Sean Baker’s ANORA: The Palme d'Or of the Cannes Film Festival is the Opening Film of the 30th AIFF

The Athens International Film Festival, sponsored by Nova, a member of the United Group of the leading telecommunications and media providers in Southeastern Europe, is celebrating 30 years of endless love for cinema and its people from October 2nd to October 14th.

The international institution will have its grand opening on Wednesday, October 2nd 2024 at the MEGARON ATHENS CONCERT HALL, with the nationwide premiere of ANORA, Sean Baker’s new feature film which debuted its victorious run at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Palme d'Or, and is expected to continue triumphantly until the upcoming Oscars.  

This is a touchingly fitting opening for the anniversary edition of the Athens International Film Festival, as it was the first festival worldwide to curate a retrospective tribute to the charismatic independent American filmmaker, Sean Baker, in 2015, hosting a nationwide premiere of all his filmography. ANORA is also a film that fully and ideally summarizes the spirit and philosophy of the festival - a festival that for thirty consecutive years has given voice to some of the most exciting new voices in world cinema, introducing them enthusiastically to Greek audiences.

ANORA (USA, 139')
Starring: Mikey Madison, Mark Eydelshteyn, Yuriy Borisov,  Vache Tovmasyan

As the Festival's Artistic Director Loukas Katsikas wrote, "with ANORA, Sean Baker opens his arms wide to yet another pariah of the American dream: a witty and sassy sex worker who ends up starring in (and being the victim of) her own fairy tale when she meets the prince of her dreams in the face of a spoiled 20-year-old rich kid, son of a Russian oligarch, who is in the United States for a short stay and wants to party wildly with daddy's money. 

The young man meets Anora at the club where she works as a stripper and in a frenzy of alcohol, hormones and outright immaturity, he marries her in a hasty wedding in Las Vegas. Anora quits her job in order to devote herself to the "savior" who has volunteered to put her out of her misery. But when the parents learn of their irresponsible son's antics, they plan a quick trip to the United States to break up a marriage that they know was clearly made out of naivety and impulse. 

ANORA is an unapologetic combination of the fairy tale "Cinderella" and "Pretty Woman", without the idealized romance of the former and without the Hollywood glaze of the latter. It has its own unruly character, understands the vernacular of the marginalized, becomes an adult comedy of social inequalities and shattered dreams, and at the same time a love story of misfortune that gradually becomes an experience of self-discovery and a life lessons for a woman who wanted so badly to believe in something better."

The film is screened by courtesy of Tanweer Distribution Company.

In theaters on October 24th.

The full program of the 30th Athens International Film Festival will be announced during the Press Conference on Wednesday, September 25th 2024, at 18:30, at the "Auditorium Theo Angelopoulos" of the French Institute of Greece in Athens.

The Athens International Film Festival, sponsored by Nova, a member of the United Group of the leading telecommunications and media providers in Southeastern Europe, will take place from October 2nd to 14th. The venues that will host this year's event are: DANAOS I & II, CINOBO OPERA I & II, ASTOR, ASTY,  FRENCH INSTITUTE OF GREECE, MEGARON ATHENS CONCERT HALL and PALLAS..

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