The Athens International Film Festival is celebrating its 25th year of making cinematic history in Athens and returns for another glittering year with the most talked-about premières, unique tributes, highly anticipated music films, the cream of the crop of this year’s documentaries as well as celebratory events such as masterclasses, concerts, parties, special screenings and a host of surprises.
South Korean director Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, the Palme d’Or winner at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, will be screened at the opening ceremony of the 25th edition of the festival. The festival will also include a special pre-festival screening of The Goldfinch by Irish director John Crowley on Wednesday 11 September at the Ideal cinema.
UK-based writer and producer Hannah Patterson is attending the festival as a member of the jury of the International Competition section, which consists of established professionals and film critics from Greece and abroad. Hannah’s Current film and television projects include Claude with the British Film Institute (BFI), winner of The Athena List with Amazon Studios; and adaptations of her play Much, and Booker-longlisted novel Unexploded. Her most recent plays have been staged at the Hampstead Theatre in London and at 59e59 Theaters in New York.
Maggi Hurt is attending the festival as a member of the jury of the Documentary section. She has worked in cinema exhibition in the UK since her 20s, initially at the York Film Theatre and Macrobert Arts Centre in Stirling, Scotland. She then joined Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle, where she was responsible for setting up the research centre and bookshop, and was also a member the team, alongside Sheila Whitaker, which developed the groundbreaking Tyneside Festival of Independent Cinema in the 1980s. Since then she has been at the BFI Southbank in London, where she has held a variety of roles, including co-ordinating the events programme, organising poster and photography exhibitions, and contributing to a wide range of international film seasons across the BFI’s festivals and year-round programme. Maggi has a particular interest in widening cultural access and in the diversity of documentary forms.
The full festival programme will be announced at the press conference taking place on 11 September. Stay tuned at www.aiff.gr.
