The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) is a

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

held every November in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It is organized by the

Thessaloniki Film Festival The Thessaloniki Film Festival is a Thessaloniki-based cultural institution focusing on cinema. The Institution organizes the Thessaloniki International Film Festival every November and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival every March, while its ...

under the auspices of the

Greek Ministry of Culture The Ministry of Culture () is the government department of Greece entrusted with preserving the country's cultural heritage and promoting the arts. The incumbent minister is Lina Mendoni, and the deputy minister is . History This ministry ...

. 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 The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF; ) 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 ...

(TDF) in March.

Overview

Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2005 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. The event attracts an audience of more than 80.000. 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 Aristotelous Square (, ), is the main city square of Thessaloniki, Greece, and is located on Nikis Avenue, Nikis avenue (on the city's waterfront), in the city center. It was designed by French people, French architect Ernest Hébrard in 1918, b ...

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 Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a geographical sub-region of Europe, consisting primarily of the region of the Balkans, as well as adjacent regions and Archipelago, archipelagos. There are overlapping and conflicting definitions of t ...

to the

Near East The Near East () is a transcontinental region around the Eastern Mediterranean encompassing the historical Fertile Crescent, the Levant, Anatolia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and coastal areas of the Arabian Peninsula. The term was invented in the 20th ...

; and

Virtual Reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

(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.

History

Theodoros Angelopoulos Athens 26-4-2009-1

The Thessaloniki Film Festival was launched as a national film festival in 1960 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 under the artistic direction of film critic

Michalis Demopoulos Michalis is a Greek masculine given name. People with the name * Michalis Agrimakis (born 1992), Greek footballer * Michalis Alexandropoulos (born 1972), retired Greek male indoor volleyball and beach volleyball player * Michalis Arkadis, Gree ...

. Film director

Theo Angelopoulos Theodoros "Theo" Angelopoulos (; (27 April 1935 – 24 January 2012) 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 respect ...

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 The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

. 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.

Notable guests and tributes

Leading filmmakers that have attended TIFF include

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and

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. Acclaimed actors, actresses and artists who visited TIFF either as guests or as member of the festival juries include

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and Jean Marc Barr. TIFF has held the following tributes to acclaimed auteurs, national cinemas and movements: 60th Festival – 2019

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and

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59th Festival – 2018

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Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien ( zh, t=侯孝賢, poj=Hâu Hàu-hiân; born 8 April 1947) is a retired Mainland Chinese-born Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. He is a leading figure in world cinema and in Taiwan's New Wave cinema mo ...

Patrice Chéreau Vittorio Storaro

Yorgos Panousopoulos Nikos Papatakis, Nico Papatakis Antoinetta Angelidis Park Chan-wook Focus on Cinema of Mexico, Mexican Cinema Focus on Cinema of Denmark, Danish Cinema Focus on Cinema of Ireland, Irish Cinema Kutluğ Ataman Seijun Suzuki Kim Jee-woon 45th Festival – 2004

Víctor Erice, Victor Erice Kiyoshi Kurosawa Katerina Thomadaki & Maria Klonari Kostas Sfikas

Iakovos Kambanellis Manos Zacharias

Movies of Our Time: the Best of the New Argentine Cinema, New Argentine cinema Argentine 2004: Wind of Change Still Blowing New French Cinema New Russian Cinema Hirokazu Kore-eda Götz Spielmann Todd Verow Peter Greenaway 44th Festival – 2003 Wong Kar-wai Otar Iosseliani João César Monteiro Nikos Panayotopoulos Stars of the Steppe Michael Snow Shinya Tsukamoto 43rd Festival – 2002 Marco Bellocchio, Μarco Bellocchio

Bob Rafelson Pantelis Voulgaris Giannis Dalianidis Asian Vision Jaime Humberto Hermosillo Hong Sang-soo, Hong Sang-Soo Shirin Neshat Aurelio Grimaldi 42ο Festival – 2001 John Boorman Dinos Dimopoulos Stavros Tornes Argentinian Cinema: a Time of Changes German Cinema 2000 French Cinema 2000 US Independents 3x3: Stanley Kwan, Rakhshān Banietemad, Jan Hřebejk 41st Festival – 2000 Jerzy Skolimowski Theo Angelopoulos, Theodoros Angelopoulos

New Russian Cinema: after Perestroika Dinos Katsouridis New French Cinema New Austrian Cinema

Paulo Branco 40th Festival – 1999 Pedro Almodóvar Amos Gitai Tonino Guerra Man Ray Cinema of Portugal, Portuguese Cinema: the Portuguese Spring Vasilis Georgiadis, Vassilis Georgiadis US Independents New German Cinema New French Cinema Allison Anders, Alison Anders 39ο Festival – 1998

Jean-Daniel Pollet Akira Kurosawa Asian Vision 3x3: Marcel Grier, François Ozon, Ventura Pons US Independents New French Cinema 38ο Festival – 1997 Claude Chabrol Arturo Ripstein Manoel de Oliveira, Manoel De Oliveira Irene Papas Takis Kanellopoulos Tsai Ming-liang Alexander Sokurov, Aleksandr Sokurov 3x3: Tony Gatlif, Errol Morris, Friðrik Þór Friðriksson, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson Views of the New French Cinema 37ο Festival – 1996

Grigoris Grigoriou Lucian Pintilie 3x3: Jan Svěrák, Sergei Bodrov, Carlo Mazzacurati Peter Greenaway American Independents 36th Festival – 1995 Krzysztof Kieślowski

Frida Liapa Michael Cacoyannis Treasures of Cinema of Iran, Iranian Cinema Mohsen Makhmalbaf American Independents Cine Documenta Sergei Eisenstein 35th Festival – 1994

George Tzavellas, Yorgos Tzavelas Tonia Marketaki Cinema of Russia, Russian Cinema Charles Burnett (director), Charles Burnett Michael Haneke Rainer Werner Fassbinder Sergei Parajanov 34th Festival – 1993 David Cronenberg Hal Hartley Jules Dassin

Pavlos Zannas

Festival sections

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 Festival, 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 LGBT, 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 “Women in Film and Television International, WIFT GR Award” for the best woman’s contribution and presence in front or behind the camera. Further awards are handed by the International Film Critics’ Association (International Federation of Film Critics, FIPRESCI) and the Greek Film Critics Association, Greek Association of Film Critics. Audience Awards are presented to films participating both in the international and the Greek program of the festival.

Award-winning films

I. Thessaloniki Greek Film Festival (1960–1991)

*1960: – *1961: – *1962: ''Electra (1962 film), Electra'', Michael Cacoyannis *1963: ''Young Aphrodites'', Nikos Koundouros *1964: ''Diogmos'', Grigoris Grigoriou *1965: ''No Mr. Johnson'', Michalis Grigoriou (director), Michalis Grigoriou *1966: ''Forgotten Heroes (film), Forgotten Heroes'', Nikos Gardelis *1967: ''Silouettes'', Kostas Zois *1968: ''Parenthesi'', Takis Kanellopoulos/''Girls in the Sun'', Vasilis Georgiadis *1969: ''The Girl of 17'', Petros Lykas *1970: ''Reconstitution (1970 film), Reconstitution'', Theodoros Angelopoulos *1971: ''What Did You Do in the War, Thanasi?'', Dinos Katsouridis *1972: ''To proxenio tis Annas'', Pantelis Voulgaris *1973: ''Lavete Theseis'', Dinos Katsouridis *1974: ''Kierion'', Dimos Theos/''Modelo (film), Modelo'', Kostas Sfikas *1975: ''The Travelling Players'', Theodoros Angelopoulos *1976: ''Happy Day (1977 film), Happy Day'', Pantelis Voulgaris *1977: ''Iphigenia (film), Iphigenial'', Michael Cacoyannis *1978: ''1922 (1978 film), 1922'', Nikos Koundouros *1979: ''Anatoliki Perifereia'', Vasilis Vafeas *1980: ''Alexander the Great (1980 film), Alexander the Great'', Theodoros Angelopoulos *1981: ''Ergostasio'', Tasos Psaras *1982: ''Aggelos (film), Aggelos'', Giorgos Kantakouzenos *1983: ''Rembetiko (film), Rembetiko'', Costas Ferris *1984: ''Loafing and Camouflage'', Nikos Perakis *1985: ''Stone Years'', Pantelis Voulgaris *1986: ''Knock Out (1986 film), Knock Out'', Pavlos Tasios/''Karavan Serai'', Tasos Psaras *1987: ''Theophilos (film), Theophilos'', Lakis Papastathis/''Ta Paidia tis Chelidonas'', Kostas Vrettakos *1988: ''Akatanikitoi erastes'', Stavros Tsiolis *1989: – *1990: ''Erotas sti Chourmadia'', Stavros Tsiolis *1991: –

II. Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Golden Alexander, 1992–present)

References

External links

Thessaloniki International Film Festival
— official website
Photos
— Thessaloniki International Film Festival Flickr Group's Pool

Gallery

File:Ο Γουίλεμ Ντεφόου στο Φεστιβάλ Κινηματογράφου Θεσσαλονίκης στο λιμάνι (2008).jpg, Willem Dafoe at the Thessaloniki Film Festival (2008) File:Ο Βιμ και η Ντονάτα Βέντερς σε έκθεση φωτογραφίας στο πλαίσιο του Φεστιβάλ (2006.jpg, Wim and Donata Wenders at a photo exhibition at TIFF (2006) File:Η Ιζαμπέλ Ιπέρ στον κινηματογράφο Ολύμπιον (2004).jpg, Isabelle Huppert at the Olympion theater (2004) File:Ο Όλιβερ Στόουν με τον Χρυσό Αλέξανδρο ανά χείρας (2008).jpg, Oliver Stone with Golden Alexander in hand File:Ο Τζιμ Τζάρμους υπογράφει αυτόγραφα στο Φεστιβάλ (2015).jpg, Jim Jarmusch signing at the Thessaloniki Film Festival (2015) File:Ο Βέρνερ Χέρτζογκ παραλαμβάνει τον τιμητικό Χρυσό Αλέξανδρο (2009).jpg, Werner Herzog receiving the honorary Golden Alexander (2009) File:Ο Φράνσις Φορντ Κόπολα στη Θεσσαλονίκη (2005).jpg, Francis Ford Coppola at TIFF (2005) File:Ο Αλεξάντερ Πέιν κατά τη διάρκεια συνέντευξης Τύπου στο Φεστιβάλ (2017).jpg, Alexander Payne at a press conference at TIFF (2017) File:Ο Τζον Μάλκοβιτς στο λιμάνι της Θεσσαλονίκης (2007).jpg, John Malkovich at the Thessaloniki port (2007) File:Ο Ζαν Μαρκ Μπαρ μπροστά από την αφίσα του Φεστιβάλ (2017).jpg, Jean Marc Barre before TIFF poster (2017) File:Ο Φατίχ Ακίν σε πάρτι του Φεστιβάλ (2009).jpg, Fatih Akin at a TIFF party (2009)
{{Authority control 1960 establishments in Greece Film festivals established in 1960 Tourist attractions in Thessaloniki Annual events in Thessaloniki Festivals in Thessaloniki, Film Film festivals in Greece Greek film awards