Menelas Siafakas (born 1974) is an

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

-based Greek artist, filmmaker, photographer, and film festival director. Siafakas is an

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

Life and work

Siafakas has been a prolific activist and artist in the LGBTQI+ movement in Greece. Growing up in an almost invisible and politically ignored gay scene, he decided to leave Greece in the early 1990s and study sports science at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. It gave him his first opportunity to live an open life. As a student councilor, Siafakas used his position to try to change society. He expanded the university's ''Pride'' celebrations from a one-day event to an entire week. He started workshops, debates, parties, and sporting events, including a sponsored run for an HIV charity. Menelas returned to Greece in 2009. In 2011, he founded the annual queer arts festival ''Civil Disobedience''. He is also a member of the team that sought an ultimately successful conviction of

Greek Orthodox The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek language, Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the Eastern Orthodox Church, entire body of Orthodox (Chalced ...

Bishop Amvrosios for homophobic hate speech. He is the founder and co-organizer of the ''Queer Theatre Awards'' for Athens since 2012. He is also involved in the ongoing fight for justice following the brutal murder of

Zak Kostopoulos Zacharias "Zak" Kostopoulos ( gr, Ζαχαρίας «Ζακ» Κωστόπουλος; 22 August 1985 – 21 September 2018) was a Greek-American human rights activist, activist, defending the LGBT rights in Greece, rights of LGBT people, HIV-pos ...

, one of Greece's most prominent and courageous LGBTQI+ activists, in September 2018.

Filmmaking and film curating

Since 2019, Siafakas has been a member of various film juries (e.g. ''Porn Film Festival Vienna''), organizing screenings and public meetings in which he addresses themes of art forms and queer activism as well as the importance of film theater in the field of sexuality, social politics, and gender. He was also part of the exhibition "Eros" in 2019, which was shown at ''MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts'' as part of the ''Thessaloniki Queer Arts Festival''. In 2019, the ''Greek Tourism Organization'' commissioned a commercial by Siafakas, but it was banned without any reason. In 2020, Siafakas founded ''Satyrs and Maenads: the Athens Porn Film Festival'', a festival dedicated to bringing together queer theory, art, and

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

. Siafaks also curated erotic film programs screened in various European cities (Vienna and San Francisco).

Filmography

Siafakas's short films: *''The Good Kid'' (2012) *''The Naked Truth'' (2012) *''Post-Orgasmic'' (2013) *''The Raspberry Reich GR'' (2015) *''Scattered Thoughts of a Young Sex Worker'' (2016) *''Symposium: an athenian rawmance'' (2017) *''Welcome to Athens'' (2018) *''The Melita Show The Movie'' (2019)

Photography

Siafakas is working as a photographer for various outlets like ''Kaltblut'' and ''

Butt Magazine ''BUTT'' is a biannual magazine that features photography and interviews about alternative gay and queer culture and sexuality. Historically, the magazine has been marketed as for gay men. ''BUTT'' was founded in 2001 by Gert Jonkers and Jop van B ...

''.

Awards

* Best International Porn Short Film at the ''2022 Porn Film Festival Vienna''.

References

External links

*
''Athens Voice''
about Siafakas' film "Welcome to Athens"
''Athens Voice''
about Siafakas and the launching of Athens Porn Film Festival
''The Radicals''
about Siafakas {{DEFAULTSORT:Siafakas, Menelas 1974 births Greek film directors Film people from Athens Greek LGBT rights activists HIV/AIDS activists Living people