CineFIX, the open-air cinema series, returns to the rooftop of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) in Athens on Thursday, August 27, launching a new screening programme called HEAT after a short summer break.
Organisers said the programme is dedicated to the many faces of heat on screen, from scorching climates and feverish desire to criminal passion, sleepless nights and dangerous seduction.
HEAT brings together sensual film noir titles, cult classics and art-house works in which heat functions not merely as a backdrop but as a driving force that intensifies emotion, desire, obsession and danger, pairing classic Hollywood cinema with European modernism across the museum's rooftop screenings.
Lawrence of Arabia opens the programme
The series opens on August 27 at 8:30pm with "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), the epic based on the life of British officer T.E. Lawrence, who during the First World War united rival Arab tribes against the Ottoman Empire. The film is regarded as a landmark of world cinema, noted for its direction, editing, cinematography and score.
The cast includes Peter O'Toole, Omar Sharif, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn, Jack Hawkins, Jose Ferrer, Anthony Quayle, Claude Rains and Arthur Kennedy. It was directed by David Lean, runs 222 minutes, and will be shown in English with Greek subtitles.
The Sheltering Sky follows on September 3
The second screening, "The Sheltering Sky" (1990), follows on Thursday, September 3, at 9pm. Set in post-war North Africa, the film follows Port and Kit Moresby as they travel into the Sahara Desert seeking a second chance for their marriage and a deeper understanding of themselves. As the desert and the heat strip away their sense of intimacy and certainty, the journey becomes a relentless existential search in which love, desire and identity are tested against the vastness and silence of the landscape.
The film is based on the novel by Paul Bowles and directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. It stars Debra Winger, John Malkovich, Campbell Scott, Jill Bennett, Timothy Spall and Tom Novembrino, runs 138 minutes, and will also be screened in English with Greek subtitles.
Tickets and venue
Tickets for both screenings cost 4 euros and can be booked through the EMST website. The museum is located at the corner of Kallirois Avenue and Amvrosiou Frantzi Street in Athens.
