The 21st Athens International Film Festival - Opening Nights press conference was a raging success!

The 21st Athens International Film Festival - Opening Nights press conference took place on September 16 at IANOS bookstore, where artistic director Orestis Andreadakis revealed the full festival line-up. The event was attended by festival chairwoman Maria Bobola, as well as OPANDA President Christos Tedomas. In his brief public address, he stressed the role the Athens Open Air Film Festival and Opening Nights have played in the cultural evolution of the city of Athens.

The press conference was attended by general audience, members of the press, as well as industry insiders, such as directors Pantelis Voulgaris and Lakis Papastathis, artist Dimitris Alithinos and actors Giannis Kokiasmenos, Maria Kalimani, Giorgos Pyrpasopoulos, Apostolos Totsikas, Tasos Nousias, Eugenia Dimitropoulou, Sofia Georgovasili and Socratis Alafouzos. 

The «Short Fuse» team: Apostolos totsikas, Andreas Lampropoulos (co-director), Konstantinos Moutsinas (producer) and Evgenia Dimitropoulou

Collaborating Embassies and cultural foundations, such at the Hellenic Film Academy, the Greek Film Center, the Onassis Cultural Center, the Niarchos Foundation and the Artists with Disabilities Movement were also well represented.

The artistic director welcomed the audience on behalf of Pegasus Publishing, www.cinemagazine.gr and Cinema Magazine, which has been the main organizer behind all major film-related events for the past 26 years.

He mentioned the raging success of the 5th Athens Open Air Film Festival that came to a close a dew days ago and while unveiling this year's poster, he introduced the Athens Film Lab, the festival's latest sidebar, a training, networking and production program that's meant to help filmmakers develop their short and feature concepts. He stressed the Lab is operating on a trial basis and it doesn't just focus on training and funding, but aims at promoting Greek filmmakers abroad and showcasing Athens as a European movie metropolis. This is the first time an industry meeting of this magnitude takes place in the Greek capital. 

During the main program presentation - which this year includes 239 films from allover the world - he made special mention of the Greek Films Section, numbering 102 feature, medium-length and short films, screening both in and out of competition. He talked about the homegrown documentaries and introduced the juries that will judge the Breakthrough Awards and the Greek Short Films Competition. He paid special attention to the "Paraskinio" Tribute, honoring public television's most emblematic show.

While talking about the Opening ("Youth" by Paolo Sorrentino) and Closing films (Palm d' Or winner "Dheepan" by Jacques Audiard), he went over each and every section of the festival: the Official Competition, with 12 films vying for the Golden Athena, the Music & Film section, with eight brilliant documentaries in and out of competition, the plentiful documentaries that surpassed every expectation, the Midnight Screenings and the Premieres - not forgetting this year's tributes to four celebrated directors. The 20 eagerly-awaited premieres include Cannes-awarded "The Measure of a Man" by Stéphane Brizé, which headlines this year's Europe Year Zero section, including all manner of works that mirror the EU's harsh reality. 

Christos Tentomas, OPANDA President

Within the context of "Moving Future", a section dedicated to the relationship between fine arts and film, Orestis Andreadakis thanked Dimitris Alithinos for curating the selection and mentioned the festival's collaboration with the Athens Biennale and Documenta, one of the biggest arts fairs in the world.

The artistic director also revealed the word hiding in the poster artwork, which this year happens to be "The Secret". The festival's annual artistic intervention attempts to capture the process of concealing and revealing. Consisting of six installations inspired by Thomas Edison's Kinetoscope, designed by Kleio Gizeli and curated by Orestis Andreadakis, Opening Nights' foray into visual arts will be exhibited at four different venues, allowing viewers to discover a clandestine universe through a tiny peephole.

The press conference lingered on Pantelis Voulgaris' "Little England", the first universally accessible screening in Greece in collaboration with the Artists with Disabilities Movement. The event will feature captions for the deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (SDH) and audio description for people with visual disabilities.

Last but not least, Orestis Andreadakis revealed this year's big surprise, which was none other than Gaspar Noé's X-rated Odyssey "Love", shot in sparkling 3D, which was incorporated in the festival line-up at the very last minute and will screen as a special avant-premiere in collaboration with Hollywood Entertainment on September 22, followed by a Q&A with the director. Entrance is by invitation only, issued via cinemagazine.gr

Andreadakis thanked OTE TV, this year's grand sponsor, the city of Athens OPANDA and all the supporters, sponsors and communication sponsors of the festival, renewing their appointment for September 23.

TICKET AND FESTIVAL PASS PRE-SALES

Festival passes are still on sale starting September 14 at IANOS bookstore (24 Stadiou St, 1st floor) between 11am and 6pm.

Admission is allowed upon display of your festival pass and ticket.

Single ticket pre-sales start on September 16 at the following festival venues: Odeon Opera 1&2, Ideal, the Greek Film Archive, Danaos 1&2 and its downtown box office branch @ IANOS bookstore (24 Stadiou St, 1st floor).

TICKET PRICES:

Just like last year, the ticket and festival pass prices for the Athens International Film Festival  - Opening Nights remain fixed, with the introduction of an entry-level pass.

Tickets:
€4: Press screenings
€5: Matinee screenings (starting at 19:55)
€6: Regular screenings (starting at 20:00)

Festival Passes:
5-film pass: 20€
10-film pass: 35€
20-film pass: 60€ (20-film pass-holders will be able to attend the Opening Gala with prior reservations)