Athens Int'l Film Festival celebrates 30th anniversary with rich program, special events

The film 'Anora' by Sean Baker, winner of the Palme d'Or prize at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, opens the 30th Athens International Film Festival on Wednesday.

Films will be screened at several theaters: Astor, Asty, Danaos 1 & 2, Cinobo Opera 1 & 2, the French Institute, the Athens Concert Hall (Megaro Moussikis), and Pallas.

The Festival will conclude on October 14 (Monday) at Pallas, after the presentation of awards for separate categories of films, and the Greek premiere of Pedro Almodovar's "Room Next Door", winner of the Leone d'oro prize at the 81st Vienna International Film Festival.

Its program includes for the 14th year the Greek Short Stories, a popular category that will screen 46 short films this year.

In collaboration with the Athens Film Office (Athens Municipality), the Athens International Film Festival will hold a workshop with Intimacy Coordinator Elle McAlpine, who has worked on several films including Giorgos Lanthimos' 'Poor Things'. The workshop will take place on Friday (Oct. 4), 11:00-17:00, at the Yiannis Marinos Hall of the Friends of Music Association at the Athens Concert Hall.

Furthermore, a retrospective will be held for the first time for Akira Kurosawa, Japan's leading and influential film director. The event coincides with the 2024 Year of Culture and Tourism Greece-Japan and is supported by the Embassy of Japan in Greece and funded by the M/Maritime shipping company. Thirteen of Kurosawa's films will be screened, including the iconic 'Rashomon' (1950).

In the context of the British Council's 85th anniversary in Greece, there will be a retrospective on well-known British films of the '80s.

At the Museum of Cycladic Art, and in the context of the exhibition of Cindy Sherman's photographs, two films chosen by Sherman will be screened on Thursday (Oct. 3) and  Saturday (Oct. 5): 'The Naked Kiss' (Samuel Fuller) and 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' (Russ Meyer), while the audience will be able to see the photograph show on the same ticket. The films will include introductions.

For a full program in Greek and English, see: https://en.aiff.gr/home_page/ (category 'Catalogue').