"The city, its people, and the festival programme itself, have come together to create something truly special"
Festivals, in the purest sense, are about discovery. They’re a search for that too-rare tingle at the base of your spine when you stumble across something that moves you; something extraordinary.
The festival’s Youth Jury spent ten days in Athens and watched the films up for this year’s awards. We asked the five members to write a few words for the festival and their experience in it.
Festivals, in the purest sense, are about discovery. They’re a search for that too-rare tingle at the base of your spine when you stumble across something that moves you; something extraordinary. It’s a special feeling, and it’s one that the AIFF has had no shortage of.
From the magical, Keaton-esque anarchy of La Fée, through Gandu’s hallucinogenic hurtle through the India un-shown by Bollywood, to Love’s startling beauty and unforgettable examination of loneliness and madness, the programme has offered up some fantastic cinema.
Of course, there’s no doubt that the city itself has played a part. Where else could you bear witness to the apocalyptic ravings of a damaged mind in Bellflower before glimpsing a lightning storm score the sky above the Acropolis? Or steal a glance through an ‘illegal’ Buenos Aires window in Medianeras before watching fifty balloons soar over Platia Kotzia?
The city, its people, and the festival programme itself, have come together to create something truly special, crafting moments - cinematic and otherwise - that will be forever burned in my mind. It’s a huge privilege to have been a part of it.
Chris McDonald
