26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival

The 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival will be held from Thursday 7th to Sunday 17th March 2024 both in physical spaces and online. A total of 250 documentaries will be screened as part of the festival, among which an impressive number of 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.

Dimitris Papaioannou

The 26th TiDF will shed light on the multifarious aspects of the internationally acclaimed artist Dimitris Papaioannou. The Greek creator explores different forms of art and expression, redefining the boundaries of representation, the allegorical power of images and the communication between a work of art and the audience. The documentary Bull’s Heart (working title), directed by renowned Greek film director Eva Stefani and produced by Onassis Culture, follows and records the European tour of Transverse Orientation, Papaioannou’s play that was produced by Onassis Stegiand. The film will be screened at the 26th TiDF as a work-in-progress, in a special screening.

Dimitris Papaioannou’s video installation Inside, along with the filming of the installation’s backstage titled Backside, will also be showcased in Thessaloniki, at MOMus-Experimental Center for the Arts. In addition, the Festival is exploring the great artist’s work in cinema, screening his short films Nowhere and Primal Matter. Finally, the Festival’s magazine First Shot is entirely dedicated to his work.

The 26th TiDF will kick off on Thursday March 7th 2024, with the film They Shot the Piano Player by Fernando Trueba. The Spanish Director will attend the opening ceremony, where he will be bestowed with the Festival’s honorary Golden alexander. The Festival will screen three of his films around his profound love and knowledge of music: They Shot the Piano Player, Chico & Rita and Calle 54. The 26th TiDF will call it a wrap with the film Yanni Spanos: A Life Behind the Marquee, directed by Aris Dorizas.

Τhe Festival’s spot bears the signature of film director Gregoris Rentis, recipient of the >>Film Forward Silver Alexander at the 25th TiDF.

“Citizen Queer”

A total of 33 documentaries 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.

Panayotis Evangelidis

The 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival is hosting a tribute to the fearless and pioneering cinema of Panayotis Evangelidis, which places the issues of the visibility of the LGBTQI+ community under the spotlight, intertwining the personal element with social reality and the necessity of change. The Festival will bestow its honorary Golden Alexander to the Greek director, screenwriter, author and translator for his overall contribution to cinema and culture. Selection of films screened: CHIP & OVI  (Greece, 2008, 45’), THE LIFE AND DEATH OF CELSO JUNIOR  (Greece, 2012, 49’), THEY GLOW IN THE DARK (Greece, 2013, 68’), IRVING PARK (Greece, 2019, 117’), TILOS WEDDINGS (Greece, 2022, 74’), A PORTRAIT OF THE COLLECTOR AS A MATURE MAN (Greece, 2023, 56’), SYLVIA ROBYN, (Greece, 2024, 105’)

Greek Documentaries

The 26th TiDF is welcoming 67 full-length and short Greek films: 35 movies take part in the international programme (International Competition, Newcomers competition, >>Film Forward competition, Open Horizons). The Platform section is renamed and expanded to Platform+, and its duration is raised to 14 days, from March 8 to March 22. This way, the audience will have the chance to watch 21 Greek films on the Festival’s digital platform from every part of Greece.

The special screening of COSMOTE TV featuring the documentary Underwonder by Kostas Karydas, which casts a glance at the exciting world of cave diving. They will also be two special screenings. The extremely up-to-the-minute and timely documentary Tilos Weddings by Panayotis Evangelidis will be universally accessible both in its physical screening and online, thanks to the support of Alpha Bank, the Festival’s Accessibility Sponsor. In addition, two films are dedicated to the unforgettable soprano Maria Callas, among which the documentary Mary, Marianna, Maria-The Unsung Greek Years of Callas by Michalis Asthenidis and Vassilis Louras, a Greek National Opera production that stands out as a significant documentation of the great Greek diva’s life, as well as a reminder of our cultural heritage, carried out thanks to the support of DEI.

International Programme

The 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival is hosting four competition sections. A total of 12 films, among which three Greek, take part in the International Competition, having 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.

• AND SO IT BEGINS, Ramona S. Diaz, USA-Philippines, 2024, 99’
• A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS, Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, Norway, 2024, 84’
• FOREST, Lidia Duda, Poland-Czech Republic, 2024, 84’
• JOHATSU – INTO THIN AIR, Andreas Hartmann & Arata Mori, Germany-Japan, 2024, 85’
• MY STOLEN PLANET, Farahnaz Sharifi, Germany-Iran, 2024, 82’
• NOCTURNES, Anirban DUTTA & Anupama Srinivasan, India-USA, 2024, 83’
• POL POT DANCING, Enrique Sánchez Lansch, Germany-Norway, 2024, 101’
• STRAY BODIES, Elina Psykou, Greece, Switzerland, Italy, Bulgaria, 2024, 110’
• TWO STRANGERS TRYING NOT TO KILL EACH OTHER, Jacob Perlmutter & Manon Ouimet, UK-Denmark, 2024, 100’
• UNCLAIMED, Marianna Economou, Greece, 2024, 75’
• UNCLICKABLE, Babis Makridis, Greece,Cyprus, USA, 2024, 74’
• WHERE WE USED TO SLEPP, Matthäus Wörle, Germany, 2024, 82’

The Newcomers competition section, featuring debut and sophomore films of up-and-coming film directors, includes 12 films, among which three Greek, competing for the “Golden Alexander – Dimitri Eipidis”, accompanied by a cash prize of 10,000 euros and the Silver Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of 4,000 euros.

• A SHELTER OF ONE’S OWN, Éva Tourrent, France, 2023, 73’
• A STRANGER QUEST, Andrea Gatopoulos, Italy-USA, 2023, 90’
• A TREE GROWS IN MY DREAMS EVERY NIGHT, Vid Hajnsek, Slovenia, 2024, 56’
• ETERNAL YOU, Hans Block & Moritz Riesewieck, Germany-USA, 2024, 87’
• FIGHTING DEMONS WITH DRAGONS, Camilla Magid, Denmark, 2024, 93’
• GLASS, MY UNFULFILLED LIFE, Rogier Kappers, The Netherlands, 2023, 94’
• LESVIA, Tzeli Hadjidimitriou, Greece, 2023, 78’
• MAY YOUR WILL BE DONE, Adrián Silvestre, Spain, 2024, 95’
• PANELLINION, Spyros Mantzavinos & Kostas Antarachas, Greece, 2023, 81’
• TACK, Vania Turner, Greece, 2024, 96’
• TELL THEM ABOUT US, Rand Beiruty, Germany-Jordan, 2023, 92’
• TOUCHÉ, Martina Moor, Italy-Belgium-Canada, 2023, 87’

The >>Film Forward competition section, which challenges cinematic conventions and showcases unconventional films, is hosting 11 films, among which two Greek. The awards bestowed are the Golden Alexander >>Film Forward, accompanied by a cash prize of 6,000 euros and the Silver Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of 3,000 euros.

• AVANT-DRAG!, Fil Ieropoulos, Greece, 2024, 92’
• CHRYSOTILE, Sarah Del Pino, France, 2024, 60’
• DESIRE LINES, Jules Rosskam, USA, 2024, 83’
• DIAGNONSENSE, Ane-Martha Tamnes Hansgård, Norway, 2024, 73’
• FIRST MILK, Panagiotis Papafragkos, Greece, 2024, 46’
• FROM ABDUL TO LEILA, Leila Albayty, Germany-Belgium-Qatar-Saudi Arabia, 2023, 93’
• HOLDING BACK THE TIDE, Emily Packer, USA, 2023, 77’
• ONLY GODARD, Arnaud Lambert & Vincent Sorrel, France, 2023, 88’
• REAS, Lola Arias, Argentina-Germany-Switzerland, 2024, 82’
• SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D’ÉTAT, Johan Grimonprez, Belgium-France-Netherlands, 2024, 150’
• THE FOREST IN ME, Rebecca E. Marshall, UK, 2024, 68’

Within the framework of the Immersive: All around cinema competition section, 8 pioneering films are lining up for the Golden Alexander Immersive, accompanied by a 2,000-euro cash prize. The art installation The Eye and I by the electronic music legend Jean-Michel Jarre will be screened out of competition.

• DRAW FOR CHANGE: WE EXIST, WE RESIST, Mariana Cadenas Sangronis, Belgium, 2023, 15’
• EMPEROR, Marion Burger & Ilan Cohen, France-Germany, 2023, 40’
• FRESH MEMORIES: THE LOOK, Ondřej Moravec & Volodomyr Kolbasa, Czech Republic, 2023, 11’
• SPOTS OF LIGHT, Adam Weingrod, Israel-Canada, 2023, 14’
• THE INTERVIEW, Thom Vander Beken, Belgium-Germany, 2023, 40’
• THE MATRIARX, Julia Bruton, Germany-Canada, 2023, 12’
• TOM HOUSE THE VR EXPERIENCE, Carlos Marroquin & Marton Jelinko, Finland, 2023, 30’
• TURBULENCE: JAMAIS VU, Ben Joseph Andrews, Emma Roberts, Australia, 2023, 10’

At the Open Horizons section, we will discover dynamic and out-of-the-box docs: 24 shorts and more than 60 feature films. In addition, the Top Docs section will present the cream of the documentary production, like Youth (Spring) by Wang Bing (2023), acclaimed at the Cannes Film Festival, Ryuichi Sakamoto| Opus by Neo Sora (2023), Occupied City by Steve McQueen (2023) or Teaches of Peaches by Judy Landkammer & Philip Fussenegger (2024), recently premiered at the 74th Berlinale. Likewise, in the secction the NextGen we’ll turn our attention to the younger generation through 13 films.

Agora

Dynamic initiatives, newly established awards and fresh synergies are part of the 26th TiDF Agora, the Festival’s developmental branch, which will take place both in physical spaces and online. The TiDF Agora is showcasing and supporting the films and the documentary filmmakers of tomorrow through a series of actions such as Thessaloniki Pitching Forum, Docs in Progress, Agora Lab, Meet the Future, Agora Talks, Talking Heads etc.

Podcast Section

Fourteen Greek-speaking and one English-speaking podcasts were selected for the Podcast Competition section, with their eyes set on the Best Podcast Award, accompanied by a cash prize of 2,000 euros. In addition, the audience will have the chance to hear another 21 podcasts taking part in the Nexus Section.

50 Years of Greek Democracy

On the account of the completion of 50 years since the restoration of Democracy in Greece, the Festival is hosting a tribute that renders homage to his historical anniversary and the anti-dictatorship struggle. The tribute includes four films by acclaimed directors, which recount groundbreaking events: THE REHEARSAL (Jules Dassin, 1974), THE OWL’S LEGACY – DEMOCRACY, OR CITY OF DREAMS (Chris Marker, 1990), DEMOCRACY (David Bernet, 2015), THE KILLING OF A JOURNALIST (Matt Sarnecki,  2022). In addition, an open discussion featuring ministers and deputies of the Greek Parliament will be held within the framework of the presentation of the book Half a Century of Elections: Discussing the Contests of the Metapolitefsi (Polis publishing house), edited by Petros Ioannidis and Ilias Tsaousakis.

The 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Partnership Agreement of the Central Macedonia Regional Operational Program, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0”, the MEDIA programme, the Ministry of Tourism and ERT.