Avant Garde Film Festival 2020

Oh how we long for movies to return to their natural place, the silver screen. To sit down next to total strangers and connect with them in silence for a couple of hours. There isn't a film institution in the world that does not wish for the same, and Avant Garde Film Festival is no exception.

We are no strangers to streaming movies, so the logical step for AGFF was to move online. Visitors will have the chance to watch 151 movies from the safety of their own homes, as part of a very rich programme. Admission (well, a login here) is free. Here are some of the highlights:

• Restored and Beautiful: 11 copies of restored classics such as Luis Buñuel's The Exterminating Angel (1962), Buster Keaton's Our Hospitality (1923) and long-lost The Apaches of Athens, Greece's first attempt at a non-voice dubbed film.
• Citizens of Cinema: Follow French filmmaker's René Viénet's steps to uncovering the crimes and propaganda rhetoric of Mao Zedong, by defending the work of independent journalist Hu Jie.
• Bertrand Mandico: Queer utopias and denouncement of all norms in 17 of the French experimental film directors short and medium-length films.
• Harmony the Improper: Three movies (Trash Humpers, Spring Breakers and The Beach Bum) by the ever insolent and poetic American filmmaker, Harmony Korine.
• Bruce Baillie: A look at the work of one of the most influential avant garde filmmakers of our times, Bruce Baillie, with a curated selection of 9 of his films.
• Denis Côté: Weirdos and outcasts take the lead in screenings of selected films by the French-Canadian filmmaker.
• Contemporary Portuguese Cinema: Discover the new trends of Portuguese cinema through four feature films and four short films and documentaries.
• Greek Fantasy Cinema: In collaboration with the Greek Film Centre, get to know a rather underrepresented genre in Greece, through screenings of both short and feature films.
• Jane Gabriel: Selected works of the British journalist and documentarian, as well as a live talk on October 22 at 20.00.
• African American Cinema: 18 movies and documentaries from 1920-1940 and 1960-1990, offer a Black point of view on systemic racism and racial inequality.

Also featured are Some Like it Hot (a selection of international short films), online masterclasses and seminars, and of course the International Competition section with the award ceremony taking place online on October 25 at 20.00. All movies and documentaries will be available for the public throughout the whole duration of the festival. AGFF's Facebook page and official website will provide you with all the information you need on how to create an account, login and virtually rent a movie of your choice.