41st INTERNATIONAL THESSALONIKI FILM FESTIVAL

Launching the 41st International Thessaloniki Film Festival

All Aboard
Whether you are a regular, or here for the first time, the festival welcomes you to ten days of over 150 films. It's tempting to try to watch every film, meet all the festival guests, and celebrate at each city tavern and cafe. But since this is physically impossible, take a long hard look at the scheduled screenings and events, and abandon yourself to the festival flow.

Maiden Voyages
15 films by first-or second- time directors will compete for audience's hearts and the Golden and Silver Alexander prizes. A seven-member international jury is prepared to weigh the merits of films ranging from David Ondricek's comic portrait of Prague twentysomethings ("Loners") and David Gordon Green's story of scarred African American childhoods ("George Washington") to Marziyeh Meshkini's tri-generational look at women in Iran ("The Day I Became A Woman"). Three Greek and Greek-American entries make their world premiere: "The Slow Business of Going", "Ephemeral City" and "Dead End Streets"

Celestial navigation
Theo Angelopoulosologists - film critics, professors and fans alike- will gather in the city for a two day (Nov. 10 - 11) international symposium on the renown director. Fresh prints of the films of Angelopoulos, who is the festival's president, will be screened, as will nine programs about the "making of" the films. Exhibitions with sets, props and costumes as well as photographs will give a look behind the scenes. Two concerts of the music that composer Eleni Karaindrou wrote for the films will top off events at Thessaloniki's Megaro Mousikis (Nov. 15-16).

Travelling Player
One of America's most intense performers - Harvey Keitel - will make his presence felt on Sunday, when he takes the stage for the Angelopoulos symposium, preceding a screening of "Ulysses' Gaze". He will speak to the press and perform in Abel Ferrara's "The Bad Lieutenant", Jane Campion's "The Piano" and Nikolas Roeg's "Bad Timing".

Spotting New Horizons
35 of the festival's wildest films will be found in the section that has made itself popular with young cinephiles, due to its insistence on the cutting edge. Highlights will include films like Liv Ulman's anticipated "Faithless," new Austrian and French cinema and a look at French-Portuguese producer Paolo Branco (who has worked with directors from Chantal Akerman to Wim Wenders). Greek-French director Agnes Varda will receive an honorary Golden Alexander. Night Times screenings promise to spark all-nighters, while "Tzatziki, Mum and the Policeman" is a Scandinavian affair aimed directly at kids. This year, New Horizons inaugurates a new "Explorations" section, with works of first-time directors.

A Trustworthy Vessel Cypriot director Dinos Katsouridis earned his honorary Golden Alexander through fifty years in cinema. He established himself in Athens, in the 1950s, by working on 21 Finos Film projects. He directed his first film in 1960, continuing working in other aspects of the craft, such as director of photography. One of his major accomplishments has been featuring comic Thanassis Vengos in his films. His 1965 film "The Unscrupulous" will be screened.

White Water Cinematic Rafting
For thirty years, Polish director Jerzy Skolimowsky has dared viewers with his provocative films. 16 of his features and 4 shorts will be screened, from 1964's "Rysopis" to 1991's "Thirty Door Key". Jersy Kolat's documentary about him is a good way to meet the director - in case you miss the head of the international jury in a crowded cinema.

Balkan Rapids
The festival has established itself as an annual gathering of the best new works from the region - films that may vary in budget, but not in passion. This year, there are 14 films. The stories are set in villages and cities, and speak with both comedy and violence. Among the treats are the Croatian "Marshal" - in which Tito's ghost appears and spurs a tourist boom.

Captain's Log
The festival opens with Rom director Tony Gatlif's colourfully-scored "Vengo" (followed by a concert by Duende) and ends with Woody Allen's "Small Time Crooks". Along the way, Arturo Ripstein will be present for a spotlight on his work and directors Jean-Daniel Pollet, Aoyama Shinji, Amos Gitai and Hugo Santiaga will display new projects. There will be a special screening of Rick Schmidlin's restoration of "Greed" (by Erich von Stroheim). Among the out-of-competition screenings is the soft-spoken Turkish "Clouds of May".

Post-USSR Straits
10 films offer a look at life in Russia after Perestroika (1989-1999) through the eyes of the country's new creators. Among the diverse works are 1999's "Barracks." In it director Valeri Ogorodnikov weaves together the stories of a host of characters who are crammed into a tight emotional and physical military space.

Navigating Local Waters
From the splashy box office hit "Safe Sex" to the independently-produced and shot-on-video "Polaroid," 21 Greek features from the year 2000 will be highlighted. The Panorama of Greek Film includes premieres of Antonis Kokkinos' "Very Poor, Inc." and George Zafiris' "Ephemeral Town". There will also be 4 documentaries. A handful of short films by Greeks and diaspora Greeks from the annual Drama Short Film Festival will be on display. The entire Greek filmmaking community will have assembled by the time the State Cinema Awards are awarded a day after the festival.

Hand-Crafted Dreams
The playful imagination of artist Mark Hadjipateras offers an escape from movie-going, with his exhibit "Once Upon a Dream". Humour often finds itself in the New York artists' anthropomorphic images, which are made of a blend of materials and new and "found" objects, taken far away from their original, practical uses.

Angelike Contis
First shot, #74, 10/11/2000