Yannis Petridis at Opening Nights

The 15th Athens International Film Festival is proud to present a man who, over the last thirty years, changed the way we listen to music. Opening Nights present the world opening of Nicole Alexandropoulou's new documentary Once In a Lifetime on Yiannis Petridis and welcome the pioneering radio producer as president of the Music & Film International Jury. 

Although he would probably disagree with such a statement,Yiannis Petridis is something of a legend in Greek radio history. He is the man who first played the likes of Talking Heads, Tuxedomoon and Joy Division on Greek radio waves, and introduced us to punk and new wave pioneers, as well as a host of others names all of us had read about but few had had the chance to listen to. Indeed, it wouldn’t be an overstatement to say that Petridis single-handedly shaped the music tastes of a whole generation. He taught his audience to appreciate imagination and innovation beyond genres. His show was a hallmark in the history of Greek radio and the phrase "Petridis said so" became a quality seal. When it came to music, Petridis was never a snob; he believed that if something was good, it merited the same attention and that’s what allowed him to play an Abba song right after a punk hymn without a second thought. A man of his times -and very often ahead of them- Yiannis Petridis has gained over the years a steady following of thousands of fans, people that have been following his career from the vinyl era to the 80s up until the age of Internet and blogs.

Now, Nicole Alexandropoulou brings Yiannis Petridis to the silver screen. Her documentary Once In a Lifetime, screened outside of competition, is the story of a pioneering radio producer, as well as a man whose life was driven by passion, inspiration and music. 

Festival fans had the chance to see Yiannis Petridis at the 14th Athens International Film Festival, as the coordinator of the masterclass given by Julian Temple. This year, Petridis will be presiding over the International Jury responsible for picking out the winner of the Music & Film Competition section. The five member jury will present the winner with the Golden Athena Award, which comes with a €10,000 cash prize.

As always, the International Jury will be composed of prominent representatives of the music industry who will arrive in Athens not only to select the winner of this year's Music & Film Competition section, but also to lead a discussion on one of the biggest issues of our days, a problem affecting the creative scene, audiences and reporters alike. The names of the rest of the Jury members will be announced soon. As for the films making up the Festival’s most popular section, for the time being we’ll announce only one entry, the documentary Burning Down The House: The Story of CBGB about the iconic 70s and 80s New York club. Directed by Mandy Stein, daughter of The Ramones' long standing manager Linda Stein, and featuring performances by Talking Heads, Sting, Pattie Smith and many more, Burning Down the House brings back to life the legendary club once known as the house of underground rock.   

For Festival news and updates, log on to the 15^th Athens International Film Festival official website (www.aiff.gr). You can find old press releases (in .pdf) as well as past photo contest entries in the Press Office section. And lastly, don’t forget to post your comments on our daily updated blog! (https://nyxtespremieras.blogspot.com)