The 8th Athens Open Air Film Festival collaborates for the fourth consecutive year with Athens & Epidaurus Festival for a number of film screenings with free admission.
FRIDAY 8 JUNE / Avdi Square
The Crying Game, 1992
by Neil Jordan
One of the best 90s films (winner of Academy Award for best original screenplay), the story revolves around a former IRA member who seeks redemption and love and ends up starting an affair with the girlfriend of one of his victims. However, nothing is as it seems in the deceptive universe spun by the great Irish filmmaker. A combination of political thriller, modern noir and erotic drama, and a complex meditation on the mysterious nature of human sexuality and morality.
Cast: Stephen Rea, Miranda Richardson, Jay Davidson, Forest Whitaker, Jim Broadbent
Duration: 111’ / Starting time: 21:30
The screening is supported by the Embassy of Ireland in Greece. Before the film, a selection of queer-themed animated shorts will be screened, in cooperation with Animasyros – International Animated Festival, as part of Athens Pride.
SATURDAY 30 JUNE / Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus
First screening ever in Epidaurus
Electra, 1962
by Michael Cacoyannis
Electra waits for the right opportunity to take revenge for the murder of her father, Agamemnon, murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. The time seems ripe when Electra is reunited with her brother, Orestes. The siblings plot a murderous plan.
In 1962, Michael Cacoyannis delivers the most timeless and exemplary cinematic adaptation of Green tragedy. Disregarding previous film adaptations of the myth of Atreides that were based on Aeschylus’ (The Libation Bearers) and Sophocles’ (Electra) tragedies, Cacoyannis’ film draws on Euripides’ play, the most modern among the ancient tragic writers. In concert with Euripides’ spirit, Cacoyannis sets the plot outside the palace. Electra is a story about humans, those who do not allow themselves to be led by fatalism; those who live in the fringes of society and act of their own volition.
Irene Pappas, with her strikingly Greek face, transforms a boyish, tattered princess into a vindictive creature of raw, animalistic energy. Mikis Theodorakis’ music score echoes the desperate cries of the title character. Eugène Ionesco praised the film in an article in Le Figaro as the best film he’s ever seen. Electra received the award for Best Film Adaptation at the Cannes Festival, as well as 24 international awards and accolades, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. A film that is not merely the film version of a stage work; tragedy is transformed into catharsis, cinema-style.
Cast: Irene Pappas, Giannis Fertis, Aleka Katseli, Manos Katrakis, Notis Pergialis, Takis Emmanouil
Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Duration: 110’/ Starting time: 21.30
Courtesy of Michael Cacoyannis Foundation
MONDAY 16 JULY / Peiraios 260
It had an adventurous life as far as theatre screening is concerned. The most talked-about film of the last three decades is publicly screened in Greece for the first time in 30 years, completely uncensored. Don’t miss the opportunity to (re)watch in on the big screen.
Starting time: 21:30
Under the auspices of Motion Pictures Licensing Corporation and supported by the US Embassy in Athens.
WEDNESDAY 18 JULY/ National Archaeological Museum of Athens
The Remains of the Day, 1993
by James Ivory
A masterful cinematic adaptation of Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro’s eponymous novel, directed by James Ivory, well-known for his films A Room with a View and Howards End. The film was a critical and commercial success, winning 8 Academy Awards.This elegant, classical film is noted for its screenplay and stellar cast, focusing on the story of a disciplined, exemplary butler who thinks back on his life after coming to the realizing that he has sacrified his personal happiness and wishes in the name of duty.
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, James Fox, Hugh Grant, Christopher Reeve
Duration: 134’ / Starting time: 21:30
Part of the projects “Classic Illustrated: Reading on the Big Screen”, in cooperation with British Council.
The 8th Athens Open Air Film Festival is realized in collaboration with the City of Athens Culture, Sport & Youth Organization (OPANDA) with screenings during the summers, in different parts of the city, including archaeological sites, squares and some of the most beautiful parts of Athens, with free admission.
Part of Athens 2018 World Book Capital, an international distinction of Athens received by UNESCO, in effect for an entire year, from 23 April 2018 to 23 April 2019.
