Line-up revealed at the press conference

The press conference was attended by general audience, members of the press, as well as industry insiders, such as actor/director Dimitris Piatas, producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis, filmmakers Margarita Manda, Syllas Tzoumerkas, Christos Voupouras, Nikos Kornilios and Ilias Giannakakis, as well as actors Efi Papatheodorou, Maximos Moumouris, Nikos Gelia, Romana Lobac and Katia O' Wallis.

The festival's artistic director welcomed audiences to the 20th Anniversary Edition of the Athens International Film Festival on behalf of the Pegasus Publishing Group and CINEMA Magazine, which has been the driving force behind a large pool of film-related events in the 25 years since it first hit the stands.

The 20th Athens International Film Festival - Opening Nights, will be screening a total of 241 films from every corner of the world, a record number in the festival's history.

Greek Cinema Section:

This year, the number of Greek entries has reached an all-time high: 97 films, 12 of which happen to be features.

The Greek Cinema Section will open with work-in-progress "Electra" by Petros Sevastikoglou followed by a special opening party, while the closing film is scheduled to be "Medea: Louder than my Thoughts" by Nikos Grammatikos.

xenia - trailer by NyxtesPremieras

Opening Nights is also set to include a special screening of "Xenia" by Panos Koutras at the Onassis Cultural Centre. This is an invitation-only event. Invitations will be distributed via www.cinemagazine.gr, while regular tickets will only be available to 25-film pass holders.

The Greek Cinema Section will also play to host to Syllas Tzoumerkas' new film "A Blast", Athanasios Karanikolas' "At Home", "Pandemic" by Dimitris Piatas, "The Apache Offensive" by Giannis Soldatos and "Matriarchy" by Nikos Kornilios. The Work-in-Progress subdivision of the Greek Cinema Section will also include "7 Kinds of Wrath" by Christos Voupouras and "Forever" by Margarita Manda.

"Golfo at Epidaurus" by Ilias Giannakakis and "Sam Roma - We Are Gypsies" by Marina Danezi, along with "Excision" by Victoria Vellopoulou and short film "Bref" by Christina Pitouli - both on the subject of female genital mutilation - will screen at the Documentary Section.

Opening and Closing Films:

Once again, the festival is set to open with a comedy, only this time it's Argentinian sleeper-hit "Wild Tales" directed by Damián Szifrón and produced by Pedro Almodovar. Two days after its world New York premiere on September 26, David Fincher's new film "Gone Girl" will close the 20th Athens International Film Festival in an exclusive European premiere!

gone girl / το κορίτσι που εξαφανίστηκε - trailer by NyxtesPremieras

Greek Short Film Competition: In 2014 the festival received 191 homegrown short film submissions, which - in artistic director Orestis Andreadakis' own words - "...gave us a hard time, tugged at our heart strings and confirmed that Greek cinema is putting down powerful roots for the future". 65 of these submissions ended up in the Competition Section. This year, the festival will award five prizes, including the Best Film Award (with 2.000 Euros attached), plus newbie Best Cinematography Award, handed out by the Greek Cinematographer's Association. Additionally, the line-up will include five shorts inspired by the number 20 - which is how long the festival has been taking place - in collaboration with Greek Film Center.

Same as every year, Opening Nights will be handing out awards for Best Newcomers (Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress), where each and every Greek film that's been screened in the past 12 months is eligible to win.

Official Competition Section: 11 films from the US, Latin America and Europa make up the Official Competition Section, while the best of the fest will be taking home the Golden Athena Award. The line-up includes such talked-about titles as "71" - a stand-out in this year's Berlinale - Norwegian gem "Blind", shot by Greek cinematographer Thimios Bakatakis, "10.000km", otherwise known as the best debut to come out of the Iberian Peninsula this year, and "When Animals Dream", which flirts with horror and road movies in one neat, prize-winning package.

Music & Film Competition Section: Seven brilliant music documentaries making up the Music & Film section will compete for the Golden Athena. The BFI's Briony Hanson will be serving as Jury President, joined by Oliver Baumgarten from the Berlinale, Israeli film scholar Pablo Utin and radio programming director Katerina Kafentzi.

gone girl / το κορίτσι που εξαφανίστηκε - trailer by NyxtesPremieras

The film line-up includes "Pulp: a Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets", to be introduced by director Florian Habicht and Pulp drummer Nick Banks, who will be spinning the decks at the CINEMA Magazine birthday party 26/9. "20.000 Days on Earth" is another standout, scheduled to screen on September 22, on main character Nick Cave's birthday.

Documentary Film Section:

The Documentary Section features 11 hand-picked non fiction films from all over the world, dealing with some very hot topics, like "The Green Prince", where the son of a founding leader in the Palestinian organization, Hamas, becomes a spy for the Israelis.

Midnight Madness:

Eight post-midnight screenings will run the full gamut of horror, fantasy and cult B-movies, including "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre", restored to perfection under director Tobe Hooper's supervision, on its 40th Anniversary.

Avant Premieres:

This year, the festival features 23 Avant Premieres of eagerly awaited films that will be hitting the local distribution circuit throughout the season, starting with "Welcome to New York" by Abel Ferrara (featuring Gérard Depardieu), Alain Resnais' last film "Life of Riley", Alice Rohrwacher's "The Wonders", recently awarded at Cannes, "The Drop" featuring James Gandolfini, rom com "What if" by Michael Dowse, who will travelling to Athens for the presentation, multi-award winning "Starred Up" by David Mackenzie ("Young Adam"), featuring Jack O'Connell ("71") in another career-making performance, and the passionate " Whiplash", one of the best movies of the year.

the wonders / τα θαύματα - trailer by NyxtesPremieras

Panorama Section:

The Panorama Section reveals 11 small treasures, including "Cheatin" by Opening Nights regular Bill Plympton, plus two films indirectly related to Greece: "Committed" by Greek-Cypriot Stelana Kliris, featuring Melia Kreiling and Orestes Sophocleous, as well as "Red Rose" by Sepideh Farsi, shot on location in Athens with a Greek crew.

Tributes & Retrospectives:

The Festival pays homage to one of the most neglected directors in the history of Greek cinema, namely Stavros Tornes, with a full retrospective including his five features and three shorts, as well as Stavros Kaplanidis' tribute doc "Stavros Tornes: The Poor Hunter of the South".

Audiences will get to savor Andrzej Zulawski's subversive oeuvre in a wonderful tribute, featuring eight unconventional masterpieces, including an extremely rare print of "On the Silver Globe", which took him the better part of a decade to finish.

The "Robert Altman in the 70s" tribute will highlight the most creative and artistically accomplished period of a seminal filmmaker. The showcase features eight films, including "M*A*S*H" and "3 Women".

The "Architecture & Cinema" showcase, curated by Anna Skiada, is set to include a round-table discussion at the French Institute of Athens on cultural buildings and their relationship with the city and cinema. The French Institute will also be hosting a photography exhibition, sponsored by the Niarchos Foundation, entirely dedicated to floor plans.

"Focus on Australia" will familiarize audiences with the brilliantly varied film production of the Land Down Under, like horror hit "The Rover" featuring Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson, which was incorporated in the festival line-up at the very last minute.

motorama - trailer by NyxtesPremieras

Last, but not least, the Post Blue Velvet Days showcase, curated by The Boy (director Alexandros Voulgaris' stage moniker), consists of five films, which could easily be considered the predecessors of the weird aesthetic that seems to have taken over the arts in the past few years.

Events to put on your calendar:

- The screening of cult John Waters movie "Polyester" featuring the full Odorama experience

- The 6-hour long "Nymphomaniac Director’s Cut, Part I & II"

- The 20th Anniversary screening of Derek Jarman's masterpiece "Jubilee".

Sidebar Events:

- A hand-picked selection of George Drivas works, depicting his journey from fine to video art and cinema.

- The Stefanos Tsivopoulos discussion at the Museum of Cycladic Art on the occasion of his "History Zero" exhibit.

- The Networking Brunch at Black Duck Garden, where festival guests Oliver Baumgarten (Berlinale) and Christian Jeune (Cannes) will discuss the journey of homegrown films on the international festival circuit.

- A workshop by the Disabled Artists Movement called "The Uncharted Territory of Disability: Universal Access to the Art of Filmmaking", followed by the screening of "DV8: The Cost of Living".

- International Francophonie Day, co-organized by TV5 Monde, the French Embassy and the French Institute of Athens on Sunday, September 20, including "That Most Important Thing: Love", proceeded by an educational screening of documentary "On the Way to School".

l'important c'est d'aimer / σημασία έχει ν... by NyxtesPremieras

- A special event celebrating CINEMA Magazine's 25th anniversary and the Athens International Film Festival's 20th anniversary, entitled "Frame-Light-Motion" that revolves around Kostas Sfikas' "Model" (1974). The event will take place at the City of Athens Technopolis on Friday, September 26, at the D12 and Innovathens Halls, followed by a party, featuring Pulp drummer Nick Banks on the decks. Entrance is free of charge.

The 20th Athens International Film Festival - Opening Nights is organized with the support of OTE.