The PROGRAM of the 12th Athens Open Air Film Festival

The Athens Open Air Film Festival, the beloved film institution which for more than 10 years has played an integral part in the summertime cultural experience of both Athenians and visitors alike, and which is co-organised by the Athens International Film Festival and the City of Athens Cultural, Sport and Youth Organisation (OPANDA), returns in a celebratory mood full of special events both in the capital and beyond. 

Our cinematic journey starts on Tuesday 14th June, with the official opening of the 12th Athens Open Air Film Festival and the Greek premiere of the film THE LOST DAUGHTER by Maggie Gyllenhaal in attendance of the director herself as well as that of the well-established actor Peter Sarsgaard and other Greek members of the film’s cast and crew. Nominated for 3 Academy Awards this cinematic gaze into a woman’s fragile psyche, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, will have its first big screen viewing for the Greek public at the idyllic Attica Grove Theatre (Galatsi). 

The Festival’s journey will continue with the festive screening of THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. Stephan Elliott’s spectacular and highly entertaining road movie will be screened as part of ATHENS PRIDE, in collaboration with the Australian Embassy, while the addictive disco soundtrack is the ideal sound for Kotzia square on the eve of the parade of love. 

An exciting synergy between music and film will be experienced at the Roman Agora, a place of undeniable historical significance, where the old will meet the new with a loud bang. Charlie Chaplin’s exquisite MODERN TIMES, one of the most important films in cinematic history, will be screened, accompanied by the electronic music of the award-winning composer and sound artist, Jeph Vanger, at what is sure to be a meaningful screening. 

Naturally, we would be amiss if we did not include a tribute to the great Greek musician, Vangelis Papathanassiou, who recently passed away. On Monday 20th June, at Agion Asomaton Square in Thiseio, with a magical view of the Acropolis, the science fiction landmark of a film, BLADE RUNNER, will be screened in its optimal version, Ridley Scott’s final cut. It will be an opportunity to honour both this legendary epic, exactly 40  years after its first screening, as well Vangelis Papathanassiou’s unsurpassed score with the sound quality and volume it deserves.  

Aside from Vangelis, music fans suffered yet another recent loss, that of Andy Fletcher, a founding member of the electro pop pioneers, Depeche Mode. We bid farewell to yet another frontman of electronic music with an essential screening of the musical documentary DEPECHE MODE: 101 at Technopolis City Of Athens on Saturday 2nd July in collaboration with HYSTERIKA, the official DM fan club of Greece. The Festival revives this emblematic film on the big screen many years after its first (and until now only) screening in our country, and does so under the best sound conditions and with a highly anticipated dj set by the experienced George Geranios and Markos Frangkos on a night at Technopolis where the meeting between music and film will result in rapture. 

On Sunday 3rd July, at the same impressive event space, we will watch the unforgettable (and Palme d’Or winnning film) WILD AT HEART by David Lynch, the wild fairy tale which brings together romanticism, perversion, sex, violence, the “Wizzard of Oz” and Rock’n’Roll as two lovers on the run will need to travel for miles until they find shelter for their love. With the support of the Embassy of the United States in Athens. 

Few directors can successfully combine the mood of gothic horror with the virtues of romantic literature as in the case of Francis Ford Coppola’s masterful and stunning film adaptation of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA. Exactly 30 years have passed since Coppola delivered his masterpiece, drawing from the pages of Bram Stoker's classic novel. Viewers will have the opportunity to experience the film like never before at an eventful screening to take place at the impressive Doukissis Plakentias Mansion in Penteli, the most ideal setting for the cinematic visit of the immortal Count to our city, on the night of Saturday 23rd July. The screening will be held in collaboration with the late-night screenings of Midnight Express and the film will be introduced by the mastermind behind Midnight Express, Akis Kapranos, and the editor in chief of cinemagazine.gr, Panos Gkenas. 

The 12th Athens Open Air Film Festival organises a unique film marathon, a first for Greece. Back-to-back screenings will take place at the beautiful (and refreshingly cool) Plato’s Academy Archeological Park, the (many) fans of Richard Linklater’s romantic trilogy will have the opportunity to watch BEFORE SUNRISE, BEFORE SUNSET and BEFORE MIDNIGHT throughout one night destined for genuine sentimentalists like Jesse and Celine, the leads adroitly played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in Linklater’s marvellous cinematic triptych. On Friday July 29th, a lasting relationship will be born, cultivated and tested in the presence of the diverse Open Air audience who will experience this rare cinematic experience. 

French cinema will once more be honoured at the Athens International Film Festival  thanks to a series of special screenings which will take place in the jewel of a garden at the French School of Athens in collaboration with the Plein Air Festival. 

Jean Renoir’s THE GRAND ILLUSION, Jacques Demy’s THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG, François Truffaut’s FINALLY, SUNDAY! and Jean Grémillon’s SUMMER LIGHT, a hidden gem of the 40’s which is worth discovering, will be waiting for you in an oasis of a location in the centre of the capital. Make sure not to miss the screening of a newly restored digital copy of Jean Vigo’s L'ATALANTE, at Lais Open Air Cinema of the Greek Film Archive. 

But there is also something for Italian film lovers: Michelangelo Antonioni’s ZABRISKIE POINT, one of the most underrated films by a great filmmaker, which in recent decades has come to be appreciated and will be screened in the wonderful garden of the Italian Embassy of Athens.  

Two more must-see events are the 60th anniversary screening of Stanley Kubrick’s LOLITA (with Vladimir Nabokov’s screenplay), which will take place at the open-air cinema AB as well as John Sturges’ exciting film THE GREAT ESCAPE starring Steve McQueen and … his motorcycle, a glorious example of a Hollywood classic making a brilliant return for one night only at the open-air cinema Riviera in Exarchia. 

Download the festival's program here (pdf file).

A CINEMATIC JOURNEY TO THE AEGEAN ISLANDS

Finally, the Athens Open Air Film Festival crosses the geographic borders of its beloved city and sets off for the Aegean, organising a first-ever series of exciting events-screenings on the magical islands of Serifos and Mykonos. 

On Mykonos, seaside screenings will take place on the 12th and 13th July in collaboration with the Mykonos Art Festival. Local and visiting audience members will have the opportunity to enjoy Jeff Bridges as THE BIG LEBOWSKI by Joel and Ethan Coen and to celebrate July’s full moon dancing, singing and falling in love along with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor in Baz Luhrmann’s spectacular MOULIN ROUGE! . 

On Serifos the magical journey spreads out over three special evenings (15th - 17th July | High School courtyard, Livadi) with screenings which will take place in collaboration with the South Aegean Administrative Region and the Municipality of Serifos, starting with Bob Fosse’s ALL THAT JAZZ, one of the greatest American films which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. On Saturday, as part of a lively and utterly entertaining double feature, John Landis’s THE BLUES BROTHERS gets the rush going before George Miller’s MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, while on Sunday we all turn our gaze to the mysterious starry sky of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND as we celebrate 45 years since the release of Steven Spielberg’s spellbinding film in the most fitting way possible. 

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The POSTER of the 12th Athens Open Air Film Festival created by the visual communication designer Vasilis Mexis. 

Details of the organisation of the festival, film synopses and maps to screenings can be found on the festival’s website www.aoaff.gr (the website is being updated and the new version with all the information will go live on Thursday 16th June).

For ongoing updates, announcements and further information visit our websites cinemagazine.gr, aiff.gr and  aoaff.gr and our relevant social media pages : Facebook AIFF, Instagram, Twitter.