Athina Rachel Tsangari

Athina Rachel Tsangari is a Greek filmmaker whose career has spanned over three decades, establishing her as a central figure in contemporary European cinema. Born in Athens on April 2, 1966, she earned a philosophy degree at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki before pursuing advanced studies in performance at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in film directing at the University of Texas at Austin. Her early exposure to the international film world began with a cameo in Richard Linklater’s cult classic Slacker, an experience that sparked a lifelong fascination with experimental storytelling and cross‑cultural collaboration. Tsangari’s debut short, Fit (1994), garnered attention at the Student Academy Awards, and her MFA thesis evolved into the avant‑garde feature The Slow Business of Going (2000), a lo‑fi road movie shot across nine cities that now resides in MoMA’s permanent collection. In her second feature, Attenberg (2010), Tsangari blended existential humor with stark social commentary, earning the Coppa Volpi for Best Actress at Venice and representing Greece at the Academy Awards. Her third feature, Chevalier (2015), transformed a simple yacht setting into a biting satire on masculinity, winning multiple awards across Europe and securing another Greek Oscar submission. Beyond directing, Tsangari has produced seminal works by Yorgos Lanthimos, including Dogtooth and Alps, co‑produced Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight, and founded the production house Haos Film. She has also contributed to the visual language of major events as a projection designer for the 2004 Athens Olympics and the Acropolis Museum opening. A dedicated educator, she lectured at Harvard’s Visual and Environmental Studies department and served on prestigious juries at Berlin, Cannes, Sundance, and Toronto, influencing a new generation of filmmakers while continuing to develop ambitious projects such as the upcoming adaptation of Jim Crace’s Harvest slated for 2024.