With only two films thus far as director, Athina Rachel Tsangari (b. 1966) is recognized today as a decisive, singular and influential figure in contemporary world cinema. Tsangari’s auspicious debut feature and MFA thesis film, The Slow Business of Going, defined the bold reinvention of genre conventions and enigmatic approach to narrative that continued throughout her ongoing work as producer and led to her greatly anticipated and acclaimed second feature ATTENBERG. In both films Tsangari explores a new kind of visual and corporeal language, deploying off-beat mise-en-scene, startling gestures and outlandish humor to vividly render her characters’ struggle against their appointed familial, societal and professional roles. Beginning with her work on the design team for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympics Tsangari established herself as a multi-media artist whose completed projects includes a major multi-channel commission for the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The Harvard Film Archive is pleased to welcome Athina Tsangari who is a Visiting Professor this academic year in Harvard’s Department of Visual and Environmental Studies. – Haden Guest