30th Athens International Film Festival: Opening ceremony

The Artistic Director of the Athens International Film Festival, Loukas Katsikas, joined the stage of the packed Megaron Athens Concert Hall, welcomed the audience to the 30th anniversary edition and - amidst enthusiastic applause - referred to the history of the beloved film institution.

After warmly thanking the President of the Athens Film Society, Mrs. Maria Bobola, for her uninterrupted and discreet support and presence over the years, he commemorated the founder of the Festival, George Tziotzios, thanks to whose vision a handful of young people started this Festival with boldness and passion for cinema and wished that the Festival continues to illuminate the city of Athens with cinematic love and magic for many years to come, overcoming adversity and maintaining the non-negotiable love for the cinematic experience. "Never have so few people done so much for a festival. And never has a festival been loved so much, so fervently and for 30 consecutive years, as much as the Athens International Film Festival have been and still is loved." 

The 30th Athens International Film Festival opened solemnly with the screening of this year's Palme d'Or, ANORA, by Sean Baker, courtesy of Tanweer.

The ceremony was graced by the presence of distinguished guests from the world of art, cinema, theater, television and music, as well as representatives of significant public and private institutions that consistently and actively support the country's creative production.

Μaria Bobola, Agapi Kefalogianni, Tatiana Pappa 

The international guests, Intimacy Coordinator, Elle McAlpine, director, Uli Schueppel and actor, Macklin Kowal. The directors Asimina Proedrou (President of the Greek Short Stories Jury Committee), Tasos Boulmetis, Nikos Perakis, Giorgos Tsemperopoulos, Antonis Tsionis, Angelos Frantzis, Sofia Exarchou, Nikos Pastras, Panagiotis Fafoutis, Konstantis Fragkopoulos, Christos Karakepelis, Stavros Psyllakis, Zacharias Mavroeides, Christos Nikou, Nicole Alexandropoulou, Giorgos Gousis, Lia Tsalta, the actors and actresses Myrto Alikaki, Andreas Konstantinou, Sofia Kokkali, Flomaria Papadaki, Antonis Tsiotsiopoulos, Katia Goulioni, Natasa Exintaveloni, Xenia Dania, Vassiliki Troufakou, Sissi Toumasi, Argyris Pantazaras, Nikos Gelia, Efi Kantza, Christos Stergioglou, Elena Mavridou, Melia Kreiling, Giannis Karababas, Anastasis Roilos, Tasos Dimitropoulos and Anna Louizidou, the musicians Kostis Maraveyas, Stella Chronopoulou, the producer Giorgos Karnavas and the journalist Natalia Argyraki.

Loukas Katsikas, Leonidas Christopoulos, Maria Bobola, Tatiana Pappa, Sofia Beretanou

Nova's Senior Programming Manager, Agapi Kefalogianni, was also present and stated: "Athens International Film Festival is celebrating its 30th birthday and Nova is here for the 3rd year as a major sponsor of this unique and diverse cinematic celebration of our city! This anniversary year, Novacinema channels are joining the Festival by screening a number of unique, award-winning films that had their premiere at the Festival, including last year's Golden Athena, Molly Manning Walker's How to Have Sex, Academy Award winning The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall, and the one- of-a-kind Lost in Translation, The Teachers Lounge, Decision to Leave, Twelve Monkeys, Dogtooth and Toni Erdmann. Meanwhile, film critic Polly Lycourgou, curates and presents a series of Off screen & podcasts, available from today on EON with guests Loukas Katsikas, Artistic Director of the Festival, and Maria Nathanail, Head of Communications, talking about the creation, the early years and the great journey of the Festival to the present day. We wish the Festival a Happy Birthday and that it succeeds until its 100th anniversary!".

The ceremony was also attended by Yannis Katsougris, Head of Sponsorships of Athenian Brewery, the CEO of Zolotas jewelry, Giorgos Papalexis, the Corporate Communications Manager of M/MARITIME, Eliza Gerouki, the President of the Greek Film Center, Audiovisual Media and Creation, George Christopoulos, the Head of Promotion (Hellas Films) Iliana Zakopoulou, the Head of Creative Europe Office - MEDIA, Anna Kasimatis, the Financial Director of the Athens Epidaurus Festival, Yannis Kaplanis and the Director of Audiovisual Media of the French Institute of Greece, Aimé Besson. 

Agapi Kefalogianni, Loukas Katsikas, Tatiana Pappa

We would like to thank the Megaron Athens Concert Hall for hosting the event, the Ministry of Development and the Region of Attica for their support, the Ministry of Culture for its auspices, the Culture, Sports & Youth Organization of the Municipality of Athens for the co-organization, and the sponsors of the event for their valuable support: our major Sponsor Nova, member of the United Group of the leading telecommunications and media provider in South-Eastern Europe, the Event Sponsor Jameson, Fischer Beer, Sponsor of the Audience Award, the Airline Sponsor AEGEAN, the shipping company M/Maritime for the AKIRA KUROSAWA Tribute, the jewelry stores ZOLOTAS, the in-house travel sponsor Avance, the institutional supporter Greek Film Centre for Audiovisual Media and Creation, the Athens Film Office, ONASSIS CULTURE, the Greek Filmmakers Association and DK Rental House, Crew United, Film School and the production company Art Renegade. Also, the embassies and institutes that support our work: The Embassy of Japan in Greece for the AKIRA KUROSAWA Tribute, the British Council for the THIS IS ENGLAND Tribute, the French Embassy and the French Institute of Greece, the Cervantes Institute, the Embassies of Australia, Sweden and Ireland, the Goethe Institute, the ELECTRA HOTEL RESORTS, the XFloor Rooftop by  Electra, Cookoovaya and L'Alchimiste bistrot for their kind sponsorship, Pallas Theater, the "Friends of Music" Association of the Megaron Athens Concert Hall, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Onassis Cultural Centre and all the venues: DANAOS I & II, CINOBO OPERA I & II, ASTY, ASTOR, AVANA, which will have the pleasure to host the long-awaited films of the 30th Athens International Film Festival. Finally, we would like to thank the distributors AMA FILMS, CINOBO, DANAOS FILMS, FEELGOOD ENTERTAINMENT, ROSEBUD.21, SPENTZOS FILM, TANWEER, WEIRD WAVE, NEO FILMS, CAROUSEL, FILMTRADE, the director Uli M. Schueppel and Typical Organisation for the creation of this year's spot, LAMDA for their evocative music and Valeria Christodoulidi for her voice in the Festival spots, TV5Monde and all our communication sponsors, more. com where you can get your tickets, our photographers and videographers, Vassilis Mexis for the design of the posters, and all the volunteers of the organization for their precious help. 

The Opening Ceremony was held with simultaneous interpretation in Greek sign language by the Festival's collaborator, Ms Nefeli Rantou.

The curtain of this year's event will fall on Monday, October 14th at Pallas Theater with the Closing Ceremony and Award Presentation of the Festival’s Competition Sections and the national premiere of one of the cinematic events of the year: the film THE ROOM NEXT DOOR by Pedro Almodóvar, courtesy of Tanweer.

The opening ceremony was followed by a party on the patio of the Megaron Athens Concert Hall.

PHOTOS (credits: Ioannis Stefanidis, Kyriaki Fragiadaki, Socrates Baltagiannis, Sofia Papastrati).