Open Cinema

Onassis Culture and the Hellenic Film Academy join their forces for an ‘Open Cinema.’ Open to diverse genres, to short, feature, and medium length, to fiction, documentary, and animation films, but also to the ones that defy any categorization. A Cinema Open to renowned directors who paved the way for the Greek film industry, and still inspire, but also to new and bold voices at the start of their career. Open to all people, languages, themes, and diverse gazes. Wishing that very soon we will meet again at the open movie theaters across Greece and the world.

‘Open Cinema’ kicks off with an initiative that brings together filmmakers of the past and the new generation, yesterday’s and today’s Greek films. Syllas Tzoumerkas, Zacharias Mavroeidis, and Dionysis Samiotis, winners of 2020 Iris Awards, for Best Film Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Feature Film, respectively, select each two Greek films that have defined and inspired their work. The films are screened at the YouTube Onassis Channel, starting from February 19, and for three consecutive weekends.

Week 1 - from February 19 to 21, 2021

Syllas Tzoumerkas (2020 Iris Award, Best Film Director, for the film The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea) has selected:

- The Fear by Kostas Manousakis (1966)
- The Spring Gathering by Dimos Avdeliodis (1999)

Online at YouTube Onassis Channel, from Friday, February 19, to Sunday, February 21, 2021

Week 2 - from February 26 to 28, 2021

Zacharias Mavroeidis (2020 Iris Award, Best Screenplay, for the film Defunct) has selected:

- Excursion by Takis Kanellopoulos (1966)
- Correction by Thanos Anastopoulos (2007)

Online at YouTube Onassis Channel, from Friday, February 26, to Sunday, February 28, 2021

Week 3 - from March 5 to 7, 2021

Dionyssis Samiotis (2020 Iris Award, Best Feature Film, for Eftihia) has selected:

-Stone Years by Pantelis Voulgaris (1985)
-Take Care by Yorgos Tsemberopoulos (1991)

Online at YouTube Onassis Channel, from Friday, March 5, to Sunday, March 7, 2021

The Hellenic Film Academy (HFA) was founded on November 23, 2009, reflecting the Greek film industry’s need to define itself, and to follow the respective organizations lead around the world. Today, after 11 years, full of activities, extroversion, celebration, and exchange, HFA, with its 565 members, has become the ‘home’ that hosts everything concerning the Greek film production; all the generations, the trends, and the professionals that make up Greek cinema. HFA is a member of the network of European national film academies and the European Film Academy (FAN), and it aims at the development and promotion of domestic film production. It holds the annual Iris Awards, the Greek national film awards, which result through secret ballot among its members.

The Onassis Foundation’s collaboration with the Hellenic Film Academy has been going on for eleven years and counting. Since 2010, the Onassis Stegi has supported the Iris Awards, in its effort to encourage the Greek cinema’s bold voices to thrive. The Iris Awards ceremony, hosted annually at the Onassis Stegi, brings together the entire Greek film community, and is a major event in this field. In 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the ceremony took place online, and was broadcasted live through the YouTube Onassis Channel.