The Museum of Fine Arts - Houston, aside from being one of the best places to catch a foreign film, is also a great place to learn about culture. For adults of my generation, it's like watching The Big Blue Marble, grown-up-style. You learn about communities you may have never heard of, take part in a classy, somewhat cerebral event and realize that you're a slow reader - all in one evening!

Oct. 16-18 and again the weekend of Oct. 23 - 25, moviegoers can dive into Greek life. I promise you - not a frat boy, kegger or Nia Vardalos in sight. MFAH is saluting Greek life with a selection of films from various Greek directors.

Here's a few of the films the MFAH will be screening. General admission is $7, matinee admission is $6, and children 5 and under are admitted free. And if you're a member of the MFAH, a student or a senior, you get a dollar off.

From the MFAH:
Correction (Directed by Thanos Anastopoulos) Oct. 16

Referencing Ulysses's mythic meandering and the contemporary realities of immigration, xenophobia, and hooliganism, director Thanos Anastopoulos crafts a subtle yet haunting portrait of a broken man. Yorgos, released from prison, wanders Athens from the halfway house to places that seem familiar to him, yet remain as enigmatic as his past. A woman and her daughter are objects of his fascination, but it is unclear if they are his estranged family, strangers being stalked by a predator, or merely co-habitants of a conflict-ridden society. Winner of the Best Screenplay award at the 48th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Correction is a journey through urban chaos and decay that mirrors the brave inner search for national identity and responsibility.

The Homecoming (I epistrofi) (Directed by Vasilis Douvlis 2007) Oct. 17

The notable first feature by writer-director Vassilis Douvlis, The Homecoming is a chamber drama centered on a handsome young Albanian who’s employed by a Greek couple. The film’s opening scene follows Ilias (Arto Apartian), who returns to his home in central Greece with his younger wife, Eleni (Maria Skoula). After Ilias employs an illegal immigrant, Petro (Artur Luzi), the perspective switches to Eleni’s viewpoint, as the lonely, still-attractive woman finds a fellow soul to talk to in Petro. Their cautious, incremental relationship, under the stern eyes of the autocratic Ilias, is beautifully written and played.

The Night Ferdando Pessoa Met Constantine Cavafy (Directed by Stelios Charalambopoulos, 2007) Oct. 18

On October 21, 1929, the ocean liner Saturnia sails from Trieste on its voyage to America, picking up immigrants from the ports of the Mediterranean, along with their dreams of the New World. On this journey, an equally dreamlike encounter took place between two of the greatest poets of the 20th century: Fernando Pessoa and Constantine Cavafy. This fictionalized documentary recreates this legendary encounter. The Night Ferdando Pessoa Met Constantine Cavafy is preceded by the short, Street Battle (Odomachia) (directed by Christos Kanakis, 2008, 14 min., subtitled), in which a salesman rushes home from work, eager to catch a soccer match on TV, but his car breaks down in the countryside.

Guinness (Directed by Alexis Kardaras, 2009) Oct. 23

Threatened by his debtors and driven by greed, a charming gambler arrives at a middle-of-nowhere tavern in search of a case of gold. Instead, he attracts the tavern owner’s unhappy wife, whose affection complicates his plan and perpetuates his spell of misfortune. Inspired by American gangster films of the 1940s, this quirky comedy features larger-than-life characters. The cast includes popular comic actor Antonis Kafetzopoulos. Guinness is preceded by the short, I Am Gay (Eimai omofylofilos), (directed by Nikos Kolovos, 2008, 15 min., subtitled), which presents a humorous glimpse into a young man’s dilemma about how to reveal his secret to his Greek-Swedish family.

Small Crime (Mikro Egklima) (Directed by Christos Georgiou, 2008) Oct. 24

In this surprising romantic comedy, young Leonidas, a recent graduate of the police academy, is frustrated by his assignment to a remote island in the Aegean. Despite a stunning landscape, he yearns to solve important crimes in the big city. When local drunk Zacharias is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, Leonidas seizes the opportunity to mount an investigation, which leads him to Angeliki, a beautiful former inhabitant of the island who hosts a popular morning TV show. As the earnest rookie interviews the islanders, each character has a different version of Zacharias’s demise. Shot entirely on Thirrassia, its local people, livestock, food, and customs make their way into the film.

Tale 52 (Istoria 52) (Directed by Alexis Alexiou, 2008) Oct. 25

Tale 52 is a visually gritty film that rests somewhere between psychological drama and fantasy thriller. Iasonas, a timid young man, meets his future girlfriend Penelope at a dinner party with mutual friends. Sometime later, he wakes up one morning to find that Penelope has gone missing. Unable to understand or reconstruct what has happened, Iasonas falls into a world of confusion. Tale 52 focuses on the themes of obsession and lost love.

Greek Cinema at the Museum of Fine Arts - Houston
Oct. 16-18, Oct. 23-25
Check showtimes at the MFAH website.