Opening of the Festival’s the main exhibition, “The Rules of the Game”

62nd THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ||

4-14/11/2021

 

Opening of the Festival’s the main exhibition, “The Rules of the Game”

 

The opening of the Festival's main, original exhibition took place on Saturday November 6th, in a warm and joyful atmosphere. The exhibition, inspired by Jean Renoir's masterpiece, The Rules of the Game, attracted a big crowd at the former Nursery School (Pier A, Port of Thessaloniki).

 

Orestis Andreadakis, the artistic director of the Festival, responsible for the curation of the exhibition, addressed a short greeting to the attendees of the opening, thanking the artists: "I will be very brief, I just want to thank and name all people involved in the organisation of this event, who watched the masterpiece of Jean Renoir and have submitted amazing proposals and interpretations on this film and its relationship with today's era. These are Marina Velisioti, Nikolas Ventourakis, Xenia Vitou, Kyriaki Goni, Stathis-Alexandros Zoulias, Alexandros Manganiotis, Sofia Stevi, Diamantis Sotiropoulos, Dimitris Tataris and Doreida Tzogou. Many thanks to all of them and I am sure that you will enjoy their works, as well", Mr. Andreadakis pointed out.

 

"I would also like to thank MoMus, for supporting us in this exhibition that we have been organising for four years, Plaisio, for offering us screens next to each work with a small excerpt of the film, the Project Gallery, located in Athens, in Monastiraki, that will host the exhibition after its completion in Thessaloniki, in mid-December. Finally, let’s give a warm applause to Thanos Stavropoulos, who carried out this difficult task. Thank you very much, please enjoy the works, we will be waiting for your comments”, Orestis Andredakis said.

 

Exhibition duration in Thessaloniki: 6/11/2021-6/12/2021. Opening hours 6/11/2021-14/11/2021: 10am-10pm. Opening hours 15/11/2021-6/12/2021:10am-6pm (except Mondays). Exhibition duration in Athens: 16/12/2021-16/1/2022.

 

A few words about the timeless masterpiece The Rules of the Game (1939) by Jean Renoir

 

Unconditionally timeless, especially in the liminal times we are living in, as we brace ourselves to greet an emerging meta-world, Jean Renoir's chef-d’oeuvre grooms us for a much needed and inevitable transition to a new era. A film that reminds us how abruptly the rules of the game can change in a split second and how important it is to redefine them from scratch.

 

The Rules of the Game, a milestone of world cinema that has been screened strikingly fewer times than the rest of the groundbreaking films that changed the course of cinema history, hit the theaters right before the breakout of World War II, triggering a public outcry as it seemed to foretell the devastation looming over Europe and the entire planet. Renoir, at the heyday of his career at the time, did not hesitate to illustrate the decadence and moral bankruptcy of all social classes in the most vivid way, foreshadowing the painful dawn of a new era.