14th Athens International Digital Film Festival (AIDFF)

For the 14th consecutive year, the Athens International Digital Film Festival (AIDFF) will take place from December 4 to 10, 2025, hosted at the historic Studio New Star Art Cinema in Amerikis Square and at the Blackbox Theater Cinema in Pedion tou Areos. Parallel screenings will also be held at the Ekpaideutiki Enosi (Syntagma), Studio Theatre in Kypseli, the AXON organization on Patision Avenue, and Geoterra in Chalandri. This year’s festival will present 120 feature and short films from 30 countries, including 60 premieres. Audiences will enjoy every genre of cinematic art—feature and short fiction films, documentaries, experimental works, video art, animation, and dance films. A strong Greek section highlights works by emerging and established directors, each offering distinct artistic and aesthetic approaches.

The festival opens musically with Biko & His Balkan Orchestra by Anna Antonopoulou and Giorgos Spyridis, creating a Balkan feast of enchanting sounds from Biko and his philharmonic band. Viewers will then be immersed in the poetic universe of Kyrenaios Papadimatos and Akrivi Kollia in the film SOS, while simultaneously exploring the film On Lavender, which investigates the multiplicities of gender identity through a mosaic of narratives that illuminate the complexity of the topic. The debut feature film by Makis Evangelatos and Eirini Chatzi marks the first in-depth exploration of gender identity in Greece—a four-year endeavor largely self-funded by its creators.

Through the film by Socrates Alafouzos, audiences will be moved and challenged by the story of a clown whose protagonist uses comedy and dance to survive. She is offered a safe space for self-expression and the strength to confront and acknowledge the abuse she endured as a child. Her move to Los Angeles sparks a journey of self-discovery, empowering her to reclaim her inner strength and create her own version of “Hollywood.”

In the animated film by Julia Spyropoulou, we witness the period 1914–1923—the second phase of the genocide of Pontic Greeks by the Young Turks. Meanwhile, Open Wings by Taxiarchis Deligiannis and Vasilis Tsiouvaras presents the story of a young finch forced to abandon his war-torn homeland, reflecting the plight of countless people today who embark on similar one-way journeys.

Romanian director Robert Eugen Popa transports us to the dazzling lights of Paris in a fiction film starring Maia Morgenstern, the renowned Romanian film and theatre actress described by Florin Mitou of AMOS News as “a symbol of Romanian theatre and cinema.” In the English-speaking world, she is best known for her role as Mary, mother of Jesus, in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ.

Korinna Krauss’ In the Ocean of Time carries us to the year 2055. In the aftermath of climate catastrophe, survivors live in caves. Their only remaining hope is to travel back in time to prevent disaster. Few retain memories of the “before”—memories that seem to act as gateways to the past. We dive into dreams with Greenhouse, the film by Giorgos Georgakopoulos: Sally, a young Albanian who has dropped out of school and works in greenhouses, dreams of earning enough money to try out for the Juventus Academy. He must overcome numerous obstacles born from his harsh daily life.

Alois Sandner Díaz from France introduces us to the world of AVA, the Artificial Intelligence that manages a dating app, helping men and women find love everywhere. Among them is Anna, who entrusts AVA with every secret.

Theodoros Vournas returns with a psychedelic science-fiction odyssey filled with striking visual effects, blending personal exploration with cosmic concepts. A group of young people, grappling with existential questions, becomes entangled in a process of rebirth and reconnection with the universe. The film examines human relationships, identity, and humanity’s place within the infinite.

Austrian director Daniel Limmer premieres Dream Theatre, following his award-winning Enter Mycel, which received the AIDFF Best Artistic Film Award in 2023. When graphic designer Margo discovers the start-up “Dream Theatre,” which enables the recording of dreams, she decides to use this technology to uncover the cause of her recurring nightmares.

We will also watch the British film Eugene O’Neill’s – The First Man, a work of major interest as it represents the first (and only) screen adaptation of this early and rarely known story by Eugene O’Neill—widely regarded as America’s greatest playwright and the only one to have received both the Nobel Prize and four Pulitzer Prizes. The film is a period psychological drama with a contemporary narrative approach—a truly independent production.

In the experimental section, we will be captivated by Artemis Jampanoï by French director Ornella Pacchioni. Two women—Mylène in Paris and Artemis in Athens—eat and recount their stories. Through their voices, images emerge: exile, return, and the ongoing struggle to feel at home—neither in their bodies nor in the world—but always striving.

Through the video art of Alena Starostina and Ivan Nikolae from Finland, we will explore Karelian ritual culture, transitional states, and farewell traditions. Created during a residency in a small Finnish town shortly after the artists left Russia in 2022, it reflects the sensations of displacement, silence, and invisibility. Shot on 16mm film over 12 days, it captures daily 24-second clips and 360 landscape photographs. In the experimental animation by American artist Gerald Habarth, we will experience the tensions and fears surrounding rising authoritarian tendencies in the U.S. and globally. The work references Donald Trump and Augusto Pinochet—leaders who manipulated public perception to consolidate power and wealth while undermining democratic and moral foundations.

A descent into the heart of the city unfolds in Dimitris Athanitis’ doc-fiction about Athens’ arcades and the people who inhabit them, featuring Kostas Kazanas. We will watch this special screening on Saturday, December 6, near midnight: "In the heart of the city, in the heart of Athens, lies another city. A hidden city. A city that has forever lived under the artificial glow of neon lights. A city that, after decades in this strange light, may now sink definitively into darkness—may disappear."

Simultaneously, the 12th International Panorama of Ecological and Scientific Films will take place. We will meet Babalawo Awè, a healer who practices the divination system FÂ and lives on the border between Nigeria and Benin. Every Sunday, in his small office, he welcomes people with problems ranging from illness to existential questions. Directed by French filmmaker Cyrill Noyalet. An ethnographic film by Thea Chung introduces us to five siblings and two cousins spending their summers as they choose, in Oaxaca, Mexico: Contacto y probando.

Masterclasses

Three highly engaging masterclass workshops will take place throughout the festival:

• Directing Masterclass with Dimitris Athanitis How does one enter the magical process of making a film—not simply as a contributor, but as the chief orchestrator? What paths, methods, and conditions shape the creation of a new cinematic work? How demanding—and generous—is the art of film directing?

• “Time-Based Media, VR and Artificial Intelligence” by Konstantinos Tiligadis and Dimitris Agathopoulos (OXYMORON Art Collective) The duo presents their artistic and research approach, where VR and AI function as fields of artistic experimentation and aesthetic inquiry. Through the composition of virtual environments and algorithmic processes, they explore new forms of audiovisual storytelling and the emerging power of time-based media in contemporary visual practice.

• “The Director Meets the Actor” with Socrates Alafouzos The creative journey from script to scre