Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard at the formal opening of the 12th Athens Open Air Film Festival

The 12th Athens Open Air Film Festival commenced with the Greek premiere of Maggie Gyllenhaal’s THE LOST DAUGHTER in attendance of the director herself as well as that of the well-established actor Peter Sarsgaard and other Greek members of the film’s cast and crew. 

The Artistic Director of the Athens Open Air Film Festival, Loukas Katsikas, expressed his joy for hosting the premiere of THE LOST DAUGHTER which was filmed in Greece, as “at the Festival we consider the fact that such far-reaching films of high artistic value being made in Greece in such an exceptional and professional manner is a form of great quality cultural tourism for our country”. Loukas Katsikas went on to introduce the evening’s guest of honour, Maggie Gyllenhaal, by saying that “the director achieves something necessary: to tell women’s significant stories from the point of view of the proud and special woman she herself is”. 

A Q&A session with Maggie Gyllenhaal followed the screening of THE LOST DAUGHTER, which was coordinated by the editor in chief of cinemagazine.gr, Panos Gkenas. The American director gave her heartfelt thanks to the Athens Open Air Film Festival “for hosting us and supporting our film and it is wonderful that this evening’s screening takes place under the impressive moon, especially as the film is about women, the ocean, Greece and the islands” she addressed the audience and the Greek cast & crew who were present in order to thank them.

She went on to talk about how she got the idea to film in Greece “as if out of a dream”, she spoke about her cinematic influences which include Federico Fellini, Jane Campion,  Lucrecia Martel, Nicolas Roeg, Abbas Kiarostami but also … Quentin Tarantino. She also mentioned her daughters and how “thanks to them, my film was made with such empathy, understanding and love” and she concluded by emphasising the importance of the female footprint in artistic creation and the cultivation of “an honest identity of free expression”, as she answered a related question by one of the viewers on what her advice would be for women taking their first steps in the world of art: “to follow their dreams and, try as best they can, to listen to themselves and to what they believe is an honest expression of their experience or that which they want to express”. 

At the start of the ceremony and before inviting the guest of honour to join him, Loukas Katsikas gave his thanks to: the Mayor of the city of Athens, Mr Kostas Bakoyannis, for his warm support, the President of the City of Athens Cultural, Sport and Youth Organisation (OPANDA), Ms Niki Arampatzi for co-organising the Festival, the Governor of the Attica Region, Mr Giorgos Patoulis, the Executive Regional Councillor responsible for theatrical and musical events, Haris Romas and the Attica Administrative Region for allowing the idyllic Attica Grove Theatre to accommodate the Festival, the film distribution company SPENTZOS FILMS for allowing the Festival to screen the film, NOVA, the main sponsor of the Athens Open Air Film Festival, FISCHER beer for enjoyably keeping the Festival’s events cool, American Airlines, Aegean and Scorpina restaurant for the hospitality of our great guests, Volvo Sfakianakis and Navigare Yachting for transportation, Theodora Tsapoliti for interpretation in the sign language and Irène Sarli for translation in the English language, the cast & crew of the film and the close to 1000 audience members who attended the screening! 

The following honoured the event with their presence: actors Nikos Poursanidis, Maria Kallimani, Vicky Papadopoulou, Galini Tseva, Nikos Gelia, musician Monika, fashion designer and the film’s costume designer Dimitra Kolotoura, director Argyris Papadimitropoulos, General Secretary of Digital Governance Leonidas Christopoulos, Executive Regional Councillor Haris Romas, Deputy Mayor Christos Tentomas, CEO of Technopolis of the City of Athens Konstantinos Bitzanis, Chair of B.o.D. of “2023 Eleusis - European Capital of Culture” Despoina Geroulanou, NOVA Operations Manager Agapi Kefalogianni and the Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy Athens Shanna Surendra. 

The President of the City of Athens Cultural, Sport and Youth Organisation (OPANDA), Ms Niki Arampatzi stated that: “After what the film industry has been through during the last two years it is a joyous occasion to be here today, at the summer celebration of film, to share the unique experience of the big screen. The Municipality of Athens, through OPANDA, embraces cinema and remains a steadfast partner of the Athens Open Air Film Festival. This year, the Roman Agora, the cool Plato’s Academy Archeological Park, one of the most central squares in the city, Kotzia Square, the beloved Technopolis of the City of Athens, and other parts of Athens will become open-air cinemas where this year’s Festival selection of exceptional films will be screened. We love film and hope it blooms once more, both at festivals and in cinema venues. Happy screenings!”. 

We would like to thank SPENTZOS FILM for allowing us to screen the film. THE LOST DAUGHTER will open in Greek cinemas on June 30th. 

The highly-anticipated premiere was deliciously accompanied by film lovers’ beer of choice Fischer beer, continuing their refreshing collaboration with the Αthens Open Air Film Festival for yet another year. 

PHOTOS from the GLAMOROUS PREMIERE can be found HERE.

The film will soon premiere on Novacinema’s channels.  

The SPOT of the 12th Athens Open Air Film Festival, created by TROUT, can be found HERE.

For ongoing updates, announcements and further information visit our websites cinemagazine.gr, aiff.gr and  aoaff.gr and our relevant social media pages : Facebook AIFF, Instagram, Twitter.  ​