The Golden Athena goes to "You and the Night"!

A brief yet celebratory ceremony and the screening of the film "Adele: Chapters 1&2" marked the end of the 19th Athens International Film Festival.

Upon coming on stage, the Festival's artistic director, Orestis Andreadakis, noted that the closing ceremony is not an evening of speeches, but an evening of awards, and thanked the staff, the volunteers as well as the main sponsors of the event, before going forward with the awards.

The main award of the Festival, the Golden Athena of the International Competition section was given to the film "You and the Night" ("Les Rencontres d'apres Minuit") by Yann Gonzalez, "a pictorial and surrealist panorama. The genius concept of a parallel reality using cult and animation elements in order to speak about love and the necessity of evolution", according to the jury.

Yann Gonzalez, whom we had the pleasure of welcoming as our guest in the Festival's first days, is currently in Brazil so he sent over a video with his acceptance speech.

χρυσή αθηνά: γιαν γκονζάλες - les rencontres d... by NyxtesPremieras

The Best Screenplay award went to the film " The Rendez-Vous of Déjà-Vu", a "wonderful comical dissectation of French society, an homage to the Nouvelle Vague which surprised us with its delightful characters and its rich humour", directed by Antonin Peretjatko, who had a surprise guest in his thank-you video.

βραβείο σεναρίου: αντονίν περετζατκό - la fille... by NyxtesPremieras

The City of Athens Best Director prize was won by Sam Fleischner for the film "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors", a "bold yet masterful cinematic Odyssey of an immigrant family, which unfolds its drama by following underground routes in the heart of a metropolis".

βραβείο σκηνοθεσίας: σαμ φλάισνερ - stand clear... από NyxtesPremiera

The Audience award went to the film "Short Term 12" by Destin Daniel Cretton, who also thanked the Festival and its audience via a video message.

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The president of the Jury for the Music & Film In Competition section, Nick Bradshaw, then came onstage to announce the Golden Athena of the section, which was awarded to the film "Wavemakers" ("Les Chants des Ondes") by Caroline Martel.

χρυσή αθηνά μουσική & φιλμ: καρολίν μαρτέλ... από NyxtesPremieras

The festive mood was present from the early afternoon thanks to the Philarmonic Orchestra of the City of Athens accompanying the guests' entrance into the Pallas Theatre.

With the awards ceremony coming to an end, the spotlight shone on " Adèle: Chapters 1 & 2" and its luminous, promising star Adèle Exarchopoulos. After a brief speech by Takis Veremis, the film's distributor in Greece, Adèle thanked all present and talked, on behalf of her director Abdellatif Kechiche and her co-star Lea Seydoux, about the "love story bypassing all frontiers" that is their film, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. She concluded by wishing that the film, which she loves deeply, would be to the audience's liking.

More photos of the evening here