Film panorama focuses on love
Love, in all its diverse aspects, will be the focus of a film festival starting in Athens this week. The annual Panorama of European Cinema, organized by the Eleftherotypia newspaper, is back and celebrating its 21st anniversary. The event will start on Thursday with the official premiere of Nikos Panayotopoulos’s new movie «Athina-Constantinoupoli» (Athens-Istanbul). For 11 days, more than 80 films will be screened at the Apollon and Microcosmos cinemas. In the competition section, recent European productions will compete for the Eleftherotypia, FIPRESCI and Antonis Moschovakis awards as well as the audience award, which is voted on by the readers of the Athinorama magazine. Interesting films will also be screened independently of the competition section, such as Fernando Meirelles’s «Blindness,» starring Julianne Moore, Antonio Luigi Grimaldi’s «Quiet Chaos,» with Nanni Moretti and Valeria Golino, and crime drama «Pride and Glory,» starring Colin Farrell and Edward Norton. The festival’s main tribute is titled «Sex and Love in Cinema,» dealing with issues ranging from the repression of sexuality to the different sexual preferences as manifested through heterosexuality and homosexuality, including sadism and masochism. From Charles Vidor’s 1946 «Gilda» to Luis Bunuel’s «L’Age d’Or,» daring, dark and challenging moments will fill the screen. Apart from the racy tribute that includes films that shocked when they were first screened, there will also be tributes to science fiction («The Next Day»), ecology (titled «Second Chance,» featuring two films «snubbed by audiences and critics») as well as Greek mystery and fantasy films. There will also be a tribute to one of the acknowledged masters of French film noir, Alain Corneau, with his films «Police Python 357,» «Serie noire,» «Tous les matins du monde» and «Le cousin.» Corneau will also be given an award for his overall contribution to cinema. British filmmaker Ken Loach, who was unable to attend last year for health reasons, will be present for the closing ceremony on October 19, where he will receive the festival’s Special Award for his contribution to the development of the art of cinema. At 11 a.m. on Monday, October 20, Loach will meet with the public at the Ianos bookstore. This year’s Panorama also features guests Valeria Golino, Labina Mitevska and Turkish director Selim Evci. Another section will include short films that were short-listed for the 2007 UIP prize of the European Film Academy and films by award-winning graduates and students of New York College’s Film & TV Department.www.panoramafest.com
