ARTWORKS Best Film Award within the context of the Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival

The Greek Film Archive in collaboration with ARTWORKS presents the new competition section, “Reframing Images”, within the context of the Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival. ARTWORKS through support from Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), offers the ARTWORKS Best Film Award, amounting to 5,000 euros, supporting filmmakers who innovate and experiment with moving image, contributing decisively to the evolution of modern cinematic art. The jury of the competition section consists of SNF ARTWORKS Moving Image Fellows, Neritan Zinxhiria, Christina Koutsospyrou and Kostis Charamountanis.

The newly launched Competition of AAGFF, “Reframing Images”, aims to showcase artists and filmmakers who explore new forms of storytelling and cinematic form. Regardless of duration or genre, the section presents, in Greek premiere, debut or second feature films, as well as medium-length and short films. Ranging from 2 to 85 minutes in duration and coming from 27 different countries, such as Argentina, Nigeria, Cambodia, Greece, Cyprus and Lebanon, the 26 films in this year’s programme comprise a selection of fiction, film essays, creative documentaries, as well as experimental and artists’ films.

Exploring innovative aesthetic tendencies, the programme aims to present how filmmakers use and experiment with stylistic devices to convey their connection to the contemporary world. Combining essay style with the use of archival material, some of them explore the ways in which the intimate and political content of images can act as a space for reflection. Others examine the legacy of colonialism as well as its contemporary postcolonial implications, while some seek to give form to experiences of exile, migration and social marginalisation. With a strongly sensory approach, some films attempt to capture personal and collective experiences of oppression and violence, such as the patriarchal culture in Iran, the 2019 popular uprising in Chile, the war in Palestine and militarisation in Lebanon. Composing visual landscapes with a dreamlike mood, other films explore the imaginative potential of landscapes, whether natural or man-made, and their coexistence. Following a diary film practice, some filmmakers collect fragments of everyday life to reconstruct them in a poetic and contemplative way.

THE JURY – REFRAMING IMAGES COMPETITION

Neritan Zinxhiria (1989), born in Tirana, Albania, lives and works in the Balkans. He is the director of the films Chamomile, The Time of A Young Man About To Kill, A Country of Two. Through cinematic language and between fiction and docu-
mentary, he explores how death and loss redefine human memory. His latest short film Light of Light was a Grand Prix Slamdance winner, was nominated for a Tiger Award and had its world premiere at the Rotterdam International Film Festival.

Christina Koutsospyrou (1980) was born in Athens and studied at the University of the Arts London (LCC). Her first film, In the Wolf (2013), is a docu-fiction exploration of the life of shepherds in mountainous Nafpaktia, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and has since been screened at more than 50 festivals internationally. She was awarded as best newcomer at Dokufest in Kosovo, and won the Best Film award at Syros International Film Festival, while the film received special mention at Doclisboa and was nominated for the Best Documentary Award by the Hellenic Film Academy.

Kostis Charamountanis (1994) is a self-taught filmmaker, screenwriter, editor, and composer whose work has been recognized and awarded in major film festivals worldwide. He recently completed his debut feature film, Kyuka Before Summer’s End (2024), which premiered in the esteemed L’ACID section of the Cannes Film Festival in May 2024.

More info
http://www.tainiothiki.gr/en/13aagff

13th Athens Avant Garde Film Festival
5-18 December, 2024
Greek Film Archive (Tainiothiki)
Iera odos 48 & Megalou Alexandrou 134-136
Kerameikos

On Sunday 8/12 at 14:30 ARTWORKS organizes a thought-provoking roundtable discussion titled “Exploring the Intersection of Cinema and Contemporary Art ” that will take place within the context of  13th edition of the Athens Avant-garde Film Festival at the Greek Film Archive (Tainiothiki). The discussion will be moderated by the acclaimed filmmaker, artist and ARTWORKS’ collaborator Menelaos Karamaghiolis, bringing together a distinguished panel of moving image creators whose works are featured in the festival’s Reframing Image section.

Roundtable Discussion
Sunday, December 8, 2024, 14:30
Reframing Images x ARTWORKS
“Exploring the Intersection of Cinema and Contemporary Art”
Moderated by Menelaos Karamaghiolis
Participants: Danae Io, Nate Lavey, Pablo Marin, Malena Szlam, Maria Anastassiou, Shambhavi Khaul
The discussion will be held at the Greek Film Archive (Tainiothiki)

Complete the participation form and secure your spot:

https://forms.gle/ewKsVTRZiPyGfZPB6

Party
Sunday December 8, 2024, 21:00
Reframing Images
Djs: K.atou & Jacob of Cappadocia
BIOS
Pireos 84, Athens