The 7th Athens Ethnographic Film Festival will be taking place between November 23rd – 27th at Astor Cinema in downtown Athens. This year’s edition will be bigger than ever, featuring more than 50 films in six sections: Panorama, Student Films, Special Screenings, Tributes, Intangible Cultural Heritage and Summer School.
Diggers look for clams on the wide mud flats of Maine (“At Low Tide”, Anna Grimshaw, USA), two same-sex families claim their space within a legal grey zone in Switzerland (“Extended Family”, Ramona Sonderegger, CH) and Buddhist migrants pray for solace in a tiny Orthodox Christian church in Lemesos, Cyprus (“Water Church”, Keti Papadima, CY, UK) while a wannabe rapper superstar lives in the slums of Mozambique waiting for his chance in the spotlight (“Maputo”, João Graça & Fábio Ribeiro, ΜΖ): these are just a few of this year’s stories from all over the world told in visual anthropology’s unique voice.
True to its educational mission the festival will be screening two student films on opening night: Jessica Bollag’s “I’m not Leaving Eldon” and Katrine Hansen’s and Janna Kyllästinen’s “Division Avenue”. The latter examines the architecture and fabric of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway through poetic imagery and experimental ambient sound recordings, the former is an anthropological documentary about “unlocked doors, fun and conflict in geographical isolation”, in small town Eldon in Iowa.
Ethnofest’s educational agenda also includes the Summer School section, featuring films made by students from various countries that participated in last summer’s workshop by the same name, organized with the support of the Netherlands Institute at Athens.
With the support of the Division of the Modern Cultural Assets and Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, primary and secondary school students will have the opportunity to attend morning screenings of selected ethnographic documentaries.
Noted anthropologist and filmmaker Anna Grimshaw as well as filmmaker-professor Alexandra Tilman will be presenting interesting masterclasses on different theoretical and technical aspects of ethnographic film. Tilman’s latest movie “Cadences” will have its Greek premiere as part of the Special Screenings Section. In 1990’s Le Havre, “Cadences” tells the story of the son of a steel worker who has decided not to follow his father’s path but rather to embrace the clandestine techno movement called ‘Free Parties’.
Robert Gardner’s masterpiece “Forest of Bliss” also holds a special place in this year’s program. The film, which depicts a day in the life of the city of Varanasi, largely focusing on ritual and religion, provides a synesthetic viewing experience, which comprises of sights and sounds of the city – but no dialogue, commentary or narration whatsoever. Gardner’s work has had an immense influence on documentary filmmaking and still, thirty years after its’ first release, retains all of its aesthetic brilliance and intellectual rigor.
This year’s tributes include “Through Cyprus with the cinematic camera”, curated by anthropologist Pafsanias Karathanasis and museologist Despo Pasia, and “Ethnographic Views on Gendered Roles in Society”, a series of screenings realized within the framework of the operational program “Public Sector Reform”, co-funded by the European Union and national resources.
7th Athens Ethnographic Film Festival
23 – 27 November
ASTOR Cinema, 29 Stadiou Str. (entrance through Stoa Korai) (Panepistimio Μetro Station)
Ticket prices
2 euros per slot | 5 euros day ticket | 10 euros full festival pass
Entrance to the “Ethnographic Views on Gendered Roles in Society” screenings is free
Free entrance for all students and unemployment card holders
Films are subtitled in Greek