64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival

The 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival will take place between November 2 and 12, in its on-site and online format. 270 feature and short films will be screened at the Olympion and Pavlos Zannas, Frida Liappa, Tonia Marketaki, John Cassavetes and Stavros Tornes theaters, as well as at the Makedonikon. In addition 79 films will be accessible online, through the platform online.filmfestival.gr.

Tributes

Throughout this edition, the festival will award its honorary Golden Alexander to the Italian actress Monica Bellucci, will host masterclasses such as that of Jeremy Podeswa, director of the successful series Game of Thrones and True Detective, among others. In addition, Thessaloniki will welcome double Oscar winner Alexander Payne, who will present his latest film, The Holdovers, which has already earned young actor Dominic Sessa the Rising Star award at the Heartland Film Festival.

The 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival pays tribute to one of the most unique and daring voices of contemporary Greek cinema, director Nikos Perakis, who will receive a Golden Alexander from German director Volker Schlöndorff, with whom he has collaborated throughout his career. The tribute will be extended with a cycle of five films by the Greek film director and production designer. In addition, the Laboratory for the Study of Greek Cinema and Television will host a colloquium on Nikos Perakis, in which prominent academic figures will participate as speakers.

The unique poetic gaze of the celebrated film director Takis Kanellopoulos, who lived and worked in Thessaloniki, is unveiled in the Festival’s tribute to him, with the screening of nine films and the original art exhibition-installation Takis Kanellopoulos: I Dream of an Excursion, on Kanellopoulos’ work.

The Festival also honors the memory of Michel Dimopoulos with a series of initiatives and actions, such as the inclusion of his name in the award of the competition section “Meet the Neighbors+”, which will be renamed “Golden Alexander-Michel Dimopoulos” and the screening of the film The Spirit of the Beehive, by Víctor Erice, will also be held in his memory. The festival’s magazine, First Shot, will be dedicated exclusively to Michel Dimopoulos and his reviews, articles and analysis.

Television and film storytellers take center stage at the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s tribute entitled Storytelling. Leading writers and screenwriters share their experiences, reflections and secrets through a series of masterclasses, open to the public, that aim to bridge the gap between film and series scriptwriting. The master classes of the tribute to storytelling will be given by: Jeremy Podeswa, Ruth Atkinson, Panayotis Christopoulos, Dora Masklavanou and Dimosthenis Papamarkos. In addition, the Meet the Future initiative will feature five up-and-coming Greek screenwriters as part of the tribute to storytelling.

The first theme of Survey Expanded, which expands and renews the themes and issues addressed in the Balkan Survey section, is entitled Reflections of Topos and traces aspects of Southeastern Europe as geographical and symbolic places and locations, inscribed in the work of an emerging and dynamic generation of artists.

The Greek festival, which has always been known for the care and exquisite design of its graphic image, has entrusted the artist Vassilis Selimas with the creation of its poster, while the multi-award-winning director Thanasis Neofotistos has been in charge of creating the official trailer.

The festival will kick off on Thursday, November 2 with the screening of Pot-au-feu, the film with which the French-Vietnamese director Anh Hung Tran won the Best Director Award at the last Cannes Festival; the closing ceremony, on November 12, will be sealed with Fallen Leaves, by Aki Kaurismaki, winner of the Jury Prize at the same event.

FANT A SM S

The leitmotiv of the 64th Thessaloniki Festival is a tribute to the invisible and tangible ghosts, at once terrifying and familiar, real and allegorical, protagonists of the new edition’s large-scale tribute, curated by film critic and artistic director of the New York Film Festival, Dennis Lim. This will consist of the screening of 33 feature and short films, a selection of gems of international cinema that explores the underlying symbolisms and hidden allegories behind the representation of ghosts in cinema. An exhibition entitled “FANT A SM S” has also been programmed, showing works by Nikos Kessanlis, Vlassis Caniaris, Celia Daskopoulou and Jason Molfessis, four legendary Greek visual artists, who will be glossed by Dimitris Troumplekas. Likewise, a carefully prepared bilingual edition has been prepared with texts and analyses by film theorists and renowned directors, in addition to the other two published for the 64th edition: The endearing and innovative Α-Catalog and a special edition, in collaboration with Marni Films, on the work of the versatile storyboard artist George Tassioulas.

Agora

Renowned singer Haris Alexiou, an icon of Greek music, who has recently shown her acting talents in theater and television, will be the ambassador of Agora. Agora Series, the new initiative launched last year, returns with a full two-day program. Film industry professionals will have the opportunity to participate in innovative actions and initiatives focused on the future and supporting emerging filmmakers. In addition, the projects selected by Agora compete for a series of important prizes, accompanied by cash or service awards.

Podcasts

Ten podcasts in Greek and English are participating in the Festival’s podcast competition, while 19 podcasts are included in the Nexus section. The public will have the opportunity to listen to the Festival’s podcasts in the Podcast Room, located in the Thessaloniki Film Museum, with free admission. The winning podcast in the Competition section will win a prize of 2,000 euros in cash. In addition, all podcasters between 25 and 35 years old participating in the Festival, including both sections, will be eligible for the ENS Louis Lumière – French Institute of Greece Award for Best Audio Documentary Creator. All podcasts, as always, will be available for listening through the Festival’s website www.filmfestival.gr.

The 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, taking advantage of the experience and knowledge gained through the Evia Film Project, has set itself the goal of becoming more sustainable every year, reducing its environmental footprint and raising awareness of the goal of sustainability. Among other measures, this year, in the midst of a period of severe climatic changes and unprecedented phenomena that take their toll on everyone’s lives, the Festival has established a green fee for its accredited guests aimed at enhancing the sustainable actions already implemented.

The 64th edition of the Thessaloniki Festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Partnership Agreement of the Regional Operational Program of Central Macedonia 2021-2027 and the MEDIA program. It is also supported by ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation), official communication sponsor of the Festival, COSMOTE TV, major sponsor of the Festival, Alpha Bank, accessibility sponsor of the Festival, MasterCard, official payment card of the Festival, Aegean, official airline of the Festival, Fischer, sponsor of the Audience Awards, and Jameson.