Festival Screenings

LAGFF, Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (USA, 3-7 June 2015). Best Documentary Film Orpheus Award.

AGORΑ by Yorgos Avgeropoulos received the Best Documentary award at the 9th Los Angeles Greek Film Festival! The Orpheus Awards Ceremony took place on Sunday night June 7th at the fully packed Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood.

At the ceremony, director Yorgos Avgeropoulos sent his warmest greetings from Athens with a brief but significant speech: “I would like to thank you and the organizers of Los Angeles Greek Film Festival for the hospitality of the film and their warm hearts. I hope AGORA contributes in a deeper understanding of Greece and Europe’s financial and social crisis. I think time has come to ask ourselves: What is the biggest achievement of Europe? Is it Market’s Economy? Or Democracy? I believe the biggest achievement of Europe is Democracy and we now have to defend it, day by day.”

This year’s festival Jury were Gary Mairs, Associate Dean of the School of Film/Video at CalArts, Anastas Michos, ASC, Director of Photography, John Sideropoulos, Founder of 3 Ring Circus and Mark Roybal, Executive Vice President of Production at 20th Century Fox.

CPH:DOX, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Denmark, 6-16 November 2014). Official Selection.

“Documentary filmmaker Yorgos Avgeropoulos has for the past 13 years been reporting back to Greece on world problems, but he now turns the camera back to the birthplace of democracy. Here he finds homeless people, soup kitchens, unemployment, poverty, violence, fascism and solidarity movements, and examines what the economic crisis has meant to the ordinary Greek citizen”.

FIPA, Festival international de programmes audiovisuels (France, 20-25 January 2015). Official Selection.

“After years of documenting worldwide issues, the director urgently turns his camera towards his homeland. He records the development of the Greek crisis from its early stage, while tracing its impact on the lives of simple people from all social classes. He witnesses popular protests in the streets, the development of solidarity movements as well as the rise of fascism, while at the same time he seeks answers from his country’s significant insiders, analysts and key decision makers.”

TDF, Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (Greece, 13-22 March 2015). Official Selection

After a rather successful national theatrical release and while screening events and broadcasts continue both in Greece and abroad, AGORΑ, the documentary film-arc of the Greek crisis by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, will participate in Greece’s most important documentary film event, the 17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (13-22 March 2015). The film will screen at the Greek Panorama section twice, on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 March. Both screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with director Yorgos Avgeropoulos.

DOK.FEST, International Documentary Film Festival Munich (Germany, 7-17 May 2015). Official Selection.

AGORΑ will have its German festival premiere at the 30th International Documentary Film Festival DOK.FEST in Munich (May 7-15, 2015), one of the major documentary film festivals in Germany and Europe. 146 films from 37 countries have been selected, AGORΑ being the only Greek production featuring in this year’s programme. The documentary film-arc of the Greek Crisis has been officially selected for the DOK.Money section, a film programme focusing on various aspects of today’s global economy. Film director Yorgos Avgeropoulos will attend the premiere on May 14th and will hold a Q&A session with the audience. Two more screenings on May 15th and 17th will follow.

FICDH, Buenos Aires International Human Rights Film Festival (Argentina, 17-24 June 2015). International Competition.

AGORΑ will also have its Latin American premiere at the end of this month in Argentina’s capital. The film will premiere at the 16th Buenos Aires International Human Rights Film Festival (17-24 June 2015) and will screen on Tuesday 23 June, 20:30 and Wednesday 24 June, 22:30 as part of the International Feature Film Competition together with 15 films representing 14 countries.

Festival of Economics (Italy, 29 May – 2 June 2015). Italian Premiere.

AGORΑ will have its Italian premiere at the 10th Festival of Economics in Trento (29 May – 2 June 2015). The film will screen on Saturday 30 May at 19:00 at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento. The screening will be preceded by a debate on the policy followed by the EU in Greece coordinated by sociologist Mario Diani. Film director Yorgos Avgeropoulos will be available after the screening for debate with the audience.

Festival Cinéma sous les étoiles (Canada, 26 June – 8 September 2015). Canadian Premiere.

AGORΑ will have its Canadian premiere at Cinéma sous les étoiles (26 June – 8 September), a summer festival which showcases a rich selection of international social documentaries in Montreal’s public parks. Screenings are scheduled on July 20 and August 19.

EBS International Documentary Festival (South Korea, 24-30 August 2015). International Competition.

AGORΑ will have its Asian premiere at EBS International Documentary Festival (24–30 August 2015) hosted in Seoul, South Korea, renowned as one of Asia’s most prestigious documentary festivals. The documentary film-arc of the Greek crisis is one of the 10 documentaries featuring in this year’s competition. The film will screen twice on August 27 at 18:40 and August 29 at 12:00. It will also be broadcasted by South Korea’s National Television EBS on August 25 at 21:30.

Festival des Libertés (Belgium, 22-31 October 2015). International Competition.

“From 2010 to 2014, the Greek population had to bear the brunt of austerity measures implemented by the European troika. Popular mobilizations against austerity policies escalated whilst racism rose. Why did the Greek public choose to put Syriza in power instead of the Golden Dawn? This documentary is essential to have a better grasp of the current events in Greece.”