From April 8-14, 2024,  The Athens International Film + Video Festival  (AIFVF) presents its 51 ^st  edition featuring over 215 films representing more than 50 countries in competition at the historic  Athena Cinema  in uptown Athens, OH.  14 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, garnishing 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 Neo-Dada internet iconoclasm.”  Whose Streets?  director  Sabaah Folayan  joins us 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 51 ^st  AIFVF jury. Robinson 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. Full schedule and ticket information available at  www.athensfest.org .

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