This year's Thessaloniki International Film Festival may have closed its curtain a few hours ago, but Greek cinephiles have already started counting down to another major Athenian film festival, the 36th Panorama of European Cinema, which will be held from November 30 until December 6, at "Elli" and "Androra" cinemas.
There will be two foreign guests at this year's "Panorama" and the first is none other than the multi-awarded Serbian director Emir Kusturica, who will be in Athens from November 23 to 26 to participate in the pre-festival retrospective in which all his films will be screened, including "Arizona Dream", "Underground", "Dad is Away on a business trip" etc.
The premiere of the tribute will take place on Thursday, November 23, with the screening of his famous film "The Time of the Gypsies", which he will even preface. All events of the retrospective will be hosted at STUDIO New Star Art Cinema.
The second guest of the event will be Paul Laverty, screenwriter and constant collaborator of the two-time Palme d'Or award-winning British director Ken Loach, whose new film will open the curtain of the 36th Panorama.
It is about the film "The Old Oak / The Last Pub," which will be screened in a pan-Hellenic premiere on November 30 at the "Elli" cinema, in the presence of its screenwriter, who will also deliver a masterclass to the Athenian audience, earlier the same day, at noon, at the "Astor" cinema.
In addition, this year's Panorama of European Cinema will include many more premieres, special screenings, tributes, parallel events, and the established International Competition Section.
"In a period of uncontrollable wars, economic impoverishment in most countries of our planet, the rise of immigration and the dangerous rise of the extreme right, the 36 Panorama of European Cinema comes, as always, to offer us, not just a dead end from these daily problems, but a mirror of ourselves and our society, to awaken us from apathy or a dangerous complacency,” notes the artistic director of the event, Ninos Fenek Mikelidis.
"A mirror in the dream, as Buñuel also said, is not a dream of escape but a dream that opens the way to another, more important and true reality. For those who look forward, drawing from the past to build a better present and an even better future. Guided and mentored by the people who open this mirror to us through their magical screen!” he added.
