The magic begins again at Athicff!

Three small, bright digital creatures with tiny black eyes pose against an orange background alongside the slogan “Look at Me”, beneath the title “Athens International Children’s Film Festival powered by DEI”, 9–15 November 2026.

liminal is back for another year at the much-loved Athens International Children’s Film Festival, powered by DEI, returning to the city from November 9 to 15. Get ready for a week of beloved films, new stories, and imaginary worlds waiting to be discovered!

“Look at Me”: The Theme of This Year’s Athicff

With “Look at Me” as this year’s motto, the festival turns its attention to the “scrolling generation”, searching for identity, a voice, and connection through images and videos. In a world of constant, two-way recording, young people are always watching others while finding themselves under everyone else’s gaze. The festival’s films offer a chance to see the world through their eyes and discover their stories, dreams, and concerns. The motto takes inspiration from Voula Stampelou’s film “Dad, Look at Me”, while the title song by Johnny M & Vangelis Tsianos sets the rhythm for this year’s festival trailer.

Audio Description with the “Fluffy Friends”

In a cartoon-style illustration, beneath a starry sky, two grey bats and their little one stare intently towards the upper right, their mouths open and sharp teeth sticking out, as if they’re salivating over something up above.

How can sound bring the images on screen to life? As every year, the “Fluffy Friends” section features short films with no dialogue for children aged 6 and up. liminal has created audio description for this year’s selection, with screenings taking place on Saturday, November 14, and Sunday, November 15, 2026.

The screenings are part of “Everyone in the Frame”, an annual initiative by the Athens International Children’s Film Festival that promotes meaningful representation, equal participation, and greater visibility for disabled people in the audiovisual arts, while highlighting their roles as creators and professionals.

Saturday, November 14 – Danaos

A Film Audio-Described by Children, for the First Time at the Festival!

A blond boy and a girl with bangs in her brown hair, both dressed in warm clothes, build a snowman in a snowy urban setting, with cars and buildings around the edges. Drawn with rough lines and minimal colour, the image has the feel of a spontaneous, hand-drawn sketch.

The Athens International Children’s Film Festival and liminal invited children aged 10–12 to discover how audio description brings images to life through sound. The children wrote their own descriptive script for the short film “Sketches on Ice” (directed by Marion Ovan, 4 min) and recorded their audio description in a professional recording studio.

On Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 12:00, the children will take the stage to present their work to the audience.

👉 Read more about the workshop here.

Beneath a bright sun that casts an orange hue across the sky, a fluffy little hamster with a khaki backpack stands upright on a mountain of tattered rags. It peers through binoculars towards the horizon, as if trying to make out something in the distance.
A still from a stop-motion film made with plasticine. On top of a mountain of rubbish, five little black creatures stand in a row, their huge white eyes wide open. Some are round, while others are more elongated. One has even grown two red lips, pulling a look of awe as if it were witnessing something extraordinary.

The following short films with audio description will also be screened on the same day:

  • Prout
    Director: Marc-Henri Wajnberg
    Duration: 8’
  • Bats and Bugs
    Director: Lena von Doehren
    Duration: 11’
  • The Little One and the Giant
    Director: Isabela Costa
    Duration: 9’

ℹ️ Find more information about the films here.

Free admission.

🎟️ Book your tickets here.

Sunday, November 14 – Megaron The Athens Concert Hall

A still from an animated film. In an elegant, aristocratic room, a grand staircase with a red carpet rises majestically. Two movers in orange work uniforms, with perfectly round heads, are carrying a large grand piano up the stairs. The mover at the top looks fearfully at the golden banister as they approach the turn in the staircase.

On Sunday, November 15, 2026, our cinematic journey continues at the Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall at Megaron the Athens Concert Hall. At 12:30, join us for four more short films with audio description by liminal!

  • Duet
    Director: Léo Brunel
    Duration: 1’
  • Shanley
    Director: Beau McCombs
    Duration: 4’
  • Aller & Retour
    Director: Lucia Bulgheroni, Michele Greco
    Duration: 9’
  • Pat and Mat: Air Conditioner
    Director: Marek Beneš
    Duration: 8’

ℹ️ Find more information about the films here.

🎟️ Book your tickets here.

Live dubbing – Live GSL Interpretation

A still from an animated film. A brown owl sits on the sofa in a living room with a fireplace, watching a television switched on in front of it. To its right, a strange upright branch catches its attention, and it looks at it with one white eyebrow slightly raised.

Get ready for beloved animated films, quirky characters, and incredible adventures, brought to life by actors dubbing the films live in Greek. Designed for children aged 6 and up, this section returns for another year with live Greek Sign Language interpretation.

The screenings will take place on Sunday, November 15, 2026, at 11:00 at the Dimitris Mitropoulos Hall at Megaron the Athens Concert Hall. The section features the following short films:

  • The Big Roc and the Little Rookie
    Director: Jakub Kouřil
    Duration: 8’
  • 3 Captains
    Director: Julia Ocker
    Duration: 9’
  • Baldies – What Αbout Μy Ηair?
    Director: Eliška Soffer Podzimek
    Duration: 10’
  • Christopher and the Bug
    Director: Vanessa Esteves
    Duration: 14’
  • Pol the Pirate Mouse – Cave Monster
    Director: Bouwine Pool
    Duration: 7’
  • Dinomite & Lucy: Heatwave
    Director: Sandra Schiessl, Cherifa Bakhti
    Duration: 12’

ℹ️ Learn more here.

🎟️ Book your tickets here.

👉 Find out more about Athicff’s accessibility both in terms of content and venue facilities here.

📌 Find Athicff’s schedule here.

The 2026 Athens International Children’s Film Festival, powered by DEI, is co-funded by Creative Europe MEDIA, with the Hellenic Film Centre for Cinema, Audiovisual Media and Creation (EKKOMED) as its Main Institutional Partner, and supported by the Municipality of Athens and the City of Athens Organisation for Culture, Sports and Youth (OPANDA). The “Everyone in the Frame” programme is under the auspices of and financially supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Major sponsor DEI.