A remarkable 4th of July evening at the «most beautiful open-air cinema in the entire world» for the 11th Athens Open Air Film Festival

Huge projectors illuminating the night sky of Athens, a radiant Laser 4K screening and a digitally restored copy gave the audience the chance to enjoy the film in the most majestic possible way. The cool temperature and a magical view of the city transformed last night’s screening into a truly unmemorable experience.

The Artistic Director of the Athens Open Air Film Festival and the Athens International Film Festival, Loukas Katsikas, welcomed the audience and spoke of the glorious entertainment produced in Hollywood by immigrant directors from all over the world, one of which was of course Alfred Hitchcock who directed some of his masterpieces overseas having the opportunity to explore artistic creation freely.

Furthermore, he greeted the consistent and noble cooperation of the Festival with the U.S. Embassy in Athens, with which the Festival co-organized an exceptional drive-in screening for the second consecutive year, celebrating in a special way the anniversary of the American Independence. Loukas Katsikas thanked with the warmest words the American Ambassador, Mr. Geoffrey Pyatt, «a true and avid film lover» for the support in a series of screenings in this year’s edition, but also for the selection of last night’s film, inviting him to address a short greeting.

The American Ambassador welcomed the audience and guests and warmly thanked the Festival and Loukas Katsikas at the «most beautiful open-air drive-in cinema in the entire world»! He continued his speech by thanking for his support the Mayor of Athens, Mr. Kostas Bakoyannis and the City of Athens Cultural, Sport and Youth Organization and mentioned with sentiment «Following this hard chapter facing the pandemic, I cannot think of a better way to meet and celebrate all together than this evening’s screening of Hitchcock’s creation, which includes emblematic scenes from the american landscape, such as the pursuit in Mount Rushmore».

Elsewhere in his speech the American Ambassador noted: «This 245th anniversary of the Independence Day is particularly important, because it coincides with the greek anniversary of 200 years from the Greek Revolution and we are proud of the close ties between us, the democratic values that we share and the commitment of the American president to deepen even more this profound relationship».

Finally, Mr. Geoffrey Pyatt thanked the american carriers American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Inc. and United Airlines for their support and announced with pleasure the Festival Giveaway, with the support of the U.S. Embassy in Athens, American Airlines and United Airlines that offer two pairs of return tickets to the U.S.A. The tickets are kindly offered to celebrate the launch of direct air travel towards Greece and the deepening of the relations between the two countries (you can take part in the giveaway here). 

Next, Loukas Katsikas called on stage Ms. Vivi Charitou who represented Ms. Anna Rokofylou, President of the City of Athens Cultural, Sport and Youth Organization and consistent, institutional co-organizer of the Festival. Ms. Charitou mentioned in her speech: «The Athens Open Air Film Festival is now an integral part of the cultural life of the city and its summer season. Its 11th edition, fully adjusted to the reality of our times, is sending the important message of keeping alive our relationship with every form of art. The City of Athens Cultural, Sport and Youth Organization has been the Festival’s companion from the day it was born and, like every year, it transforms Athens into an open-air film scenery with free entrance, highlighting favorite and unexplored parts of the city to both residents and visitors. The drive-in screening entered our lives last year within the framework of the Festival and it is with great pleasure we continue for a second year, not only with the screening event, but with our excellent collaboration with the U.S. Embassy in Athens. I wish you’ll enjoy Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece and I wish all of us a culturally active summer».

The screening was attended - among others - by the Deputy Minister of Education and Religious Affairs, Ms. Zeta Makri and the President of the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication, Mr. Panos Kouanis.

The cinema loving Fischer beer delightfully supported the screening continuing its «refreshing» collaboration and support of the Festival.

You can find photos from the screening HERE.

Details about the organization, film synopsis and maps for screening locations can be found on the Festival site www.aoaff.gr.

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS for audience attendance to the screenings

In order to secure public health protection and a proper flow in the entrance of our viewers to the screenings, we would like to inform you that:

• Entrance to the screening premises will be permitted only by indicating the ENTRY PASS which viewers can provide
a. either on-site at the location of the screening 
b. or through online reservation, two days before each screening (reservations open at noon) on aoaff.gr

• Each viewer is allowed ONLY ONE entry pass.

• Entrance and pass supply will commence an hour and a half before each screening.

• Viewers who have online reservations must collect their entry pass at least 15' earlier than the time of the screening, otherwise their seat will be released and instantly re-supplied

•  The necessary distance between viewers will be strictly kept.

Enjoy the screenings! 

For more information and continuous updates, stay tuned to the websites cinemagazine.gr,  aiff.gr and aoaff.gr as well as the social media pages: Facebook AIFF, Instagram, Twitter.