26 Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, March 7–17, 2024.

  • The Golden Alexander of the international Competition Section as well as the FIPRESCI Award are bestowed to MY STOLEN PLANET by Farahnaz Sharifi.
  • The Golden Alexander of the >>Film Foreward Competition as well as the Mermaid Award go to REAS by Lola Arias.
  • Find all award winners and jury statements at the website of the festival.

 

 JURY STATEMENTS:

  • MY STOLEN PLANET by Farahnaz Sharifi, 82min, WS: CAT&Docs, P: JYOTI Film GmbH, Pak Film GmbH, [International Competition] wins the Golden Alexander int. Competiton, accompanied by €12,000-, Reasoning: A well-crafted and moving first-person essay that brilliantly confirms that every political reality has a subreality and that resistance comes in many forms, not least among them in the private realm
    as  well as the FIPRESCI Award to the Best Documentary of the International Competition Reasoning: An exemplary piece of guerrilla filmmaking comprising the secret history of a country and its women through a series of home made movies culminating to a bloody revolution in the making
  • REAS by Lola Arias, 90min, P: GEMA FILMS, Buenos Aires, SUTOR KOLONKO Germany, Mira Film GmbH Switzerland, WS: LUXBOX, Paris, France [>>Film Forward] wins the The Golden Alexander >>Film Forward Competition, accompanied by €6,000.-, Reasoning: The film tackles a relevant social issue that is both timely and urgent. Its impact extends far beyond the confines of the screen, inspiring audiences to take action towards positive change.
    as well as the Mermaid Award. Resoning: REAS is a musical, set in an old, abandoned prison building in Argentina, where stories from their lives are re-enacted by formerly incarcerated queers. Relationships, dreams, dance and music are playfully, buoyantly, central. The monochrome malaise of the prison film is upended as the characters burst into song and dance, mixing sad longing and exuberant desire. Embracing, while at the same time subverting, the tropes of melodrama and musical, REAS does not attempt to tell a general or meta story of queer life in Argentinian prisons. Instead, Lola Arias’s film explores what storytelling can do, finds truth in artifice, and embraces fluidity in form, content and identity categories.

 

 

 

26 Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, March 7–17, 2024 

 

#TiDF 26 showcasing 250 documentaries, among them 112 world, international and European premieres. The festival will take place in its tradition home ground, the movie theaters Olympion and Pavlos Zannas at the Olympion complex, the movie theaters Frida Liappa, Tonia Marketaki, John Cassavetes and Stavros Tornes at the Port of Thessaloniki, as well as Makedonikon theater. Moreover, the audience will have the chance to watch movies online, through the Festival’s digital platform, online.filmfestival.gr. 

The festival’s programme, as well as more info on the films, are available at www.filmfestival.gr. Download PDF of the catalogue A—Z TiDF26 here. 

 

LineUp German productions and co-productions:

 

 

  • International Competition: The twelve feature lenght films taking part in the International Competition have their eyes set on the Golden Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of 12,000 euros, and the Silver Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of 5,000 Euros.
  • Newcomers: The Newcomers competition section showcases twelve debut or sophomore films of up-and-coming directors contending for the “Dimitri Eipides” Golden Alexander, featuring a cash prize of 10,000 euros, and the Silver Alexander, featuring a cash prize of 4,000 Euros.
  • >>Film Forward: Film Forward competition section, hosting movies that challenge conventions and utter a bold and daring cinematic language, offers the audience the chance to watch twelve films. The awards include the >>Film Forward Golden Alexander, featuring a 6,000 Euros cash prize, and the >>Film Forward Silver Alexander, featuring a 3,000 Euros cash prize.
  • Within the framework of the Immersive: All around cinema competition section, eight pioneering films - including four German co-productions – are lining up for the Golden Alexander Immersive, accompanied by a 2,000 Euro cash prize.
  • Open Horizons section with dynamic and out-of-the-box docs
  • TiDF is presenting the cream of the crop of the documentary production at the Top Docs section.
  • TiDF turns attention to the younger generation through the NextGen section.
  • A total of 33 documentaries - including GENDERNAUTS by Monika Treut ©1999 – that honor and praise the liberating act of self-determination, having left their mark on world queer cinema, take center stage at the grand tribute Citizen Queer of the 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. Beloved artists, activists and acclaimed personalities of cinema and culture, academics and scientists will attend the screenings to discuss with the audience. In addition, the festival’s much-loved Non-Catalog will complement the tribute, featuring texts that explore the themes, components and origins of queer documentary.


The tickets’ presale kicks off on Tuesday March 5th. Stream the press conference here.

 

AGORA (March 8-16), the industry section of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, has selected for the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum 12 projects from 11 countries and for the AGORA Docs in Progress 11 films from 16 countries, all deriving from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region.

The re-shaped Thessaloniki Pitching Forum is the co-financing and co-production Forum for documentaries in the development phase, highlighting the countries of Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region (including the Visegrad countries, part of the Black Sea region, North Africa and Mediterranean Middle East). It has attracted many ambitious projects and has the support of valuable sponsors and partners.

Thessaloniki Pitching Forum has secured 3 new awards for its participants. The prestigious IEFTA Award for Best Documentary in Development 10.000 EUR cash-prize, the Eurodoc Award of 1.000 EUR along with a VIP membership and the Sunny Side of the Doc Prize of 2 industry passes and 500 EUR towards travel expenses.

Long term partnerships include the Onassis Foundation who present to the Greek filmmakers with a project to either Thessaloniki Pitching Forum or the Agora Docs in Progress the Onassis Film Award of 5.000 EUR, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT) which presents the ERT Award of 2.000 EUR for a Greek project, the Mediterranean Film Institute Script2Film granting a Scholarship for the Doc Lab participation, the Documentary Association of Europe (DAE) presenting a Consultancy Award with a bespoke consultation on a project with an industry expert, Aylon Digital Services who offer a Digital transfer of archival material,  the International Documentary Film Festival - Beldocs which present the Beldocs Networking Award to attend the next edition and meet additional potential partners and the International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film offering the Dok Leipzig Award which includes 2 industry passes and accommodation.

 

 


The Agora Docs IN PROGRESS FILMS:

  • THE FIRST LADY by Udi Nir, Sagi Bornstein, Producer: Udi Nir - udiVsagi production, Co-producer: Georg Tschurtschenthaler - Beetz Brothers Film Production [Israel, Germany]
  • THE SECRET HAND  by Valerio Valente, Producer:  Paolo Maria Spina - Revolver, Co-producers: Enrico Cannizzo - Filmine, Boris Despodov - Arthouse Blockbusters, Wojciech Karubin - Movie Mates [Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland]
  • SUPER PARADISE  by Steve Krikris, Producers: Dafni Kalafati, Paul Typaldos - Filmiki S.A, Co-producer: Titus Kreyenberg - unafilm [Greece, Germany]

 

 

 

as single page:
• 26 TiDF 2024 •