Words of wisdom from John Boorman, kudos for Despo Diamantidou, secrets from international casts and crews...and much more at the 42nd Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

Mingling Dangerously
Today's international competition debuts include Israeli/French coproduction "Late Marriage" (a Georgian eligible bachelor submits to the search for a bride, 3.30pm) and US film "The Mad Songs of Fernanda Hussein" (the Persian Gulf war's effects on three lives, 7pm).

Boorman's Widening Circle
After a packed screening for his classic "Deliverance" on Monday night, director and jury president John Boorman spoke about the past and the future. Humbly referring to himself as a "second-rate director", the artist had rich thoughts to share. He started out by talking about the vital importance of rewriting scripts, reducing their contents to simpler metaphors - as in poetry. But once prepared, the film "must escape the script". When asked about what direction he'd like films to take in the future, Boorman replied that today film still speaks in the language created by DW Griffith (whom he's made a documentary about). While he feels that Spielberg and Lucas hurt cinema by introducing the era of films for teen boys, he hopes for a day when "films will resemble dreams". The power of cinema he feels lies in poetic metaphor and links to the subconscious. A film without a myth as its root is wasted storytelling, according to the director. He's employed the Arthurian legend in his own work, notably in "Excalibur". "I've been traveling the world and finding interesting stories," said the director of his recent projects. While some people are disturbed by his flexibility in place and genre, he craves exploration. In his press conference the director also spoke of the powerful, introverted cinema of Kubrick and the embarrassingly simple plot of "Point Blank". He has at least three new ideas in the works. While he doesn't believe that film can change people's thinking, he is certain it can influence emotional responses to issues. He noted satisfaction that Amazon story "Emerald City", for instance, made some young people take up environmental work.

How Do You Do?
The isolated Greek minority of Albania is a little less forgotten and unknown, after director Maria Mavrikou's "Apeki". The documentary, which was shot over nine tough years and created a 14 million drachma debt, took six months to edit, because the director had 150 hours of footage to work with. She wanted to make sure that she did justice to all the untold stories, Mavrikou explained in yesterday's press conference. She immediately knew this was a story she wanted to carefully tell from her first visit to Albania. "People were scared to speak at first, but opened up with their lives and stories," the director noted. "I didn't want to be political," said Mavrikou, hoping that the film isn't used for nationalist propaganda. Instead, in the prolonged, grueling shooting (often by foot), she became committed to the beauty of the terrain and the interior life of Greeks there.

Surviving Civilization Clashes
Up-and-coming Greek actress Peggy Trikalioti praised "Miss Wonton", a New Horizons survival film by Meng Ong, for leaving her with a smile on her face. In the film, which was somewhat autobiographical, the sex of the character didn't matter, noted the director. What was more critical was the character's experience of moving to New York and trying to make it. It was based on director Ong's experiences, and a tribute to his mother, who immigrated from China to Singapore. He noted: "I wanted to tell an immigrant story, and to apply Chinese mythology to an American context." The film was seven years in the making. Ong compared the difference between the "what's my motivation"-obsessed Caucasian cast with the more-accepting-of-direction Asian actors.

Inside a Woman's Head
Speaking to the press yesterday, director Stratos Tzitzis' cast and crew lauded him for going through even tougher times than his film's heroine in order to make "Rescue Me". The production began without money before "a small miracle" made it all happen. One of the main points of his film, according to the director, is to show that "people need to know when to ask for help". "We female directors are in trouble," added panel host/director Lucia Rikaki, "if men can make films like his, showing what it's like to be a woman so well."

Love's Labors' Gained
There was a lot of love going around on the set of Aliki Danezi-Knutsen's film "Bar", as was revealed at yesterday's press conference. The international cast and crew admitted that shooting in Cyprus and Uruguay was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Danezi-Knutsen was inspired by writer Borges. She first made the Montevideo-Nicosia link when she went to a festival in the Latin American city. She realized that there was a connection having to do with missing people between the two places. It helped, one cast member noted, that everybody in the film (well, almost everybody) was in love at the time. The film is about people who, though absent, are still with us.

Inside the Greek Film Center
After hosting a two-day panel on European film distribution, which involved distributors from around the world, the Greek Film Center spoke to the press about their plans and accomplishments. Center president Diagoras Chronopoulos gave the organization credit for one of the biggest years in Greek film for a long time, yet spoke of plans to rehaul the Center's funding programs. Of the 36 local productions at the festival, 27 were funded by the state organization in some form (amounting to a billion and a half drachmas). The Center goes international with a massive plan for the 2004 Cultural Olympiad, in which five world-renown international directors (from five continents) will make a film each involving Greek mythology. The Center's vice president noted that it was good to see a director who was an outsider while alive, Stavros Tornes, embraced by the festival. A few issues were left hanging, like whether or not the Center should give a little money to a lot of directors - or vice versa, why lauded indie film "Searching for Morphine" wasn't backed, and if Greek films require greater funding.

See and Be Seen
Today's special events include a 12.30 press conference with the festival jury and a homage to Greek actress Despo Diamantidou (at 8.30 in the Pavlos Zannas cinema).

Quote/unquote:
"I'm an explorer really. I like to go to different cultures and explore." Director/Jury President, John Boorman

Angelike Contis
First shot, #98, 14/11/2000