The 51st Athens International Film + Video Festival to take place April 8-14

From April 8-14, 2024, The Athens International Film + Video Festival (AIFVF) will present its 51st annual event, featuring over 215 films representing more than 50 countries in competition at the historic Athena Cinema in uptown Athens, OH. 

Fourteen feature length films and a variety of short films from across the globe will screen and compete in the annual festival, with winners chosen by the independent jury, garnering cash prizes and awards including Academy Qualifying status in select categories. This year’s festival features a world-class array of special events, film screenings, and after-parties. 

AIFVF’s visiting artist lineup includes the opening night film “Dandelion” by Jackson, Ohio born and raised director, Nicole Riegel. Festival alumni and jury member Jodi Wille returns with her feature documentary “Welcome Space Brothers” about the 1970s-era UFO religious movement and public television pioneers, The Unarius Academy of Science. Also serving on the jury is New York City based filmmaker Dylan Mars Greenberg, who will present her genre-bending fantasy feature “Spirit Riser.”

Paper Magazine refers to Greenberg as “Somewhere between the faded pastels and grainy VHS footage of the '80s and the NeoDada internet iconoclasm.” 

“Whose Streets?” director Sabaah Folayan will join the festival again to present a new program of her work painting an optimistic yet unflinching gaze on the urgent questions of our time. 

Internationally recognized experimental filmmaker Michael Robinson will round out the 51st AIFVF jury and will present a program of his work exploring the emotional mechanics of popular media, the transcendent potential of heartache and the instability of the collective realities we inhabit. 

As in past years, all screenings and events are free for students due to the generosity of Arts for Ohio. Students can pick up tickets on the day of each screening at the Athena Cinema box office. Professors are also encouraged to bring their classes to the festival because of the wide range of topics presented. 

Founded in 1973, the Athens International Film + Video Festival has been presenting the best in international film for 51 years. Known globally as a festival that supports cinema from independent, underground and marginalized populations, the AIFVF represents the values that we share as a community. For over five decades, the festival has embraced experimental, narrative, animation, and documentary, short-form and feature length films from every corner of the globe. 

The Athens International Film + Video Festival is administered by The Athens Center for Film and Video, a project of the College of Fine Arts at Ohio University. 

The full schedule and ticket information will be available at www.athensfest.org soon. 

Requests for ASL interpreters and other accessibility requests can be sent to athensohiofilmfest@gmail.com.