Culture
44th Athens International Film + Video Festival Kicks Off April 3
< < Back to 44th-athens-international-film-video-festival-kicks-off-april-3The Athens International Film + Video Festival officially begins its 44th edition on April 3. The week-long festival features hundreds of productions in a variety of exciting narrative and non-narrative screening blocs, creating a vibrant community of filmmakers, critics and scholars, as well as film enthusiasts. The festival program features diverse productions in different genres from over 45 countries, as well as special events that are followed by interviews with or talks by artists and presenters.
While each year an overwhelming number of impressive productions are submitted to the competition at AIFVF, the number of films that can be featured is limited.
The festival staff works closely to create programs that include both short and feature films, providing a unique screening opportunity for them in this Oscar-qualifying festival. This year’s Competition section includes 235 short and feature films from over 40 countries.
This year’s out-of-competition International Features showcases nine films that have collectively screened at some of the top festivals in the world (Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, TIFF, Berlinale, and Locarno) and two that have received Academy Award Nominations for Best Foreign Film.
On Saturday, April 8, AIFVF presents its annual Saturday Morning Cartoons. This kid-friendly event features 10 animated works in competition from seven countries. Admission to this screening is free.
More than 40 exhibiting filmmakers will visit Athens during the week of the festival. A series of events are planned to allow visitors to meet and mingle with them; a listing is below.
Founded in 1974, the Athens International Film + Video Festival has been presenting the best in international film for 44 years. Known globally as a festival that supports cinema from underground and marginalized populations, the AIFVF represents the values that we share as a community. It is a champion of justice and provides a voice for underrepresented artists and viewpoints on a global level. For over four decades, the AIFVF has embraced experimental, narrative, short-form, feature length, and documentary films from every corner of the globe, offering filmmakers a stellar platform for public exposure and an environment that values artistry above marquee names and industry relationships. The Athens International Film + Video Festival is administered by The Athens Center for Film and Video, a project of the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University.
This year’s festival takes place April 3 – 9, 2017 at the historic Athena Cinema.
Full schedule available at: www.athensfest.org.