"Hello Anatolia"

90 years after an ethnic population exchange, Valantis Stamelos returns as the first of his family to the land of his ancestors…Izmir, Turkey. After working in the corporate world for years, Greek-American filmmaker Chrysovalantis Stamelos decided it was time to satisfy his desire to search for his roots in Anatolia, the historical birthplace of his ancestors. So, he picked up and moved to the homeland of his great-grandparents: Turkey. His family and friends thought he was crazy. Maybe he was, but he couldn’t shake off the stories he heard growing up…of old Smyrna and Asia Minor. Hello Anatolia follows Stamelos’ reconnection with his ancestry through the exploration of neighborhoods, interviews with Greeks of Turkey, and his immersion into the art and culture. Stamelos will break down barriers between two cultures with a history of feuding, as well as build a bridge from the Aegean to the US. A trailer of the film can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EIZ4cbgR-8

Speaker: Chrysovalantis Stamelos, Director