Kolkata, Nov 16 (IANS): Lamenting the Greek film industry taking a severe beating due to the ongoing financial crisis, actress Katia O' Wallis Saturday said here that cinema goers in the Mediterranean nation prefer big Hollywood productions over European and Indian cinema.

Of French origin, O' Wallis has starred in several Greek films, including two feature films by the critically acclaimed director Karolos Zonaras.

"Its mostly the American big films that people watch there...they see mostly mainstream films. Very few go for European cinema or even Indian cinema," said O'Wallis.

Her Zonaras film "Big Hit" was screened at the 19th Kolkata International Film Festival (KIFF) here.

A black- and-white contemporary movie, "Big Hit" has drawn critical acclaim across the world. However such "noir genre" films are restricted to a niche audience because of lack of distributors.

"It is very difficult to find distributors and even producers for such films and with the financial crisis it has become more difficult," said O' Wallis who turned producer for the film when the original producer "turned bankrupt" because of the economic downturn.

On a similar note was Iraqi-Kurdish filmmaker Adnan Osman whose debut feature film "Death Triangle" was made on a tight budget. He said: "It is because of our artistic ambition we push to make the films."