For the first time ever, the Athena Cinema will be revealing exclusive SNEAK PEEKS of feature films programmed for the 42nd Athens International Film + Video Festival, which takes place during April 3rd-9th.

On Erin Island, an idyllic fishing village off the coast of Ireland, charming but somewhat work-shy Ciaran O’Shea, is tasked with greeting Lisa Nolan, a straight-laced young officer who has arrived from the mainland. Not that there is much for them to do, aside from dealing with the occasional drunk, and that’s usually O’Shea himself. But strange doings are afoot: the crew of a fishing boat disappears, whales start appearing dead on the shore, a local lobsterman catches a strange tentacled creature in his trap. Soon it becomes clear to O’Shea and Nolan that there’s something big out there, and that it’s hungry. It’s time to rally the villagers, arm the troops…and head to the pub.

“Wright checks off the expected genre boxes with the gleeful mischief of a gremlin trashing a plane engine.” -Ian Buckwalter, NPR

“Perfect fodder for a late-night audience, UK/Irish co-production Grabbers, directed by Jon Wright, is a fun ride, and while it doesn’t reinvent the “Tremors” and Slither modern-b-movie wheel, it adds a few neat touches to that formula.” -Jessica Kiang, The Playlist

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94 MIN

Mr. Turner explores the last quarter century of the life of the great if eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner (Timothy Spall). Profoundly affected by the death of his father, loved by a housekeeper he takes for granted and occasionally exploits sexually, he forms a close relationship with a seaside landlady with whom he eventually lives incognito in Chelsea, where he dies. Throughout this, he travels, paints, stays with the country aristocracy, visits brothels, is a popular if anarchic member of the Royal Academy of Arts, has himself strapped to the mast of a ship so that he can paint a snowstorm, and is both celebrated and reviled by the public and by royalty.

“An inspired film, a beautiful exploration of art and creation and difficulty, with Spall’s brilliant performance at its center.” -Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

“As is usual with any Mike Leigh film — a style unique and trademarked by now — his ensemble is a collection of remarkably adept actors who know their characters so well they could stay in character for weeks, continually improvising, as they often do.” -Sasha Stone, TheWrap

Closed captioning devices are available for this film. If needed, please ask about it at the concessions counter.

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150 MIN

Alice Howland (Julianne Moore), a successful Columbia University linguistics professor happily married with three grown children, struggles to maintain her mind after being diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.

“The movie is harrowing, as any story about Alzheimer’s should be, but Moore gives it an extra layer of gravity and heartbreaking inevitability.” -Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald

“Sorrow-laden and moving, Still Alice isn’t gratuitously grim nor is it easily sentimental. There’s humor here — vaguely gallows-like, perhaps but also earned.” -Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

“While it’s no surprise that Moore is so good, “Still Alice” has an unexpected trick up its sleeve: the sweetly gentle performance of Kristen Stewart, as Alice’s actress daughter Lydia.” -Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

Closed captioning devices are available for this film. If needed, please ask about it at the concessions counter.

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101 MIN

For the first time ever, the Athena Cinema will be revealing exclusive SNEAK PEEKS of feature films programmed for the 42nd Athens International Film + Video Festival, which takes place during April 3rd-9th.

Not far from Timbuktu, now ruled by the religious fundamentalists, Kidane lives peacefully in the dunes with his wife Satima, his daughter Toya, and Issan, their twelve-year-old shepherd. In town, the people suffer, powerless, from the regime of terror imposed by the Jihadists determined to control their faith. Music, laughter, cigarettes, even soccer have been banned. The women have become shadows but resist with dignity. Every day, the new improvised courts issue tragic and absurd sentences. Kidane and his family are being spared the chaos that prevails in Timbuktu. But their destiny changes when Kidane accidentally kills Amadou, the fisherman who slaughtered his beloved cow. He now has to face the new laws of the foreign occupants.

“The kind of mature polemical filmmaking that can’t help but seem singular, because few political-issue-type directors try it, and even fewer get it right.” -Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AVClub.com

“An unflinching, quietly furious exploration of life under radical Islamist rule. It also makes a point about power that even nonextremist, democratically elected leaders would do well to keep in mind.” -A.O. Scott, New York Times

ACADEMY AWARD® NOMINEE

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97 MIN

For the first time ever, the Athena Cinema will be revealing exclusive SNEAK PEEKS of feature films programmed for the 42nd Athens International Film + Video Festival, which takes place during April 3rd-9th.

A Swedish family travels to the French Alps to enjoy a few days of skiing and spend some precious time with each other. The sun is shining and the slopes are spectacular but, during a lunch at a mountainside restaurant, an avalanche turns everything upside down. With diners fleeing in all directions, mother Ebba calls for her husband Tomas as she tries to protect their children. Tomas, meanwhile, is running for his life. Reality returns to embarrassed laughter, the anticipated disaster having failed to occur, and yet the family’s world has been shaken to its core, a question mark hanging over their father in particular. Tomas and Ebba’s marriage now hangs in the balance as Tomas struggles desperately to reclaim his role as family patriarch.

“Force Majeure is both funny and sad, often in the same glance-averted instant. See it with someone you’d trust to stick around in an avalanche. It’s one of the highlights of 2014.” -Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

“The film is beautifully made, with great visuals of the hotel’s fine, loneliness-inflicting interiors, and mountain-high slopes where families don’t talk to each other very much.” -Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

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120 MIN

In New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city’s history, an immigrant and his family try to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.

“‘A Most Violent Year’ is an engrossing, often beautiful film, and a breakout opportunity for Isaac, whose similarly self-contained performance as a sadly self-aware folk singer in ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ was unfortunately overlooked last year.” -Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

“Recognize J.C. Chandor as one of the most exciting writers and directors working today – after all of three films.” -Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

“It’s the kind of uncompromising movie we don’t see much of anymore. And it makes you nostalgic for a time when the world was worse and the movies were better.” -Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly

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125 MIN