The 37th annual Athens International Film Festival, boasting a repertoire of more than 250 films from all over the world, begins tonight and will continue throughout the week until Thursday.
The competition draws in films from around the globe in hopes of winning one of the four distinctions given by the judges for the best documentary, experimental, narrative and animation. Winners receive cash prizes of $500.
There will be total of 56 films for competition. The rest of the festival will feature shorter films of various genres and media.
The 250 films have been narrowed down from a field of more than 1,100 entries. The budget is $170,000 for the entire festival including salaries.
It's about the same as the number of films we've shown in years past
but we've had a lot more (entries) than we've ever had before said festival director Ruth Bradley.
To prepare for the festival each year, a prescreening committee sends out a call for films, and from those entries it determines which ones will make the final cut into the event.
Last year, the festival had an attendance of about 70,000, and Bradley said she expects to get the same kind of attendance this year, especially if it rains a little bit she said.
Many of the films are bundled together according to topics such as children's shows and LGBT films.
Films shown in the Baker University Center Theatre are all free for OU students. Shows at the Athena Cinema will be free for students before 5 p.m., excluding feature films. Shows at Stuart's Opera House will be $6.50 for general admission, and $5.50 for people age 60 and over or 12 and under.
More information on shows and times can be found online at http://www.athensfest.org/.
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Culture
Rosie Haney
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A scene from the film, Fish Tank,
showing at the Athens International Film Festival. (PROVIDED)
