64th Thessaloniki Film Festival | The culture platform of gov.gr beta

At the 64th FKTH, 270 feature and short films will be screened at the Olympian and Pavlos Zannas theaters, at the Limanio theaters, Frida Liappa, Tonia Marketakis, John Cassavetes, Stavros Tornes, as well as at the Makedonikon cinema. At the same time, we also watch 79 films online, through the Festival’s digital platform online.filmfestival.gr.

BIG NAMES IN THESSALONIKI

– The Festival welcomes the shining star of world cinema, Monica Belluccito which an honorary Golden Alexander will be awarded.

– The two-time Oscar-winning director will be in Thessaloniki, Alexander Paynefor the presentation of his new film The Children of Winter/ The Holdovers.

– The director of major television hits worldwide (Six Feet Under, Game of Thrones, True Detective etc.), Jeremy Ponteswawill give an exciting masterclass.

– The great performer Haris Alexiouwill be an ambassador of the Festival Market this year.

– The Festival organizes a tribute and awards an honorary Golden Alexander to Nikos Perakis.

POSTER AND TRAILER

The poster of the 64th FKTH is signed by the visual artist Vasilis Selimaswhile the Festival spot was created by the award-winning director Thanasis Neofotistos.

START FILM – END FILM

– The curtain will open it Thursday, November 2, 2023 with the film On fire by Franco-Vietnamese director Tran An Hung, who won the Best Director Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

– The curtain of the event will fall on Sunday, November 12, 2023with the screening of the film Fallen leaves by beloved Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismäki, who won the Jury Prize at Cannes.

BIG TRIBUTE TO GHOSTS AND EXPOSURE

Ghosts invisible yet visible, terrifying yet familiar, real yet allegorical will star in the grand tribute, curated by the New York Film Festival’s artistic director and internationally renowned film critic, Dennis Lim, as guest curator. More specifically, the great tribute of the Festival includes:

⇨ 33 short and feature films, gems of world cinema.

⇨ The exhibition entitled “F NDASM TA” with works by Nikos Kessanlis, Vlasis Kaniaris, Silias Daskopoulos and Jason Molfesis and with photographic comments by Dimitris Tsoumplekas.

⇨ A special bilingual edition of the Festival with texts and analyzes by cinema theorists and creators.

TRIBUTE TO TAKI KANELLOPOULOS

– The unique, poetic cinematic vision of the great director Takis Kanellopoulos unfolds in the great tribute organized by the Festival, which includes nine films by the Thessalonian filmmaker.

– As part of the tribute, award-winning historian and author Mark Mazauer, director of Columbia University’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Public Humanities Initiative (SNFPHI) will be in Thessaloniki for a special discussion after the screening of the film Heaven. The discussion will be live streamed from the social media of the Festival and SNFPHI.

– The tribute is framed by an original exhibition-installation entitled “Takis Kanellopoulos: I Dream of a Trip” about the film and literary work of Takis Kanellopoulos.

TRIBUTE AND GOLDEN ALEXANDER TO NIKO PERAKIS

The Festival honors Nikos Perakis, one of the most distinctive and bold voices of contemporary Greek cinema, with the Golden Alexander award for his entire contribution from the great German filmmaker Volker Schlendorf, with whom they have collaborated in the past. At the same time, he is organizing a tribute that includes five of his films as a director and production designer, while the Greek Cinema & Television Study Laboratory (EMEKT) of the Film Department of AUTH will organize a seminar on Nikos Perakis, in which important personalities from the academic field will speak.

THE FESTIVAL HONORES THE MEMORY OF MICHEL DIMOPOULOS

The Festival honors the memory of Michel Dimopoulos, with a series of initiatives and actions.

– Renames the Golden Alexander of the enhanced and expanded Meet the Neighbors+ segment to “Golden Alexander – Michel Dimopoulos”.

– Organizes a special screening of the film The Spirit of the Bee by Victor Erithe in memory of Michel Dimopoulos.

– He dedicates the issue of the Festival magazine, First shotto him and his texts.

STORYTELLING TRIBUTE AND MEET THE FUTURE

The “storytellers” of the small and big screen star in the Festival’s tribute, entitled Storytelling. Top writers and screenwriters share their experiences, thoughts and secrets, through a series of masterclasses aimed at creating a bridge between film and television scriptwriting. Masterclasses will be given by: Jeremy Pontesois, Panagiotis Christopoulos, Dora Masklavanou, Demosthenes Papamarkos, Ruth Atkinson. At the same time, the Meet the Future action presents five up-and-coming screenwriters from Greece, in the context of Storytelling.

TRIBUTE REFLECTIONS OF TOPOS

The first thematic orientation of the Survey Expanded section, which continues and expands the considerations of the beloved Balkan Survey, will be entitled Reflections of Topos and traces aspects of south-eastern Europe as a geographical and symbolic place, as inscribed in the work of an emerging, dynamic generation of artists.

GREEK FILM FESTIVAL

Welcome to the 64th FKTH 35 feature length and 22 short Greek films.

– Twenty-three films in first screening, in “Official First” and “Crossing Borders”

– Special screening by the Festival and Finos Film in memory of Mary Chronopoulou.

– Award-winning short films from the 46th International Drama Short Film Festival will also be screened.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

The 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival hosts four international competition sections, which are accompanied by significant cash prizes.

* A total of 11 films participate in the International Competition, among them three Greek ones. The films are vying for: the Golden Alexander “Theodoros Angelopoulos” which comes with a cash prize of 10,000 euros, the Silver Alexander – Directing Award, supported by a cash prize of 5,000 euros from COSMOTE TV, Male and Female Performance Awards, Screenplay or Artistic Achievement Award.

* In the competition section Meet the Neighbors+we see 11 films, among them two Greek ones. The films compete for the Golden Alexander “Michel Dimopoulos”, an award that comes with a cash prize of 10,000 euros, for the Silver Alexander – Directing Award that comes with a cash prize of 5,000 euros, Best Actor and Best Actress awards and the Screenplay or Artistic Achievement Award.

* The competitive section >>Film Forward consists of 11 films, among them two Greek ones. The films compete for the Golden Alexander with a cash prize of 8,000 euros and the Silver Alexander – Special Prize of the Jury, which comes with a cash prize of 4,000 euros.

* For another year, Mastercard supports with a cash prize of 3,000 Mermaid Award.

* The competitive section Immersive returns strongly, hosting 8 films, which are vying for the section’s Golden Alexander, which is accompanied by a cash prize of 2,000 euros.

* We discover the most dynamic and innovative cinema in Open Horizonsas well as in the section Open Horizons – Another Take.

* We meet our favorite creators on Special Screenings.

* We give midnight appointments in the zone ‘Round Midnight.

* The 64th FKTH listens to the voices of young people through the NextGen section. As part of the department, he presents morning educational screenings for schools in the Stavros Tornes hall (Warehouse 1, Port), but also in Stavroupoli and Sykies in collaboration with the Municipalities of Pavlos Mela and Neapolis-Sykies respectively.

* This year, as part of the film festival alliance Smart7the Festival will host a competition section, where seven films are vying for the Smart7 prize, which comes with a cash prize of 5,000 euros.

HARIS ALEXIOU AMBASSADOR OF THE MARKET

– Ambassador of the Agora this year is the great performer Haris Alexiou, who after conquering the top of the Greek song in recent years impresses us with her performances in the theater and on television.

– The Agora Series, the new initiative of the Agora launched last year, returns renewed with a rich two-day program.

– This year, professionals will have the opportunity to participate in innovative actions and initiatives aimed at the future and the support of young creators.

– The projects that participate in the Market claim important prizes that offer either cash prizes or services in kind.

PODCAST SECTION

Ten Greek- and English-language podcasts participate in the Festival’s Podcast Competition, while another 19 podcasts participate in the Nexus section. The public will have the opportunity to listen to all the podcasts participating in the Festival in the specially designed Podcast Room, at the Thessaloniki Film Museum, with free admission. The podcasts of the competition section claim the Best Podcast Award, amounting to 2,000 euros. At the same time, the creators of podcasts aged 25-35, both from the Podcast Competition and from the Nexus section, claim the ENS Louis Lumière Award – French Institute of Greece for Emerging Audio Documentary Creator. All podcasts will, as always, be available for listening through the Festival website, www.filmfestival.gr.

accessibility

For the second year, the Alpha Bank Accessibility Award will be awarded. The €3,000 prize is awarded to either a personality or a film that highlights issues of unhindered access to the arts. In the framework of the 64th FKTH two legendary films of Greek cinema will be screened with conditions of universal accessibility: the Heaven of Takis Kanellopoulos and the Life + state by Nikos Perakis.

FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE FESTIVAL

The Thessaloniki Film Festival, utilizing the experience of the Evia Film Project, aims to become more sustainable every year, reducing its environmental footprint and raising public awareness of the goal of sustainability. This year, in a period of intense climate changes and unprecedented phenomena that affect the lives of all of us, and with the aim of intensifying its efforts to become as “green” as possible, the Festival is introducing a green fee of 10 euros for the accredited ones and undertakes to channel the amount that will be collected into sustainability actions that it is already implementing. Even the smallest steps can bring big changes.

SPECIAL EDITIONS

The Festival presents three special editions:

– The special bilingual edition for Ghosts.

– The beloved and innovative A-Catalog.

– A special edition of the Festival in collaboration with the production company Marni Films for the work of the multidimensional storyboard artist Giorgos Tassiolas.

The 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival is being held with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the ESPA program of the PEP K. Macedonia 2021-2027 and the MEDIA program. The support of ERT, official communication sponsor of the Festival, COSMOTE TV, Major Sponsor of the Festival, Alpha Bank, accessibility sponsor, Mastercard, official payment card, Aegean, official air carrier, Fischer, sponsor of audience awards, and Jameson.

The actions of the Thessaloniki Film Festival are implemented with the support of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

The Festival program, as well as more information about the films, is available at www.filmfestival.gr. Ticket pre-sale has started. Happy viewing!