Wednesday, 30 October 2024

Anzac: The Greek Chapter

Lee TARLAMIS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:06): I rise to acknowledge the recent successful screening of a new and powerful documentary, Anzac: The Greek Chapter, telling the story of the Anzacs who served in Greece in 1941. The film recently premiered at this year’s Greek Film Festival in Sydney and Melbourne, with around 700 attendees at screenings to date. The Lemnos Gallipoli Commemorative Committee has overseen the production of this film through a grant from the Australian government’s Saluting Their Service funding program.

The film features many of the Anzacs who served in Greece telling their own story in their own words. This unique presentation has only been made possible through the dedication of historian Dr Peter Ewer, who many years ago had the foresight to interview these soldiers and nurses. As the author of a history of the campaign, Forgotten Anzacs, Dr Ewer was able to encourage these veterans to share their stories. Drawing on over 130 hours of Peter’s veteran interview archive combined with the still photographs and other archival footage, this film provides a unique snapshot into the lived experience of these veterans.

The committee engaged Dr Ewer and filmmaker John Irwin to produce the film, assisted by historian Jim Claven OAM, who has also written on the campaign in his book Grecian Adventure. Jim has played an important role over many years in successfully encouraging a number of Victorian veterans’ families to donate their personal archives to our own State Library Victoria. I also thank well-known journalist Barrie Cassidy, himself a son of a Greek campaign veteran, for providing his services as narrator to the project. The team was ably assisted by committee member Ms Vicki Kyritsis, a board director of the Greek Community of Melbourne, who has secured its screenings to date and into the future.

I am proud to have been associated with this production of this documentary, and I thank all those who have supported this important legacy project. I look forward to the announcement of future screenings across Australia and overseas.