Organisers of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival have put out the call for film submissions for the 25th edition of TDF which will run 2-12 March 2023.
TDF is among the most important documentary festivals in Europe and an Oscars® documentary feature qualifying festival, “celebrating the art of documentary via a rich program of films, events, initiatives and the Agora Doc Market, a lively hub for film professionals,” the festival writes.
The Festival has four competition sections: Feature Length International Competition, Newcomers International Competition, >>Film Forward International Competition and VR International Competition. The deadline for submissions is December 8, 2022.
The Feature Length International Competition presents 12-14 documentary features that will compete for two awards: The Golden Alexander, which is accompanied by a €12,000 cash prize and the Special Jury Award, accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. The film that wins the Golden Alexander award will automatically be eligible to submit for Oscars consideration in the Documentary Feature category. The films meeting the following conditions are eligible to participate in the IC section:
- production must have been completed within the 12 (twelve) months preceding the Festival screening
- not released or screened publicly in Greece
- must have a running time of over 70 minute
The Newcomers International Competition for first or second-time directors presents 10-12 films of over 50 minutes in length that will compete for the Golden Alexander “Dimitri Eipides” award, which is accompanied by a €10,000 cash prize; and the Special Jury Award, which is accompanied by a €4,000 cash prize. The films meeting the following condition are eligible to participate in the Newcomers IC section:
- a director’s debut or sophomore documentary feature film
- production must have been completed within the 12 (twelve) months preceding the Festival screening
- not released or screened publicly in Greece
- must have a running time of over 50 minutes.
The >>Film Forward International Competition presents 8-10 films that experiment with the form and method of documentary filmmaking. The Golden Alexander is accompanied by a €6,000 cash prize, and the Special Jury Award, which is accompanied by a €3,000 cash prize. All films in this section should have a running time of over 45 minutes. The films meeting the following conditions are eligible to participate in the >>Film Forward IC section:
- production must have been completed within the 12 (twelve) months preceding the Festival screening
- have not released or screened publicly in Greece
- must have a running time of over 45 minutes.
The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival also presents a VR International Competition, featuring films which prove that this new medium can pave the way for novel cinematic experience and art. The films that meet the following conditions are eligible to participate in the VR IC section:
- production must have been completed within 18 (eighteen) months preceding the Festival screening
- has not been released or screened publicly in Greece
The submission deadline for non-Greek documentaries is December 8, 2022.
