" in Stoupa, West Mani and worked in other places, but not in Crete.

The film starts from the Turkish occupation, with Zorba's father, the various jobs he did, the kidnapping of his wife, the tragedy of the twins, his meeting with Kazantzakis and Angelos Sikelianos on Mount Athos (Agion Oros), their descent to Mani, their going back and forth to the Caucasus to rescue 150,000 Greeks and to Skopje for new adventures.

The story balances between logic and emotion. Kazantzakis acts with logic, Zorba with emotion. It is an informal "clash" of two worlds from which a strong friendship is created.

The role of Zorba is played by Christos Zeritis, that of Kazantzakis by George Mavreas and the other roles are played by Messinians from the theatre groups of Kalamata. A total of 350 Messinians and friends of the director participated in the production, all on a voluntary basis. 

Thanks go out to Mr. Nick Mavros, VP of Messinian Amfiktyonia of USA and Canada, for making this screening possible.