15th AOAFF powered by DEI: Screening at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens featuring Carol Reed’s masterpiece "The Third Man"
On Wednesday, June 18, the 15th Athens Open Air Film Festival powered by DEI invites you to a truly unique cinematic experience set against the backdrop of the iconic courtyard of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens! Just steps from the narrow streets of Plaka, follow "The Third Man" by Carol Reed, hailed by the BFI as the greatest British film of all time.
On this special evening, the Cathedral courtyard will be transformed into a suspense-filled scene - an enchanting black-and-white world of intrigue and shadow, where Orson Welles’ “immortal” irony reigns supreme.
A masterpiece of British cinema, born from the ruins of a devastated Europe and steeped in post-war cynicism, "The Third Man" merges Graham Greene’s sharp script, Carol Reed’s directorial brilliance, and Orson Welles’ magnetic performance in what is considered the greatest role of his career: the unforgettable Harry Lime.
Amid the bombed-out streets of Vienna, the camera follows an amoral antihero eluding death - Welles’ entrance as Lime is legendary - while a naïve writer searches for him among the shadows and ruins.
A cinematic palimpsest full of allusion, political ghosts, moral ambiguity, and eroded consciences, "The Third Man" remains a landmark of European film noir. Its haunting cinematography by Robert Krasker, its expressionist camera angles, and Anton Karas’ iconic zither score forever redefined the relationship between sound and image in cinema.
It’s no surprise the British Film Institute (BFI) named it the most important British film of all time, and one of the most significant works in world cinema—where light and shadow are in constant play, much like its characters.
The 15th Athens Open Air Film Festival powered by DEI, co-organized with the Organization of Culture, Sports & Youth of the City of Athens, continues to highlight public spaces as cultural and memory landmarks, blending cinema with the urban experience.
This summer’s film nights are deliciously paired with cinephile beer Fischer, adding flavor to the screenings!
📅 DETAILS
🎬 THE THIRD MAN (1949)
📍 Where: Courtyard of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens
🕘 When: Wednesday, June 18 | 21:30
🎟️ Free Admission
🎥 Screening from a digitally restored copy
📽️ Director: Carol Reed
🎭 Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard
⏱️ Duration: 104 minutes
📅 Year: 1949
🔗 For more information and the full program of the 15th Athens Open Air Film Festival powered by DEI, visit: aoaff.gr
