Athens Palestine Film Festival (APFF)

The festival, presented by Dounias NGO, showcases a wide range of compelling films, including documentaries, fiction features, and notable works by both established and emerging Palestinian filmmakers. From rare early films to innovative contemporary pieces, these works offer authentic, independent perspectives on Palestine’s rich history, culture, and the lived experiences of its people worldwide. In line with Dounias’ mission to reclaim Palestinian voices in arts and culture, APFF also features in-depth discussions with filmmakers, actors, and commentators, adding valuable context and fostering deeper engagement with the films.

Beyond screenings, APFF offers parallel events across Athens, including interactive experiences, panel discussions on Palestinian counternarratives, and community-oriented exchanges. By collaborating with leading cultural organizations in the city, the festival sustains its impact year-round, encouraging a continued appreciation of Palestinian arts and culture in Greece.

Carol Sansour, founding member and director of the APFF festival, is an Onassis AiR Fellow for 2024/25.

The gazelle, a timeless emblem of Palestine, embodies the spirit of the 2024 festival, standing as a symbol of Palestinian people: steadfast, graceful, and free, despite the trials of history. In this edition, each film is a leap of courage, a whisper of hope, and a defiant testament to people’s enduring connection to their land. Like the gazelle, the film narratives transcend borders, capturing the tenderness of love, the power of memory, and the strength of resistance.

As part of the 2024 edition, Onassis AiR hosted a screening of the film “Foragers” by Jumana Manna and an interactive workshop on Palestinian cuisine.

As part of the Athens Palestine Film Festival’s annual edition in 2025, Onassis AiR hosted a film screening with works by two female directors and Onassis AiR Fellows in the context of the festival’s satellite program.

The screening under the title “Interrupted Futures: Artists in the Shadow of Suspended States” took place at the Onassis AiR Atrium and gathered the work of the Onassis AiR Fellows Pary El-Qalqili, and Sophie Ataya, whose practices confront the dissonance between hope and arrest, visibility and erasure, voice and censorship.

The screenings where followed by a conversation between the directors and Carol Sansour.

With the phrase “Nothing comes from nothing” as its motto, the fifth edition of the festival takes place from the 15th to the 31st of October across venues in Athens and focuses on the traces of what came before that every story, image, narrative, and act carries: experiences, memories, and voices passed down from one generation to the next. Archives are approached as living spaces in which memory is preserved, questioned, and transformed, while the works explore what remains, what is forgotten, and how the stories we inherit continue to shape who we are today.

Following the longstanding collaboration between the festival and Onassis AiR, in 2026 the dialogue expands at Onassis Stegi where the festival culminates with a three-day program of film screenings, talks and performances.