The International Competition section is reserved to first and second films by directors from all over the world. In its ten year history, this section has featured films from countries such as, Albania, Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guinea-Bissau, Hungary, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Slovenia, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States and Yugoslavia.

A considerable number of films have had its world premiere in Thessaloniki: Antoine Desrosieres A la belle etoile, Lucas Belvaux's Pour rire, Peter Wooditsch's Hey Stranger, Jeremy Podeswa's Eclipse; as well as European premieres: Sergei Livnev's Serp I molot, We Nien-jen's Do-san, Alexander Payne's Citizen Ruth, Robert Jan Westdijk's Zusje, Makoto Shinozaki's Okaeri and Shinji Aoyama's Chinpira.

All the films participating in the International Competition section are eligible to compete for the Thessaloniki Festival's main awards. The prizes, awarded by the seven-member international jury, include the Golden Alexander for Best Film (accompanied by a 37.000 Euro cash prize), the Special Jury Award-Silver Alexander (accompanied by 22.000 Euro cash prize), as well as awards for Best Direction, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Actress and Artistic Achievement. The jury is composed of a group of recognized producers, directors, writers, actors and artists.