Semih Kaplanoglu’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Honey and Sofia Coppola’s Venice Golden Lion awarded Somewhere bookend the 23rdPanorama of European Cinema which opens in Athens today.

Both films are screening out of competition. Kaplanoglu will be on hand to introduce his film at this evening’s opening gala.

Other guests include Jerzy Skolimowski who will make the trip to introduce his Venice awarded Essential Killing, Otar Iosseliani who will accompany his latest Chantrapas and Panorama’s longtime supporter Emir Kusturica.

Chantrapas figures alongside Manoel de Oliveira’s The Strange Case of Angelica and nine more titles in the international competition put together by the artistic director, film critic Ninos Mikelidis.

The international jury is chaired by the Munich Film Festival topper Andreas Strohl and includes Italian producer Andrea Gambetta, Croatian actor Dejan Simovic, Greek actress director Dora Masklavanou and Greek film critic Christos Mitsis.

A Fipresci jury will hand out its own awards.                       

Local titles screening include Kostas Zappas’ The Rebellion of Red Maria in competition and Yannis Economides’ Knifer Puller presented in theout of competition 13-titles-strong World Cinema section.

Other titles here include Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess of Montpensier, Doug Liman’s Fair Game, Xiaoshuai Wang’s Chongqing Blues and Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniqui’s Machete.

Among the side sections on offer are, The Ordinary Fascism showcasing films dealing with this topic, the Spaghetti Western genre and the Greek Cinema of the eighties. 

Tributes are dedicated to Samuel Fuller, Arthur Penn, Masaki Kobayashi, Andrzej Wajda, John Woo, Glauber Rocha and Satyajit Ray.  

The festival wraps Oct 31 with the awards gala.

International Competitition

The Strange Case of Angelica, Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal

Small Streamlets, Pascal Rabate, France

The Ambulance, Goran Radovanovic, Serbia

The Man Who Will Come, Giorgio Diritti, Italy

Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow, Sophie Fiennes, France/UK/Netherlands

When We Leave, Feo Aladag, Germany

The Rebellion of Red Maria, Kostas Zappas, Greece

Some Other Stories, Marija Dzidzeva, Ivona Juka, Ana Marija Rosi, Ines Tanovic, Hanna Antonina Wojcik-Slak, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Fyrom, Ireland

Chantrapas, Otar Ioseliani, France

The Black Man, Sergio Rubini, Italy.

Topics