By JEREMY COLSON ~ Celebrating 25 years of cinematic history the Athens International Film Festival (AIFF) returns for another glamorous year with the most talked-about premieres, unique tributes, highly-anticipated music films, the best of the year’s documentaries and a plethora of celebratory events such as masterclasses, concerts, parties, and special screenings. 

     Full details of the programme will be presented at a press conference on 11th September. Meanwhile, it can be revealed that this year’s AIFF jury have chosen the 2019 Palme d’Or award winner Parasite as the opening film on September 18.

     The jury, which includes Yorgos Lanthimos, Pawel Pawlikowski and Alejandro González Iñárritu, have chosen Parasite in order to honour Joon-ho Bong as one of the greatest directors of contemporary Asian film, responsible for many award-winning films (“Memories of Murder”, “Mother”) and  for epic fantasy films with a large fan base around the world (“Host”, “Snowpiercer”).

     They also wished to praise Parasite's Palme d'Or achievement for being one of the few genuine cinematic surprises in recent years. In the view of the jury, Parasite succeeds in combining black humour, sardonic political satire, a thriller, timely social commentary, and a family drama.

            AIFF runs from September 18 to 29 and is sponsored by COSMOTETV.