30th Athens International Film Festival

30th Athens International Film Festival | October 2-14, 2024

The Athens International Film Festival, sponsored by Nova, celebrates 30 years of cinematic magic, glamour, discoveries and uninterrupted love for cinema and its people.

From the filmmakers, actors, producers and the entirety of professionals of the field, to everyone in the festival who contributed passionately throughout the years and our devoted and emotionally rejuvenating audience, our Festival keeps growing and spreading the uniqueness of the big screen in Greece and abroad. Our common goal remains during all those years: the unwavering passion for great cinema.

A few 30 year old statistics, for the longing. The Athens International Film Festival counts over the years, more than:

3.000 films

25 venues (3 no longer operating ATTIKON, APOLLO, IDEAL)

100 tributes

700 international guests

200 parties

70 side events

over 1.000.000 spectators

And yet, what cannot be measured in numbers and statistics are those days of endless laughter and tears, the countless encounters with cinephile discussions, the friendships, the romances and the unforgettable experiences the Festival brought to us in and out of cinema halls. The Festival grew with us and now reaches the landmark of 30 luminous years. We wish, therefore, for this year and for the next 30 years, that the projectors of our cinemas will emit that beam of light that forever binds our city’s autumns.

Venues to host this year’s edition are: DANAOS I & II, OPERA I & II, ASTOR, ASTY, MEGARON THE ATHENS CONCERT HALL and PALLAS.

The Closing Ceremony of the 30th Athens International Film Festival Premiere Nights will take place at Pallas Theatre on Monday 14 October with the screening of the film

THE ROOM NEXT DOOR

SPAIN, 2024, COLOR, DCP, 106’, ENGLISH

DIRECTOR

Pedro Almodóvar

SCREENWRITER

Pedro Almodóvar

DoP

Edu Grau

MUSIC

Alberto Iglesias

EDITOR

Teresa Font

PRINCIPAL CAST

Tilda Swinton, Julianne Moore, John Turturro, Alessandro Nivola

PEDRO ALMODÓVAR

Major filmmaker of worldwide acclaim, born in Spain in 1949. Member of the culturally rejuvenating Madrilenian Movement, he started from the experimental theater. In 1974 he bought a Super-8 camera and soon delivered his first short. Two-time Oscar winner, holder of Directing and Screenwriting awards in Cannes & Venice film festivals, amidst a series of prizes in almost every major institution.

FILMOGRAPHY (SELECTED)

2024 The Room Next Door 2019 Pain & Glory 2011 The Skin I Live In 2009 Broken Embraces 2006 Volver 2004 Bad Education 2002 Talk to Her 1999 All About My Mother 1991 High Heels 1989 Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! 1988 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown 1987 Law of Desire

Two friends reunite after years. One is a successful author, the other an ex-war correspondent now fighting her biggest battle as she suffers from a terminal illness. Under the shadow of an inevitable end, the two make a secret pact that, though grim, proves to be cathartic. In his first English-language feature film, Almodovar continues to praise women as a mysterious, unstoppable force, full of courage and empathy in the face of adversity. Expertly performed ode to friendship, powerful argument for the individual’s right to determine its own destiny, and a statement of faith in companionship as pure hope in a world increasingly devoid of it. Golden Lion at this year’s Venice Film Festival.