- Venue: The historic “Bethlehem” open-air cinema, located on the Venetian Walls (Leoforos Plastira).
- Duration: Now through September 20.
- Program Scale: 70 screenings featuring 31 feature-length and 16 short films.
- Ticket Info: General admission is €4; advance booking is available via the TicketServices platform. Select screenings are free of charge, with entry managed on a first-come, first-served basis.
“Fiction, documentaries, and animation are used to take us on a nostalgic journey through time, to remind us of great moments in cinematic history, and to highlight issues of our time,” the press release informed us.
While the city’s administration promotes the “Bethlehem” cinema as a hub for culture—opening this year with Hitchcock’s Dial M For Murder—the program itself offers a stark juxtaposition. Between the nostalgic allure of Zorba the Greek and the 25th-anniversary screening of Amélie, there is a clear attempt to balance crowd-pleasing classics with more provocative, contemporary concerns.
Beyond the Blockbusters
The inclusion of The Voice of Hind Rajab (2025) and L’Inconnu de la Grande Arche (2025) suggests that the program organizers are pushing for a dialogue on current socio-political issues, ranging from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to the intersection of architecture and power. The latter is bolstered by a planned intervention from the Architects’ Association of Heraklion.
Local voices are also finding space this year, with two documentaries on free-admission nights: Nikos Pantermarakis’s 2258: A Story of Regenerative Agriculture and the Other Health Group’s critique of the national healthcare system, The Health of Others, The Health of All.
The schedule is bolstered by partnerships that extend beyond simple film distribution. The National Opera is set to present À Paris tous les deux, bridging cinema and lyric arts, while the “Positively Different Short Film Festival” returns for a three-day residency. The season will conclude with an Italian Film Week, a collaboration involving the Italian Embassy’s Cultural Institute, the IMAGO Cultural Association, and local partners.
