27th Premiere Nights: Which films will we see and how will we watch them?

The 27th Athens International Film Festival - Premiere Nights, after last year's success, returns this year (22/9- 3/10) in hybrid form and will be hosted in summer and indoor cinema halls, while the online platform of the institution.

The 27th edition of the Premiere Nights will be hosted in a total of ten cinemas, five 12-month operating theatres (Ideal, Danaos, Trianon, Athens Concert Hall, Piraeus Municipal Theatre) and five summer theatres (Aegli, Riviera, Sine Fleury, Greek Film Archive, Stella), ensuring equal access for residents and visitors of the city.

The 27th Premiere Nights get off to a festive start with the nationwide first screening of «A Hero», the two-time Academy Award winner, Asghar Faradi, which won the Commission's Grand Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival, on Wednesday, 22 September, at Athens Concert Hall.

The curtain of the anniversary event will fall on Saturday, October 2 at the International Film Festival with the closing ceremony and the awards ceremony of the Festival's Competitive Sections and the national premiere of the most anticipated film of this season, «Dune», by Denis Villeneuve which had its world premiere at the 78th Venice Film Festival Venice Film Festival.

As every year, the International Competition for Fiction Films introduces to the audience of the Premiere Nights the cream of the crop of new and young filmmakers, who are either in their first or second directorial attempt. This year's selection includes 14 films that will compete for section awards, including Golden Athena.

Among them, we meet the «Pebbles», of P. S. Vinothras, which won the Golden Tiger for Best Film at the Rotterdam Film Festival, the psychedelic animation that won awards at the Berlin and Sundance Film Festivals, «Cryptozoo» by Das Shaw, an underground thriller from Germany entitled «The Human Factor» by Ronnie Trocker, the film «Fragile Balance» by Japanese Yujiro Harumoto, «The Great Escape» by Sebastian Maize, which won this year's Jury Prize in the Cannes Film Festival's «A Certain View» section, Vladimir Johansson's Cannes debut «The Lamb», which won the Cannes Prize, «Azor» by Swiss first-time director Andreas Fontana, «We're off» directed by Panaja Panahi, the true story based on the directorial debut of Vincent Le Port, «Bruno Rydal: Confession of a Murderer» and «Luzzu» by newcomer Alex Camilleri.

In the Documentary Competition Programme, the documentaries competing for the Grand Prize include: «The Sailor of the Mountains» by Karim Mainouz, «The Owe» by Stavros Psyllakis, «Moments Like These Don't Last Forever» by Cheryl Dunn, «Cow» by Andrea Arnold, as well as the documentary «Builders, Housewives and the Construction of Modern Athens» by Tasos Langis and Yannis Gaitanidis.

The Festival Tributes

On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the first screening of the mythical «Citizen Kane», the 27th Premiere Nights are organising a complete tribute to Orson Welles' filmography, screening all his fiction films, which will be introduced by prominent personalities from the world of cinema and culture. All the films will be shown, according to the organisers, not only in their most recent but also in their most complete digital restoration.

The second special feature of this year's edition of the Festival, entitled «Lives in Transition: Trans Cinema Matters», touches on one of the most topical and sensitive social issues of identity and equality and includes 13 short and feature films, documentaries and fiction, from Greece and around the world that tell stories about the lives and experiences of members of the trans community.

Premieres

Shortly after their triumphant victory at the Cannes and Berlin Film Festivals, the films that were awarded the Palme d'Or and the Golden Bear respectively will make their national debut at the Premiere Nights: Titane by Zulia Dicurnault, and Unlucky Jump or Crazy Porno by the acclaimed Radu Zunde, one of the leading filmmakers of contemporary Romanian cinema.

Also screening will be «The Last Duel», an impressive historical epic starring Adam Driver, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, directed by Ridley Scott, the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear ‘Tales of Chance and Fantasy« signed by Ryosuke Hamaguchi, Wes Anderson's »The French Dispatch«, Lucille Hadjichalilovic's mysterious »Earwig‘, Celine Siama's «Petite Maman», Edgar Wright's «Last Night in Soho» and «Memoria» by Palme d'Or winner Apitchatpong Veracetacoon, starring Tilda Swinton.

Partnerships

The 27th Athens International Film Festival - Premiere Nights makes port and launches its collaboration with the Piraeus Municipal Theatre through three impressive screenings, two on the harbour piers and one in the heart of the city, at the iconic theatre. This will also be the official national premiere of Ari Follmann's «Where Anna Frank Is» (which premiered in Cannes) and Jan P. Matuziski's «Leave No Trace».

This year, the Premiere Nights join forces with the 7th Athens Biennale (which takes place on the same days as the festival) to create an international celebration of culture for the city's residents and visitors. That's why this year a number of the films in the Festival's programme are part of the 7th Athens Biennale's ’Eclipse« concept as they tell, according to the organisers, stories about the »social, political and intellectual changes taking place globally and in Athens itself, addressing issues of identity, history and cultural complexity«.

Greek Short Stories Greek Short Stories

Having presented a total of more than 510 films over the last nine years, the Greek Short Film Competition Section «Greek Short Stories» celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. For this year's edition, the number of entries reached 273. The selection process of the films by the festival's programming team has been completed and 40 films have been selected to compete for the awards of the 27th edition.