The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) is a film festival held every November in Thessaloniki, Greece. It is organized by the Thessaloniki Film Festival under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture. It features international competition sections, and its program includes tributes to major filmmakers and national cinemas, as well as sidebar events such as masterclasses, exhibitions, live concerts and workshops. In addition to TIFF, the Thessaloniki Film Festival holds the annual Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF) in March.[1]
Thessaloniki International Film Festival hoarding.
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival focuses on independent cinema and emerging filmmakers from around the world. The festival serves as an essential platform for film professionals from Greece and Southeast Europe.[2] The event attracts an audience of more than 80.000.[3] Hundreds of Greek and foreign guests, including major figures of the international film scene, have attended TIFF.
TIFF is held at the historical “Olympion” theater at the central Thessaloniki Aristotelous Square and, since 1999, at the Thessaloniki port, in four theaters housed at two newly-restored warehouses. The festival hub is Warehouse C, located at the city port; several sidebar events take place at the Thessaloniki Cinema Museum, also part of the Thessaloniki Film Festival Cultural Institution.
TIFF comprises three competition sections: International Competition for the first or second feature film by emerging directors; “Meet the Neighbors” International Competition, for films from the region spanning from Southeast Europe to the Near East; and Virtual Reality (VR) Competition.
Agora is the developmental section of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, reaching out to international film professionals. Agora is one of the most dynamic and constantly growing film markets globally.[4]
History
Olympion Theater, where the head office of the festival is locatedThe "Reconstitution" of Theodoros Angelopoulos won the 1970 best film award, marking a turning point in the history of Greek cinema
The Thessaloniki Film Festival was launched as a national film festival in 1960[5] under the name “Greek Film Week” with the contribution of “Techni” Macedonian Art Society. The event was renamed “Thessaloniki Greek Film Festival” in 1966 and continued as a national film festival until 1991. During these years, the festival closely followed the trends of the national film production, its program highlighting the emergence of the “New Greek Cinema”, while showcasing the work of world cinema auteurs. After the political changeover that followed the 7-year Greek military regime (1967-1974), the festival was intensely politicized, reflecting the political climate of the day, yet keeping its focus on art-house cinema. The event was subject to the Ministry of Trade by 1981 when it came under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture. Following a new national law on cinema, an artistic director was appointed in 1986.
In 1992, during its 33rd edition, TIFF became an international festival[clarification needed] under the artistic direction of film critic Michalis Demopoulos. Film director Theo Angelopoulos was appointed president. Since then, the festival has been committed to international independent cinema and the discovery of promising voices from around the world and from the Balkans. Further to showcasing the domestic film production, the festival presents independent films, premieres and tributes to major Greek and international filmmakers while hosting a large number of sidebar events.
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival comprises the following sections:
International Competition section, screening the first or second film by emerging directors from around the world.
“Meet the Neighbors” International Competition section, screening films from the region spanning from Southeast Europe to the Middle East.
Virtual Reality (VR) International Competition section.
“Open Horizons” program, a selection of cutting-edge and avant-garde independent films.
Greek Film Festival, a showcase of the year’s Greek film production.
“Balkan Survey”, monitoring contemporary trends of Balkan cinema.
“Youth screen”, featuring special screenings for schoolchildren and youths.
TIFF’s line-up further includes Out-of-Competition films, special screenings and “Carte Blanche” special programs.
Agora
TIFF's "Agora" was launched in 2005, establishing a productive and unique form of helping and introducing professionals visiting Thessaloniki from Southeast Europe, the Mediterranean region and the rest of the world to the industry professionals, consultants, tutors, and potential collaborators invited to the festival.
The Agora includes the following activities:
Agora Film Market
The Agora Film Market promotes the majority of the feature films participating in the official sections of the Festival. Additionally, more titles from the countries that the Agora focuses on are presented, even if they are not part of the festival’s main program. In this way, they will have the opportunity to find their way to other international film festivals, sales agents and distributors. The Agora Film Market also includes previous films by the Crossroads participants and a selection of Greek films produced within the last year.
Crossroads Co-Production Forum
Crossroads chooses projects based on the quality of the script, the creative team and the likelihood of their being produced. Crossroads aims to support the producers of feature-length film projects that are linked to Central Europe, the Mediterranean or Balkan countries.
Agora Works in Progress
This industry activity gives the opportunity to selected sales agents, distributors, and festival programmers from all over the world to be the first to discover feature films from the Mediterranean and Balkan countries, in the stage just before completion.
Agora Talks
New directors and producers get the opportunity to learn from renowned film professionals. A day full of discussions where people who wish to establish themselves in the industry can exchange ideas, methods, and approaches about the development of the audiovisual sector.
Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International
Thessaloniki International Film Festival in collaboration with Locarno Film Festival launched in 2016 the Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International in Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean. The Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International is a training program created to help young professionals of the cinema industry –sales agents, distributors, and new media professionals– to extend their experience and networking in the fields of international sales, marketing, distribution and programming.
Meet the Future
A new initiative of the Thessaloniki IFF and the Agora that focuses on the younger generation of Greek filmmakers.
Awards
The films of the International Competition program are eligible for the Best Full-length Feature Film Award “Theo Angelopoulos” (Golden Alexander, 15.000 euros cash prize), the Special Jury Award (Silver Alexander, 8.000 euros cash prize), the Special Jury Award for Best Director (Bronze Alexander), the Best Actor and Actress Awards, and the Best Artistic Achievement or Screenplay Award. The awards are selected by a five-member international jury.
The Best Full-length Feature Film Award (Golden Alexander, 3.000 euros cash prize) is bestowed on a film competing at the “Meet the Neighbors” competition section, awarded by a three-member international jury.
The Best VR Film award (accompanied by a 3.000 euros cash prize) is awarded to the best film in the VR Competition Section.
Independent juries hand parallel awards, including the “Mermaid Award” for the best LGBTQI-themed film, the Youth Jury Awards, the “Human Values Award” granted by the Hellenic Parliament, the awards of the Greek Film Center, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Award, the “J.F. Costopoulos Foundation Award” for a Greek film holding its premiere at the festival, and the “WIFT GR Award” for the best woman’s contribution and presence in front or behind the camera.
Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos (Greek: Θεόδωρος Αγγελόπουλος; was a Greek filmmaker, screenwriter and film producer. He dominated the Greek art film industry from 1975 on, and Angelopoulos was one of the most influential and widely respected filmmakers in the world. He started making films in 1967. In the 1970s he made a series of political films about modern Greece.
The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organization behind the film festival is also a permanent destination for film culture operating out of the TIFF Lightbox cultural centre, located in Downtown Toronto.
The cinema of Greece has a long and rich history. Though hampered at times by war or political instability, the Greek film industry dominates the domestic market and has experienced international success. Characteristics of Greek cinema include a dynamic plot, strong character development and erotic themes. Two Greek films, Missing (1982) and Eternity and a Day (1998), have won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Five Greek films have received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Eleni Karaindrou is a Greek composer. She is best known for scoring the films of the Greek director Theo Angelopoulos.
The Locarno Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, short, avant-garde, and retrospective programs. The Piazza Grande section is held in an open-air venue that seats 8,000 spectators.
Ulysses' Gaze is a 1995 internationally co-produced war drama film directed by Theo Angelopoulos, loosely based on Homer's epic poem Odyssey, and starring Harvey Keitel, Maia Morgenstern and Erland Josephson.
The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival is an international documentary festival held every March in Thessaloniki, Greece. TDF, founded in 1999, features competition sections and ranks among the world's leading documentary festivals. Since 2018, TDF is one of the 28 festivals included in the American Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival List. TDF is organized by the Thessaloniki Film Festival cultural institution, which further organizes the annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival, held every November. French producer Elise Jalladeu is TDF's general director; film critic Orestes Andreadakis serves as its director.
GiorgosArvanitis is a Greek cinematographer.
The 28th Cannes Film Festival took place from 9 to 23 May 1975. French actress Jeanne Moreau served as jury president for the main competition.
The Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival, often referred to by the German-language initialism IFFMH, is an annual film festival established in 1952 hosted jointly by the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg, the southwest region of Germany.
The Transilvania International Film Festival is the first international feature film festival in Romania, which is held annually in the historic capital of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca. Founded in 2002 by the Romanian Film Promotion, TIFF has grown rapidly to become the most important film-related event in Romania. It is a member of the Alliance of Central and Eastern European Film Festivals (CentEast) and it is supported by the Creative Europe – MEDIA Programme. In February 2011, TIFF has been accredited by the FIAPF as a "competitive festival specialised on first and second feature films". Indiewire listed it as one of the world's top 50 leading film festivals.
Angeliki Antoniou is a Greek film director, screenwriter and producer. She studied architecture in Greece and film direction at the German Film and Television Academy in Berlin. She works as scriptwriter and director in Greece and in Germany. In 2006 she taught film direction at the Film School of University in Thessaloniki. She lives in Athens and Berlin. She has directed feature films and documentaries which have been screened and awarded in prestigious international festivals and distributed world-wide.
Dito Tsintsadze is a Georgian film director and screenwriter. He has directed thirteen films since 1988. His film Lost Killers was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. In 2007 he was a member of the jury at the 29th Moscow International Film Festival. Starting from the year 1996 he lives and works in Berlin.
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Angeliki Papoulia is a Greek actress and theatre director. In film, she is most notable for her roles in Dogtooth, Alps and The Lobster by Yorgos Lanthimos, and A Blast and The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea by Syllas Tzoumerkas. For her part in Dogtooth she was awarded with a Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actress.
A Blast, is a 2014 film directed by Syllas Tzoumerkas about a woman's disillusionment and revolt in the frame of the Greek financial crisis. The film stars Angeliki Papoulia, Vassilis Doganis, Maria Filini, Themis Bazaka, Makis Papadimitriou and Yorgos Biniaris.
Ray & Liz is a 2018 British drama film written and directed by Richard Billingham in his feature debut. The film retells Billingham's troubled childhood growing up in a Black Country council flat during the Thatcher era. It focuses "on his parents Ray and Liz, their relationship, and its impact on Richard and his younger brother Jason." Billingham, a photographer, previously published the book Ray's a Laugh (1996), with photographs of his family at the time depicted in the film.
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