Seventy-two feature and short Greek documentaries are selected for the competitive and non-competitive sections of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival that will take place 24 June to 4 July in open-air theatres in Thessaloniki and online.
The documentaries will be screened in the following sections: International Competition Feature Length, Newcomers International Competition and >>Film Forward International Competition, as well as in the Open Horizons, Platform and From screen to Screen and Platform.
“Realizing the difficulties of producing documentaries, but also the additional obstacles caused by the pandemic, the Festival, supporting the Greek documentary, will give to each Greek film that will be screened in the program of the 23rd TDF, a projection rental fee,” say event organisers.
“Human stories, well-known artists, our life in the era of the pandemic, the refugee crisis, the issues that are important to the LGBTQI+ community are some of the themes explored in this year’s Greek documentaries,” the festival continues.
The films of the three competition sections and the Open Horizons section will be screened in open-air theaters in Thessaloniki and online for Greek audiences. The films of the Platform and From screen to Screen sections will be screened online.
International Competition Feature Length
Days and Nights of Demetra K. by Eva Stefani
Dimitra is a sex worker and enjoys her job. She used to own one of the oldest brothels in Athens. The film draws a portrait of Dimitra by observing her for twelve years. Inevitably, the camera chronicles the way Athens is affected by the recent financial crisis. Getting to know Dimitra, we are confronted with stereotypes about sex and personal choice. Time and love are the main themes of this film.
Golden Dawn a Public Affair by Angélique Kourounis
What sort of action to adopt against nazism, fascism and the extreme right?
Can Democracy still eradicate them once and for all without bending its own principles? How to fight back? Is the solution to be given by the courts? A political blockade from all political parties? A media boycott? Raising social awareness? A better education in school? Or is it a more physical resistance? The trial which is even more important than the one of Nuremberg is the back bone of this documentary.
Through the Glass, Three Acts by Christos Barbas
In May 2020, during the first lockdown in the country, in a nursing home in Agios Stefanos, north of Athens, for two months, the staff and guests experienced an additional and simultaneous confinement after sealing the unit for preventive purpose. The project was unique at national and European level, perhaps even global until then.
Newcomers International Competition
Gabriela – The German with the Bicycle by Dominikos Ignatiadis
Gabriela is the narrative of a woman born in after-the-war Germany and her overwhelming need to live, love and matter. Her son, a couple of years after her death, throws a deep inquiry into the diary, the letters, the people and the places she once knew. A trip between Stuttgart, Germany and Alexandria, Greece, with an underlying question pending: “what kind of life is this?” Hand in hand during this trip, her son is trying to find peace with his always fleeing mother, “The German with the bicycle”.
Invisible by Marianna Kakaounaki
Ebubekir and Gonca are accused of being terrorists. After three years on the run, they
manage to escape from their home country Turkey to Greece. They are now free but they must come to terms with an unbearable loss. Ahmet, once a doctor, is spending his days in a secret location with other Turks who were also forced into exile. With time though, he is torn between living as a fugitive and the need of belonging to a new country.
Made in Vain by Michael Klioumis
Personal demons, ongoing struggle with the mirror, sacrifices, goals, bottled up feelings, hardcore training and diet shape the everyday life of Body Builders. Their struggle to become professional Body Builders is endless and excruciating, the competition is big. All the months of intense preparation led to a few moments on stage against the judges where they show off the body they have been building for so long. Some of them call it iron sport, a lifestyle, a vanity and to some others Body Building is a religion. All of them agree though that once a bodybuilder, always a bodybuilder.
>>Film Forward International Competition
Memento by Nikos Ziogas
The film follows the local Easter tradition and festivities in Giromeri, a remote village located in the mountainous Epirus region in northern Greece. Situated near the Greek-Albanian borders, Giromeri is a traditional settlement with a declining population that today numbers around 50 permanent residents. Nearby lies the historic 14th-century Giromeri Monastery, which receives a large number of visitors – pilgrims and tourists alike – throughout the year. Combining rare archival material and on-site observation, the documentary examines various aspects of contemporary living, focusing on the Easter festivities and especially on a unique Easter Monday’s custom.
The Oleanders by Paola Revenioti
The film is based on a night stroll in Athens through the eyes of Betty Vakalidou, Eva Koumarianou and Paola Revenioti.
Click here for the Greek films in Open Horizons, Platform and From screen to Screen sections.
As previously reported, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has put out the call to podcasters from Greece and abroad to submit their podcasts for the new podcast competition section, for which two cash prizes of €2000 are up for grabs. The selected podcasts will be presented during the summer and hybrid edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, running from June 24 to July 4, 2021. The deadline for podcast submission is May 14.
