Greek event to kick off from March 4 running for 10 days. Festival programme to recommence in June or July 2021 together with Agora market for professionals. Plans are being drafted up for hybrid and online scenarios.
In a statement put out this week by the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, the 23rd edition will be reshaped in line with restrictions resulting from the pandemic.
“Our goal for the 23rd TDF is to discover new ways of approaching a hybrid festival, a film screening,” say organisers. “Thus, we are preparing hybrid models without taking anything for grante., we are examining every possibility and we are rethinking the venues and dates of the festival.”
The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival traditionally takes place in the first ten days of March. The dates for the 23rd edition are 4 to 14 March, 2021.
The deadline for film submissions is December 30 2021.
The statement continues:
1. We plan to start our events on March 4, 2021. If movie theatres are open, we will show the opening film in the cinemas in Thessaloniki. However, depending on the conditions that will prevail in the country at that time, the screening may also take place in cinemas in other cities in Greece and/or online via a special platform.
2. Between 4 and 14 March, always in accordance with the health protocols, ten to twenty films will be screened either in cinemas in Thessaloniki or in other cities and/or online. The number of films will be announced soon.
3. The main actions of the Festival will take place in Thessaloniki over a ten-day period in June or July, 2021, depending on the situation [with films and sections to be announced in due course]. Events and screenings will take place in open-air cinemas, on the terrace of the Thessaloniki Concert Hall, in open spaces and/or in the festival’s theaters. We also plan screenings in other cities of Greece, in open-air cinemas and/or public spaces, always with the possibility of presenting the films online.
4. The Agora Doc Market of the 23rd TDF will also take place in the summer. Depending on the conditions prevailing worldwide at that time, we hope to welcome film professionals to Thessaloniki. We also intend to hold online meetings, while there is the possibility that the Agora Doc Market of the 23rd TDF will be held entirely online.
“Our love for cinema will bring us close. With this in mind, we remain optimistic and look forward to looking at the big screen together again,” the statement ends.
