Athina Rachel Tsangari facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Athina Rachel Tsangari
Αθηνά Ραχήλ Τσαγγάρη
Born	(1966-04-02) April 2, 1966 (age 59) Athens, Greece
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, film producer, projection designer
Years active	1993–present

Athina Rachel Tsangari (born April 2, 1966) is a talented Greek filmmaker. She is known for directing movies like The Slow Business of Going (2000), Attenberg (2010), and Chevalier (2015). Athina also helped produce films by Yorgos Lanthimos, including Dogtooth (2009). Besides making films, she started and directed the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival. She has also taught about art and film at Harvard University.

Athina Tsangari's Early Life and Education

Athina Tsangari was born in Athens, Greece. She studied philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Later, she earned two special degrees in New York and Texas. She studied performance at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Then, she learned film directing at the University of Texas at Austin.

Her first experience in movies was a small part in the 1991 film Slacker. Since then, Tsangari has taken on many different jobs in the film world.

Becoming a Film Director

Athina Tsangari directed her first short film, Fit, in 1994. She made this film while studying at New York University. It was even considered for the Annual Student Academy Awards.

Her first full-length movie was The Slow Business of Going (2000). This film was a unique science fiction road trip story. It was filmed in hotel rooms across nine cities worldwide. The movie won "Best Film" at the New York Underground Film Festival in 2002. It is now part of the permanent film collection at MoMA, a famous museum.

Her second feature film, Attenberg (2010), was shown at the 67th Venice International Film Festival. The main actress, Ariane Labed, won an award for "Best Actress" for her role. Attenberg was also Greece's official entry for the "Best Foreign Language Film" at the 84th Academy Awards.

In 2012, she directed the short film The Capsule. This film was shown at major festivals like Locarno, Toronto, and Sundance. In 2013, she made another short science fiction film called 24 Frames Per Century. This was part of a special project for the Venice Film Festival. She also created a fundraising film for the Benaki Museum, a museum about Greek history. This film was narrated by the famous actor Willem Dafoe.

Her third feature film, Chevalier (2015), is a comedy about a group of men on a yacht. It won the "Best Film" prize at the BFI-London Film Festival in 2015. The film also received a "Best Actor" award for its cast. Chevalier was Greece's official entry for "Best Foreign Language Film" at the 89th Academy Awards.

Her most recent film project is an adaptation of the novel Harvest.

Directing for Television

Athina Tsangari has also directed episodes for TV series. She directed two episodes of the historical drama series Borgia.

More recently, she directed for the BBC Two TV series, Trigonometry. This series premiered at the Berlinale Series festival in 2020.

Working as a Film Producer

In 2005, Tsangari started her own company called Haos Film. This company helps make and finish movies in Athens. She has produced several films, including three directed by Yorgos Lanthimos: Kinetta (2005), Dogtooth (2009), and Alps (2011). She also helped produce Richard Linklater's film Before Midnight. In this movie, she also played a character named Ariadni.

Film Festival Involvement

In 1995, Tsangari founded the Cinematexas International Short Film Festival. She was the artistic director of this festival, which showed experimental films until 2006.

She has also advised new directors at the Sundance Feature Film Program. In 2013, she was a judge at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival. In 2017, she was a judge at the Sundance Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival. In 2019, she was on the jury for the Platform Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Projection Design Work

Athina Tsangari also works as a projection designer. This means she creates the videos and images shown on screens during events. She was part of the team that designed the amazing opening and closing ceremonies for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

She also designed the stage projections for a dance show called "2" in 2007. In 2008, she created video displays for an exhibit about the 2004 Olympics ceremonies. In 2009, she made a series of large projections called "Reflections" for the opening of the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Filmography

Feature Films

Director

• The Slow Business of Going (2000)
• Attenberg (2010)
• Chevalier (2015)
• Harvest (2024)

Screenwriter

• Attenberg (2010)
• Chevalier (2015), co-written with Efthymis Filippou

Producer

• The Slow Business of Going (2000)
• Kinetta (2005), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
• Palestine Blues (2006), directed by Nida Sinnokrot
• Dogtooth (2007), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, associate producer
• Lovers of Hate (2010), directed by Bryan Poyser, executive producer
• Attenberg (2010)
• Alps (2011), directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
• Pearblossom Hwy (2012), directed by Mike Ott
• Before Midnight (2013), directed by Richard Linklater, co-producer
• Lake Los Angeles (2014), directed by Mike Ott, executive producer
• Petting Zoo (2015), directed by Micah Magee, co-producer
• Fireflies (2018), directed by Bani Khoshnoudi, co-producer

Actress

• Slacker as Cousin from Greece (credited as Rachel Reinhardt)
• Before Midnight as Ariadni

Short Films

• On Infection (1993), writer, director
• Fit (1994), writer, director, editor
• Fit #2 (1995), writer, director
• Plant #1 (1996), writer, director
• Anticipation™ (1996), co-directed with Nida Sinnokrot and Kenny Strickland
• Pleasureland (2001), executive producer
• The Wind Squeezes Glass Leaves (2002), animation, director
• Funky Beep (2007), music video for K.Bhta, director
• Marina № 5 / 20:04–21:10 UTC+8 / 31° 10' N 121° 28' E (2008), director
• The Capsule (2012), co-writer, director
• 24 Frames per Century (2013) (segment of Venice 70 - Future Reloaded), co-writer, director
• The Benaki Museum (2013), narrated by Willem Dafoe, director, writer
• Sandy Beach (2016), producer
• After Before (2016), documentary short, director, producer

Television Work

• Borgia (TV series), director
• Trigonometry (BBC Two series), director

Projection Design Projects

• Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games (2004), projection designer and video director
• 2 (2007), stage projection designer
• A Greek Ceremony - Beijing Capital Museum Exhibit (2008), projection designer and video director
• Reflections - Opening Ceremony of the New Acropolis Museum (2009), concept, director, projection designer

See also

In Spanish: Athina Rachel Tsangari para niños