The Wrestler , winner of this year's Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, will open the 49th Thessaloniki International Film Festival on Friday, November 14th.
It will be presented by Evan Rachel Wood who plays the role of Rourke's daughter in the film. Director Aronofsky has been a Thessaloniki Festival staple since 1998, when his first film, Pi, won the FIPRESCI Award in the International Competition section.
Theo Angelopoulos' The Dust of Time will have its national premiere as a special screening in the Greek Panorama section of the festival. Angelopoulos will be accompanied by Willem Dafoe who stars in the film. Bruno Ganz, Irene Jacob and Michel Piccoli also star.
The Dust of Time is the second instalment in Angelopoulos' trilogy that began with The Weeping Meadow in 2004. The trilogy follows the modern history of Greece through the relationship of a man and a woman who first meet in 1919, during the flight of the Greeks from Odessa.
Theo Angelopoulos will be present at the festival alongside Willem Dafoe. They are the latest additions to the guest list alongside Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Takeshi Kitano, Terence Davies, Walter Salles, Gustavo Santaolalla.
Frost / Nixon by Academy Award winner Ron Howard will be the closing film during the awards gala on Sunday, November 23rd. Written by Peter Morgan, screenwriter of The Queen and The Last King of Scotland, and adapted from his own hit theatre play, the film is based on the historic 1977 TV interview by British TV personality Frost with disgraced former US president Richard Nixon. The film stars Frank Langella as Nixon, Michael Sheen as Frost and Kevin Bacon as Jack Brennan.
The full festival line up will be announced next week.
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