Ethnofest – The Athens Ethnographic Film Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary this year, continuing its work uninterrupted, in a global context that is far from ideal. Amid a series of ongoing crises across the world, with a war raging in the Middle East, the genocide taking place in Palestine, and the increasing conservatism in both Europe and the United States, the festival recognizes the responsibility of every cultural institution to reflect upon, and take a stand regarding, the unfolding events around them.
Ethnofest consistently chooses to view films as a window into the complexities and pluralism of the world—an essential tool that provides space for imagination and empathy to flourish. It is only by looking inward, and then outward, beginning from the personal but extending beyond it, that the desire for collective well-being can be transformed into a tangible reality.
In line with this philosophy, this year’s poster, designed by Giorgos Skarmoutsos, acknowledges the eclipse we are currently experiencing, while also emphasizing, with intensity, the emerging desire for a better world.
Opening Film & Screenings at the French Institute in Athens
It is the women and their powerful testimonies that set the tone for the opening film, After the Odyssey by Helen Doyle. On the shores of Italy, where local women coexist with Nigerian migrant women, the concepts of solidarity and empowerment are brought to life. Marking the long-standing collaboration between Ethnofest and the French Institute of Greece in Athens, the festival will once again be at Sina 31, both for the premiere on Tuesday, November 26, and for a special screening on Tuesday, December 3, featuring the films Evy & I by Hélène Bares and Empty Hours by Judith Longuet Marx.
Spotlight
This year’s edition shines a spotlight on the award-winning Danish-Palestinian director Mahdi Fleifel. His four short films – Xenos (2014), A Man Returned (2016), I Signed The Petition (2018), and 3 Logical Exits (2020) – capture, with keen insight, the facets of Palestinian identity, the dead ends, the dreams, and the lived experience. In a critical and brutal situation in the Middle East, marked by Israel’s aggressive policies against the Palestinian people, the need to keep Palestine at the forefront of discussions becomes even more pressing.
New Section: “Narrating The Fieldwork”
This year, Ethnofest introduces the new section Narrating The Fieldwork, aimed at systematizing activities the festival has previously hosted, which focused on the audiovisual work of creators in progress, from the research phase to material production. The section’s goal is to create a space for showcasing audiovisual works in development, seeking framing, development, and/or feedback from a range of experts and professionals.
Additionally, projects completed within research programs will gain visibility, finding a platform for presentation and discussion, and will be integrated into the ecosystem of non-fiction cinema, visual anthropology, and multimedia ethnography.
Collaboration with the Department of Ethnomusicology and Cultural Anthropology | Masterclass with Barley Norton
Under the auspices and support of the Ministry of Culture and the Directorate of Modern Cultural Heritage, Ethnofest, in collaboration with the Department of Ethnomusicology and Cultural Anthropology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, officially introduces a new thematic subsection in this year’s program within the Intangible Cultural Heritage section, titled “Ethnomusicology and Cinema.”
This section will showcase films that uniquely explore diverse traditions, identities, practices, genres, and biographies, capturing music through the distinctive lens of cinema. As part of this, the festival will welcome for the first time in Greece Barley Norton, ethnomusicologist, filmmaker, and professor of ethnomusicology at Goldsmiths, University of London, for the screening of his film Hanoi Eclipse – The Music of Dai Lam Linh (2010), as well as for a special masterclass titled “Filmmaking, Music Research, and Cultural Heritage.”
In this masterclass, Norton will present his research on the musical culture of Southeast Asia, and in connection with his film, he will discuss the relationship between ethnomusicology and cinema, as well as the audiovisual representation of music as intangible cultural heritage. Also featured in this section is La Tumba Mambi by Alexandrine Boudreault-Fournier and DJ Jigüe, which introduces us to a cosmological Afro-Cuban genre of song, dance, and percussion that emerged from the waves of slave migration during the Haitian Revolution and has become an integral part of Cuban culture.
Screenings Focused on Intangible Cultural Heritage
As part of the screenings centered on intangible cultural heritage, the festival will also feature Prótogala (2024) by Panagiotis Papafrágou, which connects humans with animals while exploring the concepts of motherhood, breastfeeding, and orphanhood, and The Last Nomad (2024) by Filippos Ferentinos, where members of the Sarakatsani community share their personal experiences and discuss the concept of identity in today’s world.
Special Screening | London by Patrick Keiller
For the first time in Greece, 30 years after its original release, the captivating first feature film London (1994) by pioneering British director, architect, and writer Patrick Keiller will be screened. A photographic journey and an ode to London, the film follows the odyssey of a flâneur through the city, incorporating political satire, historical events, literary allusions, urban myths, and plenty of eccentric humor. The essayistic form, audiovisual mixing, and artistic strategies employed by Keiller make this film one of the most distinctive voices in British cinema following Peter Greenaway.
Panorama, Filmic Experiments in Ethnography & Initiations
More than 40 films make up the festival’s other sections: Panorama, Filmic Experiments in Ethnography, and Initiations, featuring student films from both Greece and abroad. Among them are films such as Fairy Garden (Panorama) by Gergő Somogyvári, a tender coming-of-age documentary about the friendship between Fanni, a transgender teenager expelled from her family, and Laci, a homeless man. This film marks the beginning of a collaboration with the Greek Section of Amnesty International.
Another standout is the beautiful and deeply moving film The Mountains (Panorama), in which director Christian Einshøj dons a superhero costume and, armed with 30 years of recorded footage, attempts to reframe the trauma of losing his younger brother and reconnect with his family members.
Additionally, the powerful documentary Hold on to Her (Filmic Experiments in Ethnography) by Robin Vanbesien, which was featured at the Berlin International Film Festival, documents the collective efforts of victims, activists, and other supporters to investigate police and state violence in Belgium against a young girl.
Additionally, This Is Ballroom by Juru and Vitã (Panorama) raises the tempo and takes us on a journey into the ballroom culture of the LGBTQ+ scene in Rio de Janeiro, while Rose (Filmic Experiments in Ethnography) by Annika Mayer reveals, in a disarming way through Super8 footage, the hidden family violence within the seemingly idyllic life of her grandmother’s German family.
The Filmic Experiments in Ethnography section also makes a strong impact, covering a wide range of themes such as the medicalization of the trans community through drag satire (Dr. XYZ: A Medical Drag Transthology, El Jaunts), a poetic initiation journey into a coastal matriarchal community (Mother Mare, Elisa Chiari), and the raw daily reality of wartime violence in the refugee camp of Jenin in Palestine (Death in Jenin, Chris Giamo). Apple Cider Vinegar (Sofie Benoot), a tender and beautiful essay film, urgently raises ecological questions through a transcontinental journey, narrated by the hypnotic voice of the director.
As every year, the Initiations section is divided into two sub-sections: International Student Films and Student Films in Greece, some of which were filmed as part of the summer school Athens Summer School in Visual Ethnographic Practices, a collaboration between Ethnofest and the University of Amsterdam. With a spirit of reflection, experimentation, and documentation of social realities, the new generation of filmmakers addresses a broad range of themes, including architecture, ecology, feminism, gentrification, identity, and migration issues.
The screenings of Ethnofest in physical venues will be followed by a series of online screenings, running from December 2 to December 8.
*Part of the proceeds from this year’s event will be donated to initiatives supporting the Palestinian people.
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Watch the trailer for this year’s edition here.
15th ETHNOFEST
Athens International Ethnographic Film Festival
November 26 to December 8, 2024
- November 26 | French Institute in Athens (Premiere),
(Sina 31, Athens, 106 80) - November 27 – December 1 | Astor Cinema,
(Stadiou 28, entrance through Koraí Arcade, METRO University) - December 2 – 8 | Online
- December 3 | French Institute in Athens
Ticket Prices for screenings at ASTOR
€5 per screening | €3 per screening for students and unemployed individuals
*For screenings that are free to the public, admission will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ticket Price for Online Screenings
€3 per screening
For more information and the full program, visit:
www.ethnofest.gr