Maria Sødahl | The Last Resort

Maria Sødahl is a Norwegian writer/director who graduated from the National Film School of Denmark in 1993. In early years she made both short films and documentaries. Her debut feature 'Limbo' (2010) won five Amanda Awards and Best Director in Montreal World Film Festival. Her following feature 'Hope' (2019), based on her own cancer experience, premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, won the European Cinemas Label Award in Berlin 2020, and was shortlisted for the Oscars in 2021. Her third feature ‘The Last Resort’/’Paradis’ (2026) won the Dragon Award for Best Nordic Film at Gøteborg Film Festival. She is currently developing ‘Manwatching’, a modern educational journey set in Mexico.

ASTOR | 01/10 at 19:30

Lana Daher | Do You Love Me

Lana Daher is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist based in Beirut, Lebanon. With a background in fine arts and graphic design (BFA, American University of Beirut) as well as filmmaking (MA, Goldsmiths, University of London), she has long been active in Beirut's vibrant art and music scenes, working across sound, image, and archival practices. Her work is grounded in deep research and intuitive storytelling, exploring the space between documentary and fiction by bringing different time periods and emotional landscapes into dialogue. Do You Love Me is her debut feature, an archive-based essay film built from Lebanon’s rich but fragmented audiovisual history. Alongside the film, she created a website a curated index of the resources and materials behind the project, aimed at reconnecting Lebanese film heritage with both local and wider audiences:doyouloveme.film. An IDFAcademy alumna, Lana also co-produced the film through her company, My Little Films, founded in 2024.

Stegi Onassi 2/10 at 20:30

Rudi Rosenberg | Words Of Love

Starting in his teenage years, Rudi Rosenberg began his career as an actor. In 2007, he landed his first major role in JE NE VOUS OUBLIERAI JAMAIS by Pascal Kané. That same year, he moved behind the camera and directed his first short films. His third film, AGLAÉE (2010), won the Award for Best French Short Film at the Angers Festival. In 2015, he directed his first feature film, THE NEW KID, a coming-of-age comedy praised by both critics and audiences. His second feature film, WORDS OF LOVE, was selected for the Official Selection – Un Certain Regard at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

DANAOS 1 | 03/10 at 19:30

Colas Quignard | La Gradiva

Colas Quignard is a rising young French actor, who gained widespread recognition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival with his first role in La Gradiva by Marine Atlan. The film won the Grand Prix at this year's Semaine de la Critique.

OLYMPIA | 04/10 at 19:00

Vera Brandes | Cologne 75

Vera Brandes is a German music producer and music researcher. At the age of 16, she began organising jazz concerts and tours. In 1974, she initiated the concert series ‘New Jazz in Cologne’, which included the legendary ‘Köln Concert’ by Keith Jarrett on 24 January 1975. In total, she has produced and released over 350 albums. She also organised a large number of festivals and tours. After a serious car accident in 1995, Brandes turned to research into the medical effects of music. Brandes is a founding member of the International Association for Music & Medicine (IAMM) and has been its chair of conferences since 2009. KÖLN 75 premiered at the 2025 Berlinale, followed by 10 sold out screenings during the festival. Brandes has published numerous scientific articles and co-authored several books.Her work has contributed significantly to a deeper understanding of the healing power of music and to the development of innovative music-based therapy methods.

ASTOR | 05/10 at 21:30

Κ. ΒΗTA | Pink Narcissus: Screening accompanied by original, live music by Κ. VΗTA

Konstantinos Beta was born in Melbourne, Australia, and grew up in Athens, where he lives and works. He began his musical studies at the Palladio Conservatory of Athens and studied Painting and Art History at the Prahran Institute in Melbourne. In 1992, he founded the electronic band Stereo Nova, and since 1996 he has been pursuing his own career as a musician, producer, and composer. He has released more than 25 music albums and has composed music for films, documentaries, dance, and theater. At the same time, he continues to paint and create visual art.

Floyd Live Music Venue| 07/10 at 21:30

Birgit Minichmayr

Birgit Minichmayr is a graduate of the Max Reinhard Seminar in Vienna. In addition to her numerous appearances on various theater stages, she has appeared in over 40 film and television productions. She became known to a wide audience through her leading role in Maren Ade’s ‘Alle anderen’ (2009) for which she was awarded the “Silver Bear” for Best Actress and was also nominated for the German Film Award in the category “Best Actress in a Leading Role.” Her role in Matthias Glasner’s ‘Gnade’ (2012), earned her another nomination for the German Film Award in the category “Best Female Lead.” In 2018, she won the German Film Award in the category “Best Supporting Actress” for ‘3 Days in Quiberon’. In 2025, she won an award for Best Actress at the Austrian Film Awards for ‘Mit einem tiger schlafen’. In 2026, she made her premiere at Cannes with Sandra Wollner’s ‘Everytime’ in the “Un Certain Regard” section.

DANAOS 1| 8/10 at 21:30

Igor Bezinović

Igor Bezinović is a filmmaker born in Rijeka, which is now part of Croatia, but at that time belonged to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, before that partly the Kingdom of Italy and partly the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, before that the Free State of Fiume, before that the Italian Regency of Carnaro, before that Austria-Hungary… His films include "The Blockade" (Oktavijan prize for best Croatian documentary in 2012), "Veruda" (Oktavijan prize for best Croatian documentary in 2015) and "A Brief Excursion" (Big Golden Arena prize for best Croatian feature in 2017), along with many shorts of all shapes and sizes. His work has been shown internationally at events including IFF Rotterdam, DOK Leipzig, IDFF Ji.hlava, CPH:DOX, Kurzfilmtage Winterthur, Biennale of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean, Venice Biennale of Architecture (with Hrvoslava Brkušić for Pulska grupa), Museum of the Moving Image, Guanajuato IFF and Viennale, among others. He graduated in Film directing at the Academy of Dramatic Art in Zagreb, and in Philosophy, Sociology and Comparative Literature at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb.

Goethe Institut Athen 2/10 at 12:00

Olympia Mytilinaiou | Masterclass “The Emotional Image”

Olympia Mytilinaiou is an Athens-based cinematographer and a member of the Greek Society of Cinematographers (GSC), IMAGO, ICF+C and WIC, as well as the European and Hellenic Film Academies. This year, she joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscars) in the Cinematographers Branch. She studied Cinematography at the Lykourgos Stavrakos Film and Television School and began her career as a camera assistant, focus puller and camera operator, working across feature films, documentaries and commercials. In 1999, she made her debut as a cinematographer with 17 sta 18 (17 to 18), directed by Mimi Kougioumtzis. Since then, she has worked on numerous acclaimed productions, including Strella (A Woman’s Way) and Dodo, both directed by Panos H. Koutras, and Miss Violence by Alexandros Avranas. Her work has been presented at major international festivals, including the Berlinale and Cannes. She has received several distinctions, among them the Gianni Di Venanzo International Cinematography Award in Italy and the Silver Camera Award at the Manaki Brothers International Cinematographer’s Film Festival in 2025. 

“Friends of Music” Hall of The Megaron Music Athens 3/10 at 12:00

William Fitzgerald |Athens Film Industry Lab: Focus Forward

William Fitzgerald is Director of the Galway Film Fair, the industry market of the annual Galway Film Fleadh. A former Programming Director of the festival, his career has also encompassed the Tribeca Festival in New York, Irish Screen America in Los Angeles, and the Foyle Film Festival in Northern Ireland. He has curated film programmes internationally for EU-Japan Fest, EXPO Dubai, Glasgow Film, Screen Ireland and the Irish Times.

Zoe Kandyla | Athens Film Industry Lab: Focus Forward
Zoe Kandyla is a graduate of the Department of Communication, Media, and Culture at Panteion University, with a specialization in Culture and Cultural Management. She completed her master’s degree in Film and Audiovisual Production at Royal Holloway, University of London, and worked for over a decade in London in film and television series distribution (NBCUniversal, All3Media International), representing film and television artists (Echo Artists), in the Funding Department of the British Film Institute (BFI Film Fund), and at the London Film Festival (BFI London Film Festival). She is a member of BIFA (British Independent Film Awards) and WIFT (Women in Film and Television).

Achilles Tsoutsis | Athens Film Industry Lab: Focus Forward

Achilles Tsoutsis is a lawyer and business advisor specialising in international commercial transactions, intellectual property, State aid, financial incentives, and the audiovisual sector. He serves as Senior Legal and Business Counsel in the Office of Strategy and Corporate Affairs at EKKOMED. He has previously held legal and advisory roles at, among others, the Bank of Greece, Quinn Emanuel (Paris), LALIVE (Geneva), KAPPA Financial and the ATESE & MILTECH Group. He holds an LL.B and an LL.M in International Commercial Law (University of Athens), an LL.M in International Economic Law (IHEID, Geneva), a degree in Finance (DEREE – The American College of Greece) and a diploma in Business Strategy (Harvard Extension School). He is a listed arbitrator with the Athens Chamber of Commerce, a certified mediator, and a board member of the Rythmisis Institute. He is also active in film and theatre directing (A 10 Minute Swim, 2024 • Blossom, 2023 • A Pause of Time, 2022 • Offelia, 2025).

Tassos Mallios
Tassos Mallios is a festival worker and film curator based between Amsterdam and Athens with an academic background in international politics and film. He has been involved with programming and industry initiatives of leading film festivals such as International FIlm Festival Rotterdam, International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA Consultancies), Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF/TiDF AGORA Co-production Forum), Drama International Short Film Festival and Leiden Shorts (European Short Pitch). Beyond the festival circuit, he is well versed in the intricacies of international funding schemes through his collaboration with the European Commission's Creative Europe MEDIA Programme on the SLATE, MINISLATE and CODEV initiatives, with Hubert Bals Fund (HBF) and the Fondazione Prada Film Fund. Last but not least, he has participated in several international talent development and professional training programmes, including Locarno Pro U30, the Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy, and the TSFM "What's The Story?" workshop at the International Short Film Festival of Cyprus.