Thessaloniki 26

For her feature doc selected for Thessaloniki Doc Fest, Guro Saniola Bjerk takes us to Båtsfjord, an Arctic fishing village where cod is more important than God. Even in one of the coldest places on Earth, you can find the warmest and funniest people there, whether Norwegian, Ukrainian, Finnish, Syrian, Tamil…even Russian. “If you are a good worker, they don’t care where you are from,” Bjerk talks of the town’s tolerance toward foreign workers and immigrants.

In La Pieta, produced by SUICAfilms (Spain), AXfilms (Iceland) and Studio Nominum (Lithuania) and selected for Thessaloniki’s International Competition, a veil of snow covers the Icelandic glacier of Vatnajökull, the largest on the island, and old voices echo like prayers – a requiem for what once was, and what will be lost forever. “There is something fascinating, almost mystical, about standing in front of a glacier. It’s the closest feeling to when, as children, we believed in God,” say co-directors Rafa Molés and Pepe Andreu.

A total of 252 full-length and short documentary films will be screened at the 28th TIDF, with a record number of 80 world premieres, as well as 32 international and 11 European premieres. The opening film of the festival (March 5) is Ask E. Jean by Ivy Meeropol, while the Oscar-nominated Mr. Nobody Against Putin will close the festival March 15. Debutant doc director Juliette Binoche will present her In-I In Motion in Thessaloniki.

The leading Greek docfest revealed February 19 the fourteen-film selection for its International Competition. Prizes include the Golden Alexander, which is accompanied by a cash prize of 12,000 euros, and the Silver Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of 5,000 euros. The 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival runs March 5-15.

The 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (Greece) announced February 17 the selections for its Newcomers and >>Film Forward Competition sections. Films will compete for the Golden Alexander “Dimitri Eipides” award (€10,000 ) and the Silver Alexander Award (€4,000) in Newcomers and the >>Film Forward Golden Alexander (€6,000) and >>Film Forward Silver Alexander (€3,000) in the latter. The Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival will run March 5-15.