Panorama film festival returns
The Panorama of European Cinema, to run this year from October 22 to 31 at the Ideal and Trianon movie theaters as well as at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation, has undergone a change of identity. Having been organized by the Eleftherotypia newspaper for 21 years, it has now become the responsibility of the City of Athens Cultural Organization. But there are no other changes to the annual festival, which remains under the artistic direction of film critic Ninos Fenek Mikelidis. More than 100 movies will be screened during the 11-day festival, while this year’s competition section includes two Greek premieres, Margarita Manda’s «Chryssoskoni» (Gold Dust) and Vassilis Mazomenos’s «Guilt.» In «Chryssoskoni,» three siblings in their 40s are dealing with the prospect of selling their family home, following the death of their parents. The prospective buyers intend to tear it down, in order to build a modern construction. The siblings’ inability to communicate with each other makes each one face up to his or her own reality. They come into conflict with themselves while living in a city which clashes with the memories of its history. The film stars Mania Papadimitriou, Anna Mascha and Argyris Xafis. The lead character in «Guilt» is an old weapons dealer who undergoes surgery. Under the influence of the anaesthesia, he relives his life and sees once more the history of Cyprus over the past 50 years. The film aims to highlight the mistakes made by the Greek side, rather than the English and Turkish actions and focuses on the feeling of guilt, which also provides the title. The movie is divided into three distinct historical periods: 1950 to 1959, the 1974 Turkish invasion and the Turkish occupation up until the murder of Solomos Solomou in 1996. It stars actors Nikos Arvanitis, Yiannis Tsortsekis, Arto Apartian and Evelina Papoulia. Another highlight in the festival’s program is the tribute to the 50th anniversary of the birth of La Nouvelle Vague. There will be screenings of films that either belong to the French film movement or have influenced it, including two features that were never released in Greek movie theaters, namely Agnes Varda’s 1962 «Cleo de 5 a 7» (Cleo from 5 to 7) and Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1956 «Bob le flambeur» (Bob the gambler). www.panoramafest.com
