Press Conference of the 22nd Athens International Film Festival
September 21st – October 2nd 2016
During the, occasionally emotional, press conference for the 22nd Athens International Film Festival at Ianos, Loukas Katsikas, the Festival’s newly-appointed Artistic Director, welcomed everyone with a single wish: that this and all future editions of the Festival be realized “without any pretenses and with the deepest affection, the same affection with which the man who created the Festival, Yorgos Tziotzios, treated cinema, his friends and colleagues. This is the best fuel for any Festival, now and always”.
Before announcing the line-up for the Festival’s 22nd edition, Mr. Katsikas bid farewell to the 6th Athens Open Air Film Festival. “Just two days ago, the 6th Athens Open Air Film Festival came to an end. The sister event to our Festival was attended by approximately 15,000 people, who gathered for 22 screenings held in unexpected and beautiful city spots. At the end of August, we also travelled to Argosaronikos, the Aigina island more specifically, to inaugurate a series of screenings the Athens Open Air Film Festival aims to continue next year all around the islands.”
Mr. Katsikas then gave a thorough preview of this year’s line-up, announced the Closing Film (“Elle” by Paul Verhoeven) and the members of all juries deciding on the Festival awards, explained the various changes this year’s edition brings to the line-up, and expounded on the tributes put together by the programming team. He particularly highlighted the “Minority Report” section, which features classic and brand-new films that “speak different languages and come from different countries, yet address the same issue: what it means to feel like foreign, alone, and helpless in someone else’s world”.
At this point, Mr. Katsikas was joined onstage by Mr. Yorgos Ioannidis, Special Secretary for the Management of Sectoral Ops of the European Social Fund, who pointed out that “our aim was to properly distribute the money the fund had available this year, and not waste it on TV spots shown late at night. Film festivals seemed to us the best possible investment”. He went on to say that “the Athens International Film Festival not only met the criteria to receive this particular financial support, but also presented a section of screenings even richer than the one we originally asked from them”.
Last but not least, Mr. Katsikas thanked all the major sponsors of the 22nd Athens International Film Festival, OTE TV, ATTIKI ODOS, and JAMESON, as well as all supporters and media sponsors, emphasizing the two new major partners: the Taxibeat app, which will give out vouchers for free rides to those attending the “After Hours” screenings, and, most importantly, viva.gr, which will allow audiences to purchase their tickets online, with no extra cost.
The Athens International Film Festival will take place from September 21st to October 2nd at Odeon Opera 1&2, Danaos 1&2, Ideal, the Greek Film Archive, Megaro–The Athens Music Hall and Pallas, where the excellent road trip “Like Crazy” will be shown in a special screening, with Valeria Bruni Tedeschi in attendance.
See you at the Festival!
Visit the official site www.aiff.gr
