Overview
The Athens International Film Festival, known as Premiere Nights (Nychtes Premieras), is an annual festival held in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1995, the festival runs for approximately 12 days in late September to mid-October. The 32nd edition is scheduled for September 30 to October 11, 2026. The 31st edition ran October 1 to 12, 2025.
The festival presents Greek premieres of new international films alongside a competitive section for Greek short films called "Greek Short Stories" (Hellenikes Mikres Istories). The 30th edition received 373 short film submissions, a record, with 46 films selected for competition. The festival screens at multiple venues across central Athens including Cinobo Opera, Astor, Asty, Danaos, and the Olympia Municipal Music Theatre Maria Callas.
For filmmakers: the festival accepts Greek and Cypriot short film submissions via FilmFreeway. The submission deadline for the 32nd edition is July 12, 2026. There is no premiere exclusivity requirement for the short film competition. International feature films are programmed through curatorial selection rather than open submissions. The festival does not operate a film market.
Key Sections and Programs
- Greek Short Stories (Short Film Competition): Competitive section for Greek short films. Films must be completed between September 2025 and summer 2026 for the 32nd edition. Maximum duration 40 minutes. Selected films screen in DCP format only. No premiere exclusivity required. One film per director. Films rejected in previous editions are not accepted.
- International Program: Non-competitive curated selections of new international features receiving their Greek premiere. The 31st edition (2025) screened films including Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, Laszlo Nemes's Orphan, and Fatih Akin's Amrum.
- Special Screenings: High-profile premieres and charity screenings. The 31st edition opened with Bugonia and closed with The History of Sound. The festival also hosted the European premiere of Anemone on October 12, 2025, with Daniel Day-Lewis and director Ronan Day-Lewis attending a sold-out charity screening at Megaron, the Athens Concert Hall. All proceeds went to Cerebral Palsy Greece/Open Door.
- Retrospectives and Tributes: Programs honoring filmmakers and cinema movements.
Submission Details
Greek Short Film Competition
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Platform | FilmFreeway |
| Deadline (32nd edition) | July 12, 2026 |
| Eligibility | Greek and Cypriot short films completed September 2025 to summer 2026 |
| Maximum Duration | 40 minutes |
| Premiere Requirement | None (no exclusivity or Greek premiere required) |
| Screening Format | DCP only (if selected) |
| Submission Fee | Not published (check FilmFreeway for current fees) |
| Selection | By the head of the department and the programming team |
International Features
International feature films are programmed through curatorial relationships with sales agents and distributors. There is no open submission process for international features. Filmmakers or sales agents interested in having their film considered should contact the festival programming team through the official website.
Festival History
Founded in 1995, the Athens International Film Festival was created to give Athens its own film festival identity, separate from the older Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The festival has operated continuously, growing from a small premiere event into a 12-day festival screening across five venues.
The Greek Short Film Competition has been a fixture for over 12 years, presenting more than 700 short films total. The 31st edition in 2025 ran in a "condensed form" but maintained its programming quality. The 32nd edition returns to the standard September 30 to October 11, 2026 window.
Practical Information for Attendees
- 2026 Dates: September 30 to October 11, 2026
- Location: Athens, Greece
- Venues: Cinobo Opera, Astor, Asty, Danaos, and Olympia Municipal Music Theatre Maria Callas
- Tickets: Available online at aiff.gr and more.com. Advance sales for pass holders typically begin 2-3 days before general sales.
- Language: International films screened in original language with Greek subtitles.
- Submission Link: FilmFreeway (search for Athens International Film Festival)
- Official Website: aiff.gr
Past Winners
The festival's top prizes are the Golden Athena awards, given in three competition categories: International Feature, International Documentary, and Greek Short Stories.
2025 Winners (31st Edition)
| Award | Film | Director | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Athena Best Film | Sound of Falling | Mascha Schilinski | Cannes 2025 Jury Prize; Germany's Oscar entry for Best International Feature; Mubi release in North America, UK, Ireland, Turkey, Canada, India |
| Golden Athena Best Documentary | Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk | Sepideh Farsi | Cannes 2025 ACID selection; Kino Lorber US release; Oscar documentary shortlist contender; subject Fatma Hassona killed in Gaza airstrike one day after Cannes selection announced |
| Golden Athena Best Greek Short | Or How to Disappear | Giorgos Aggelopoulos | 2,000 EUR prize; jury praised its "electrifying experience that reaches the viewer with the same intensity felt by its protagonist" |
| Best Director (City of Athens Award) | If I Had Legs I'd Kick You | Mary Bronstein | Berlin 2025 premiere; Rose Byrne won Best Leading Performance; Spentos Film will release in Greece |
| Best Screenplay | Memory | Vladlena Sandu | Venice Giornate degli Autori premiere; French-Dutch co-production |
| Special Mention | Urchin | Harris Dickinson | Cannes 2025 Un Certain Regard; FIPRESCI Prize and Best Actor for Frank Dillane; Cinobo picked up Greek rights |
| Audience Award (Fischer) | The President's Cake | Hasan Hadi | Cannes 2025 premiere; Cinobo picked up Greek rights |
| Silver Athena (Greek Short Stories Special Jury) | Magdalena Hausen: Frozen Time | Yannis Karpouzis | 1,500 EUR prize |
2024 Winners (30th Edition)
The 30th edition received a record 423 short film submissions for the Greek Short Stories competition, with 51 films selected for competition. The international competition winners were determined by a jury presided over by director Eva Stefani, with filmmaker and producer Alexander Nanau, programmer Fabienne Moris, and journalist Maria Katsounaki.
Notable Alumni Films and Where They Ended Up
The festival functions primarily as a Greek premiere festival for international cinema, not as a world premiere discovery festival. Its competitive section is limited to Greek short films. The Greek Short Stories competition has hosted over 750 short films across more than 13 years.
Several Greek short filmmakers who competed at AIFF have gone on to direct features distributed internationally. The international program has hosted Greek premieres of films that later became awards contenders, including Sound of Falling (Germany's 2026 Oscar entry) and Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (Oscar documentary contender).
AIFF's relationship to Greek cinema is distinct from the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which serves as Greece's primary industry-facing festival with a feature film competition and industry forum.
Submission Tips Specific to This Festival
The only open submission category is Greek Short Stories, restricted to Greek and Cypriot short films. If you are not a Greek or Cypriot filmmaker, there is no submission path; international features are programmed through curatorial relationships with sales agents and distributors.
For Greek short filmmakers: the festival does not require premiere exclusivity, which means your film can have screened elsewhere and still be eligible. However, films rejected in previous editions are not accepted, so wait until your film is competition-ready before submitting. The maximum duration is 40 minutes, and selected films screen in DCP format only. One film per director is allowed.
The Onassis Film Award (5,000 EUR development grant) is awarded to a director for their next feature screenplay. Films that have already received Onassis Culture production support or won the Onassis Award at the Drama Film Festival are excluded from this prize, so check your eligibility before counting on it.
Industry Reputation Notes
AIFF is an audience-facing festival, not an industry market. There is no attached co-production market, industry forum, or sales activity comparable to Thessaloniki's Crossroads Co-Production Forum or Agora industry section. Distributors and sales agents attend AIFF for press and audience screenings, not for acquisitions.
The festival's industry value is modest compared to Thessaloniki, which is Greece's FIAPF-accredited festival and the primary industry hub for Greek and Southeast European cinema. AIFF is better understood as a local premiere festival that gives Greek audiences their first look at fall festival circuit titles. For filmmakers seeking industry attention in Greece, Thessaloniki (November) is the stronger destination.
The Greek Short Stories competition offers some value for Greek short filmmakers seeking visibility with local press and the Greek Film Centre, which funds the prize money. It is not a significant international discovery platform for short films.
Awards / Accreditation
The Athens International Film Festival is not an Academy Award-qualifying festival. Winning the Golden Athena does not qualify a short film for Oscar consideration. The festival is not FIAPF-accredited.
The festival's prize structure includes:
- Golden Athena Best Film (International Competition): 2,000 EUR
- Golden Athena Best Documentary: 2,000 EUR
- Golden Athena Best Greek Short: 2,000 EUR
- Silver Athena Special Jury Prize: 1,500 EUR
- Best Director: 1,500 EUR
- Best Screenplay: 1,500 EUR
- Onassis Film Award: 5,000 EUR development grant
- GSC Best Cinematography: 4,000 EUR equipment rental credit
Prize money is supported by the Greek Film Centre, Onassis Culture, and the Greek Society of Cinematographers.
What Filmmakers Should Know
AIFF is a local premiere festival, not an industry market. If you are seeking distribution deals or sales agent attention, this is not the right festival. The festival's value for international filmmakers is limited to Greek press exposure and audience engagement.
For Greek short filmmakers, the Greek Short Stories competition offers real prize money (2,000 EUR for Best Film, 5,000 EUR Onassis development grant) and local visibility. The submission window runs through FilmFreeway with a July 12, 2026 deadline for the 32nd edition. No premiere exclusivity is required, but films rejected in previous editions cannot be resubmitted.
International features are programmed by invitation only through curatorial relationships with sales agents and distributors. There is no open submission path for international features.
Watch
See Also
For Greek and Southern European cinema market context, see International Film Markets. For festival submission strategy, see Film Festival Strategy. Use the Festival Entry Fee ROI Calculator to evaluate the cost-benefit of submitting to Athens and other festivals.
Festival Submission Resources
The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide
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