August in Athens: Suggestions for outdoor screenings and temporary exhibitions in the city
Source: ProtoThema English
Outdoor screenings and temporary exhibitions are some of the cultural paths awaiting those who stay in the capital for the rest of August, the quietest month of the summer in the city. The Athens–Macedonian News Agency (AMNA) suggests a few of them, such as outdoor screenings that go beyond the ordinary, or visits to museums with exhibitions and activities taking place during August.
And of course, we mustn’t forget the open-air cinemas, cultural landmarks that offer unique viewing experiences under the stars all summer long.
Screenings at the SNFCC
The series of outdoor film screenings Park your Cinema / Park your Cinema Kids at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), in collaboration with the Thessaloniki Film Festival and the Athens International Children’s Film Festival, invites the public to cool evenings under the stars at the Great Lawn of the Stavros Niarchos Park.
Park your Cinema
Friday 15/08, 21:00
500 Days of Summer (2009)
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
“This is a story of boy meets girl,” says the narrator with sarcasm as the film begins. That’s how we enter this hilarious, realistic, unfiltered romantic adventure of a young man.
Friday 22/08, 21:00
Past Lives (2023)
Director: Celine Song
Starring: Greta Lee, Teo Yoo, John Magaro
The generous debut of Korean-American director Celine Song captivated audiences and critics alike at Sundance with a moving story about love, destiny, and the forces that shape who we are.
Friday 29/08, 21:00
The Graduate (1967)
Director: Mike Nichols
Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Anne Bancroft, Katharine Ross
Young Ben begins an affair with his neighbor, Mrs. Robinson, a charming forty-something. When her daughter falls in love with Ben, a love triangle emerges, leading to unpredictable and tragicomic consequences. This screening is specially adapted to be accessible for people with autism and sensory processing difficulties.
Park your Cinema Kids
Saturday 16/08, 21:00
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
The film will be shown dubbed in Greek. A free adaptation of Hugo’s novel into an animated film suitable for the whole family. Notable for Alan Menken’s Oscar-nominated score. The screening is specially adapted for people with autism and sensory processing difficulties.
Saturday 23/08, 21:00
200% Wolf (2024)
Director: Alexs Stadermann
The film will be shown dubbed in Greek. Young poodle Freddy Lupin wishes to transform into a werewolf to fit in with his family. His wish comes true with the help of a little Moon Spirit who accidentally arrives on Earth.
Saturday 30/08, 21:00
Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)
Directors: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada, Paul Briggs
The film will be shown dubbed in Greek.
Long ago in the mythical kingdom of Kumandra, dragons and humans lived in harmony. When the evil Druun appeared, the dragons sacrificed themselves to save humanity. Five hundred years later, the Druun return, and Raya, a brave young warrior, sets out to find the last dragon who can save the world once and for all.
More information available at www.snfcc.org and on social media @SNFCC.
Screenings at EMST
The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) once again transforms its rooftop into one of the city’s most impressive open-air cinemas, CineFIX, returning from its summer break on Thursday, August 21 with a special selection of short films by director Menelaos Karamaghiolis.
Also continuing at EMST is the important exhibition Why Look at Animals? Justice for Non-Human Life, addressing animal rights, the need to recognize and defend their lives as a central cultural concern, as well as the injustices, exploitation, and violence they endure at human hands.
Thursday 21 August | 21:00
A special selection of short films by renowned director Menelaos Karamaghiolis.
The screening features three films exploring coexistence, dependence, and care between humans and animals, through social, political, and existential perspectives. Based on true stories, the works explore abandonment, solidarity, and companionship in a world where marginalized lives—human and non-human—claim space and voice.
Followed by a Q&A with Menelaos Karamaghiolis.
- Greek Animal Rescue (2017) – 64’
- Euthanasia or Life? (For Disabled Strays) (2023) – 17’20’’
- A Bird Went Out to Find a Cage (2012–2019) – 11’26’’
GREEK ANIMAL RESCUE, 2017
Documentary. Digital video, single-channel, color, stereo sound, 64’
A stray, abused, gravely ill, three-legged dog abandoned in an industrial wasteland in Aspropyrgos; a London-based organization caring for Greece’s strays; a group of young volunteers patrolling Aspropyrgos to rescue stray animals—these are the heroes of the film, set in a nightmarish landscape, a hell for countless abandoned creatures. Is there a way for the sick three-legged hunting dog to be adopted, regain its health, and run freely in the fields of Essex? Why are strays from Greece—the “Greekies”—so popular for adoption abroad? In an unexpected finale, the film seeks to discover whether there is hope for the doomed dogs, but also for a doomed area right outside Athens.
A cinematic allegory filmed over seven years, based on true stories unfolding in “invisible” neighborhoods around Athens—places usually ignored both by Athenians and by tourists. The stories of these stray animals capture with cinematic precision the reality of crisis-stricken Greece and inspire (or provide examples for) an animal welfare group from London, which stumbled upon the area by chance, to launch a pan-European campaign aimed at politically awakening those living “protected” and secluded in big cities.
EUTHANASIA OR LIFE? (FOR DISABLED STRAYS), 2023
Digital video, single-channel, color, stereo sound, 17’20’’
A plumber refuses to accept that disabled animals should be put down prematurely, simply because animal wheelchairs are expensive and difficult to purchase from abroad. The film follows his path over eight years, along with the stories of Aris, a stray who, just after finding a family, lost his hind legs, and Maria, a stray run over by a car outside the National Rehabilitation Center in Ilion. The three protagonists of this film redefine the concepts of disability and solidarity, while raising serious questions about euthanasia.
A BIRD WENT OUT TO LOOK FOR A CAGE, 2012–2019
Digital video, single-channel, color, stereo sound, 11’26’’
A juvenile inmate raises a bird inside his cell; the bird flies freely outside its cage and becomes his best friend, a symbol of freedom within prison walls. Filmed over five years in juvenile detention centers, the film gradually shows the prisoner transforming into a kind of “jailer” himself, as he realizes that the bird’s first stirrings of sexual desire might unsettle it and drive it to fly away, leaving behind the cell where they lived together.
Athens Open Air Film Festival
The Athens Open Air Film Festival, powered by PPC, celebrates 15 unforgettable years. With the co-organization of the City of Athens’ Culture, Sports and Youth Organization (OPANDA), it once again offers free, high-quality film escapes in some of the city’s most beautiful locations.
Thursday 21 August
Summer Cinema Anesis, Kifisias Ave. 14, Athens
21:00 – India Song (1975, 120’) – Directed by Marguerite Duras
50th anniversary screening in collaboration with the French Institute of Greece.
Wednesday 27 August
Municipal Stadium of Kallithea Grigoris Lambrakis (“El Paso”), Kallithea
21:30 – For a Few Dollars More (1965, 132’) – Directed by Sergio Leone
60th anniversary screening with restored digital copy, in collaboration with Athens Kallithea FC.
Temporary Exhibitions
Acropolis Museum
Allspice | Michael Rakowitz & Ancient Cultures – An exhibition in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, the Acropolis Museum, and NEON. Contemporary works by internationally acclaimed artist Michael Rakowitz in dialogue with objects from ancient civilizations of the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.
National Archaeological Museum
The Krater of the Lord from Lefkandi – Presented as part of the “Unseen Museum” series, on display in Athens for the first time before its permanent relocation to the Archaeological Museum of Chalkida “Arethousa.” Presentations: Sunday, August 24 & Wednesday, August 27, 13:00. Museum archaeologists and conservators welcome visitors to discuss the extraordinary burial of the Lefkandi lord, Homeric traits of the Iron Age, and the conservation odyssey of one of the most emblematic bronze vessels of antiquity.
Meanwhile, at the NAM Café: SYSCHESEIS (Correlations) by Tony Milakis (8/8–5/9). An artistic exploration of the Athenian apartment block as a blend of innovation and decay, social status, and economic surface.
Epigraphic Museum
Exhibition: Elias Kassis epoiesen. Fifteen years after retiring from the Epigraphic Museum, sculptor Elias Kassis returns with his stone figures in the very space where his artistic journey began.
Benaki Museum
Delos: Land in Flow by photographer Erieta Attali continues at the Benaki Museum of Hellenic Culture (1 Koumbari St., Kolonaki). Featuring 25 large-scale prints, a 7-minute short film, and a mapping by architect Aris Kafantaris, the exhibition presents Delos as a passage between light and shadow, earth and sky, the ancient and the eternal.
Meanwhile, at Benaki (Pireos 138): In a Bright Green Field – Works by 27 artists under 40, exploring possible future relationships with the natural world and open community approaches, highlighting emerging practices in Athens, Nicosia, and Europe.
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