The 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival will be held from March 2-12 2023 both in-person and online. A total of 237 short and full-length documentaries will be screened this year, and will include a total of 99 world, international and European premieres. In addition, the audience will be given the opportunity to watch films online too, via the Festival’s digital platform online.filmfestival.gr.
Opening and closing films
The festival will open March 2 with the world-premiere of La Singla (Spain/Germany) by Paloma Zapata, and will close March 12 with the international premiere of the Dutch doc My Pet and Me by Johan Kramer.
The 25th TiDF welcomes 61 full-length and short Greek docs.
- 33 films will take part in the international program (International Competition, Newcomers Competition, >>Film Forward Competition, Open Horizons, NextGen).
- 17 films will be screened in the Platform section, 6 films are featured in the section From screen to Screen, 2 films will be screened out of competition as part of the >>Film Forward section, while 2 more documentaries are included in the spotlight on Sotiris Danezis.
- The benchmark documentary Mourning Rock by Filippos Koutsaftis will be accessible both physically and online
The 25th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival hosts 4 international competition sections.
- A total of 12 films, among which 3 Greek, take part in the International Competition of the 25th TDF. The movies have their eyes set on the Golden Alexander, accompanied by a 12,000-euro cash prize and the Silver Alexander, accompanied by a 5,000-euro cash prize.
- In the Newcomers competition section, featuring debut and sophomore films by young directors, we encounter 12 films, among which 3 Greek. The movies are competing for the Golden Alexander – “Dimitri Eipides” (cash prize of 10,000 euros) and the Silver Alexander (4,000 euros).
- >>Film Forward, the competition section that questions film conventions and brings forth radical films, hosts a total of 10 films, among which 3 Greek. The movies are aiming at the Golden Alexander >>Film Forward (cash prize of 6,000 euros) and the Silver Alexander (cash prize of 3,000 euros).
- Immersive: All Around Cinema competition section, which intertwines new technologies with today’s cinema, includes 8 films competing for the section’s Golden Alexander (2,000 euros).
- The most vibrant and pioneering cinema trends are selected for at the Open Horizons section.
- The crème-de-crème of the documentary production is showcased in Top Docs section.
- The 25th TDF seeks to catching the youth vibe through the NextGen section.
Tribute to Observational Documentary
The 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival hosts a unique and multifaceted tribute to observational documentary, under the title “The Art of Reality: Beyond Observation”, showcasing legendary movies of world cinema, which redefine our view and interpretation of the world, as well as of life.
Tributes
- 80 years after the departure of the first train from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz, Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival honors the memory of the city’s Jewish community through the tribute “Adio Kerida: From Thessaloniki to Auschwitz – 80 Years”.
- Audiences can get acquainted with the work of the renowned Austrian documentary filmmaker, Nikolaus Geyrhalter.
- The ten films featured in the Festival’s tribute to Stavros Psyllakis unveil stories of everyday people entangled in over-the-edge situations.
AGORA
Dynamic actions and initiatives, awards and partnerships, are part of this year’s Agora, which will be held both in physical spaces and online. TiDF’s Agora is backed by Creative Europe MEDIA program and is carried out in close collaboration with DAE (Documentary Association of Europe), hosting a fully-rounded program grabbing the documentary’s pulse in all its forms.
PODCASTS
Exciting human stories and issues that prevail our daily concerns are brought before to audiences in an original way by the 21 podcasts that take part in this year’s Festival. The Competition section podcasts are in the pole position for the Best Podcast Award (2,000 euros), whereas a scholarship award for an Upcoming Audio Documentary Creator will be bestowed in collaboration with ENS Louis Lumière and the French Institute of Greece. In addition, two podcasts in special hearing will be available for the audience, in collaboration with iMEdD.
Sustainability
The Festival is targeting its efforts towards the goal of sustainability, through a series of actions, initiatives and synergies, with the aim of reducing its environmental footprint, as well as to serve as a source of awareness and information for the public. In this spirit, it launches the new initiative of Climate Hub, urging its audience to embrace it.
Geocultura
Geocultura is the thematic orientation of the 8th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, hosted by the Metropolitan Organization of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki – MOMus. The Festival is inspired by its content and hosts a special section of films in its official selection, exploring the indiscernible bond between mankind and the environment.
25TH THESSALONIKI DOC FEST PROGRAMME HIGHLIGHTS
- Opening Film: LA SINGLA, Paloma ZAPATA, Spain-Germany, 2023, 95’
- Closing Film:MY PET AND ME, Johan KRAMER, The Netherlands, 2022, 77’
International Competition
- BEYOND REVOLUTION – FIGHTING FOR DEMOCRACY, Kristof GEREGA, Germany-Ukraine, 2022, 94’
- GENERAL HERCULES, Brodie POOLE, Australia, 2022, 97’
- I LIKE IT HERE, Ralph ARLYCK, USA, 2022, 88’
- LIGHT FALLS VERTICAL, Efthymia ZYMVRAGAKI, Spain-Germany-The Netherlands, 2022, 83’
- MIGHTY AFRIN: IN THE TIME OF FLOODS, Angelos RALLIS, Greece-France-Germany, 2023, 92’
- NARROW PATH TO HAPPINESS, Kata OLÁH, Hungary-USA, 2023, 83’
- QUEEN OF THE DEUCE, Valerie KONTAKOS, Greece-Canada, 2022, 78’
- THE HILL, Denis GHEERBRANT & Lina TSRIMOVA, France-Belgium, 2022, 77’
- THE LAST SEAGULL, Tonislav HRISTOV, Finland-Norway-Bulgaria, 2023, 77’
- UNDER THE SKY OF DAMASCUS, Talal DERKI, Heba KHALED & Ali WAJEEH, Denmark-Germany-USA-Syria, 2023, 88’
- WHO I AM NOT, Tünde SKOVRAN, Romania-Canada, 2023, 105’
- ZAKROS, Filippos KOUTSAFTIS, Greece, 2023, 97’
Newcomers Competition
- AKOE/AMFI: THE STORY OF A REVOLUTION (*JUST TO SLEEP ON THEIR CHEST…), Iossif VARDAKIS, Greece, 2023, 71’
- COMING AROUND, Sandra ITÄINEN, USA, 2023, 75’
- DOMINGO DOMINGO, Laura GARCÍA ANDREU, Spain-Lithuania, 2023, 71’
- IN THE SKY OF NOTHINGNESS WITH THE LEAST, Christos ADRIANOPOULOS, Greece, 2022, 70’
- IS THERE ANYBODY OUT THERE?, Ella GLENDINING, UK, 2023, 87’
- LADIES IN WAITING, Ioanna TSOUCALA, Greece, 2022, 69’
- LEON, Wojciech GOSTOMCZYK, Poland, 2023, 81’
- RED HERRING, Kit VINCENT, UK-Switzerland, 2023, 94’
- THE DNA OF DIGNITY, Jan BAUMGARTNER, Switzerland, 2022, 60’
- THE VOICE, Dominika MONTEAN-PAŃKÓW, Poland, 2022, 73’
- THE WOMAN OF STARS AND MOUNTAINS, Santiago ESTEINOU, Mexico, 2023, 101’
>>FILM FORWARD Competition
- 5 SEASONS OF REVOLUTION, LINA, Germany-Syria-Norway-The Netherlands-Qatar, 2023, 95’
- AVATON, Irini KARAYANNOPOULOU & Sandrine CHEYROL, Greece, 2023, 61’
- DOGWATCH, Gregoris RENTIS, Greece-France, 2022, 68’
- BLUE BAG LIFE, Alex FRY, Rebecca LLOYD EVANS & Lisa SELBY, UK, 2022, 92’
- THE SHARPNESS OF THE SCISSORS, David MARCIAL VALVERDI, Argentina, 2023, 69’
- STOKER, Stelios BOUZIOTIS, Greece, 2023, 57’
- HERD, Michel NEGROPONTE, USA, 2023, 60’
- INSIDE MY HEART, Saskia BODDEKE, The Netherlands, 2022, 86’
- IRON BUTTERFLIES, Roman LIUBYI, Ukraine-Germany, 2023, 84’
- Α COMMON SEQUENCE, Mary Helena CLARK & Mike GIBISSER, USA, 2023, 77’
- STARRING JERRY AS HIMSELF, Law CHEN, USA, 2023, 75’
>>FILM FORWARD Out of Competition
- CONFUSION/DIFFUSION, Floros FLORIDIS & Jeanine MEERAPFEL, Greece-Germany, 2022, 65’
- THE MAN ON THE LEFT, Maria TSAGKARI, Greece, 2022, 25’
Immersive: All Around Cinema Competition
- A PASSAGE, Maximilian VILLWOCK, Germany, 2022, 15’
- DARKENING, Ondřej MORAVEC, Czech Republic-Germany, 2022, 25’
- GENESIS, Jörg COURTIAL, Germany, 2021, 13’ ’
- MISSING 10 HOURS, Fanni FAZAKAS, Hungary, 2022, 16
- PLASTISAPIENS, Edith JORISCH & Miri CHEKHANOVICH, Canada, 2022, 15’
- SORELLA’S STORY, Peter HEGEDÜS, Australia-Sweden-Hungary, 2022, 16’
- THE CHOICE, Joanne POPIŃSKA, Canada-Poland, 2021, 25’
- THE MAN WHO COULDN’T LEAVE, Singing CHEN, Taiwan, 2022, 35
Click here for the full programme of the 25th Thessaloniki Doc Fest.
