One of the first festivals in a worldwide scale to explore the affinities between podcasts and cinema, the Podcast section of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which has been crowned great with success, becoming an integral part of the Festival programme, is back in action. In this year’s edition, the audience will have the chance to listen live to the 29 podcasts taking part in the Festival, both in the Podcast Competition and the newly established Nexus subsection, in the specially configured venue of the Podcast Room (Thessaloniki Cinema Museum) for the entire 10-day duration of the Festival. In addition, as always, listeners from all over Greece and abroad will be able to listen freely to all podcasts of the 64th TIFF, celebrating their world premiere, at filmfestival.gr.
Personal testimonies both heart-wrenching and exciting, historical documents that come to light, recountings on iconic art and culture personalities, issues of women’s emancipation and gender-based oppression, tales for children, sci-fi stories that introduce us to distant worlds, podcasts of journalistic and sociological research, folklore traditions, customs and practices that resurface through unique sound journeys, take part in the Podcast section of the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
Ten podcasts have their eyes set on the Best Podcast Award, accompanied by a 2,000-euro cash prize. The members of this year’s jury are: Katerina Bakogianni, journalist-co-founder of Melon Media-Head of Podcasts of Alter Ego Media-Persefoni Miliou, film director-sound designer-sound mixer, Dimitris Vrachnos, programme director at the 99.2 Melodia radio station-radio producer
In collaboration with the ENS Louis Lumière and the French Institute of Greece, the participants in the Podcast sections of the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (March 2024), aged 25-35m, are eligible for the ENS Louis Lumière – French Institute of Greece Award for Upcoming Audio Documentary Creator. The recipient of this award will have the chance to attend the six-week Sound Documentary International Summer Programme hosted by ENS Louis Lumière, addressed to young and upcoming professionals of the audiovisual field (creators of blogs, podcasts or any other audio project).
Podcast Competition
Nine Greek-speaking and one English-speaking podcasts have their eyes set on the Best Podcast Award of the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, accompanied by a 2,000-euro cash prize. The audience will have the chance to hear all podcasts taking part in this year’s Festival both onsite, at the specially configured venue of the Podcast Room of the Thessaloniki Cinema Museum, and online, through the Festival’s website.
00.00
Podcaster: Thanasis Tatavlalis. Production: Monk Production / Stavros Svigkos. Script: Thanasis Tatavlalis. Original Music: Kostis Kontos. Sound engineering: Simos Papadopoulos, Iasonas Ikonomou. Sound editing: Kostis Kontos. Narration: Andreas Konstantinou, Sophia Kokkali. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 21’
In this crime story, time is the moral perpetrator. Every time the clock strikes 00.00 the ecstasy and the nightmare begins. The zero, sometimes like an open mouth that screams, sometimes like an open mouth half asleep and sometimes like a colorful button that invites the hero to a nightmarish katabasis. There, he is only carrying a very long gray coat on his shoulders, a small pot in his hand and a broken electric clock that sometimes flashes inside a dream and sometimes locks him up in a prison. Zero, a fuel. Never burns. Ashes.
5, 4-3-2-1
Podcaster: Anastasios Nikolopoulos. Production: Anastasios Nikolopoulos. Script: Anastasios Nikolopoulos. Sound editing: Anastasios Nikolopoulos. Narration: Anastasios Nikolopoulos. Visual Identity: Vaggelis Margaritis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
The 5 on the sign has haunted me. Each time a different victim in the room of the antique shop. What do these numbers mean anyway? When will the torture stop? I don't remember anything...
Βy his side as long as it lasts
Podcaster: Dafni Anesti, Danai Dragonea. Production: KATHE MIA ISTORIA, Dafni Anesti, Danai Dragonea. Script: Dafni Anesti, Danai Dragonea. Sound engineering: Vasilis Tsigkris. Sound editing: Vasilis Tsigkris. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
Ada Polyzou explains how she has organized her life to be able to cope with the care of her elderly father and the demands of her business. She shares her daily life with this loved one who suffers from dementia and the shape of their relationship today.
Invisible Women: Evanthia Kairis
Podcaster: Anastasia Koumidou / National Museum of History. Production: National Museum of History (funded by “John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation”) / MAGMA. Script: Anastasia Koumidou. Original Music: Theodoros Lotis. Sound engineering: Victor Mastela. Sound editing: Victor Mastela, Theodoros Lotis, Kostis Tsiahas. Narration: Maria Zormpa, Kostis Mperikopoulos, Giorgos Krontiris, Vaggelis Papadakis, Anastasia Koumidou, Anastasios Nikolopoulos. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 26’
In 1799, amidst a patriarchal society, despotically controlled by men, a woman came to life. She managed to cultivate her mind, obtain global scholarship and acute social awareness. She flourished as a translator, a playwright, an intellectual, and a teacher. Her name is Evanthia Kairis.
Marching with the exceptions
Podcaster: Stamna Katerina, Stamnas Anastasios. Production: Stamna Katerina, Stamnas Anastasios. Script: Stamna Katerina, Stamnas Anastasios. Original Music: Dimitris Moutousidis. Sound engineering: Dimitris Moutousidis. Sound editing: Dimitris Moutousidis. Narration: Andreas Ntouskas. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 22’
Antreas Ntouskas’ audio messages saved in messenger. Random, scattered, unrelated. Sometimes contradictory, messy, annoying. “Unsavory” messages that trouble you. Walks in the city, politics, quarantine, work, psychotherapy, relationships, they are all intertwined. All together march with the exceptions...
Mega Stories - Transplant Stories
Podcaster: Konstantis Fragkopoulos. Production: MEGA TV. Script: Dora Anagnostopoulou. Sound engineering: Vasilis Gkionakis. Sound editing: Alexandros Alevras, Aphroditi Tavri. Narration: Dora Anagnostopoulou. Research: Iliana Danezi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 30’
Waiting, hope, frustration, supreme pain, redemption, death, new life. Words completely intertwined with organ donation and transplantation, the act of absolute love and generosity from person to person. Organ donation is a response to death, it is the victory of life and this is something that the people who talk to us here know very well.
Persistence of Memory
Podcaster: Courtney Hope Therond, Rhiannon Ciara Vaughn. Production: Courtney Hope Therond, Rhiannon Ciara Vaughn. Script: Courtney Hope Therond, Rhiannon Ciara Vaughn. Narration: Angelique Cabral, Baron Vaughn, Fryda Wolff, Aida Rodriguez, Cristela Alonso. Language: English. USA, 2022, 22’
Parents must unite to find their missing oldest child, but their grief threatens to tear the family apart and leave their surviving daughter behind. Persistence of Memory is a fictional podcast that blends authentic performances with immersive and experimental soundscapes.
The History of Tinsmithing
Podcaster: Lithadioti Natalia. Production: Lithadioti Natalia. Script: Lithadioti Natalia. Sound engineering: Lithadioti Natalia. Sound editing: Lithadioti Natalia. Narration: Lithadioti Natalia, Lithadiotis Giorgos. Language: Greek. Greece, 2022-23, 27’
The podcast describes the history of the last tinsmith of Skopelos. Through the storytelling of Mr. Lithadiotis, times when this art bloomed come alive, amidst a period without electricity in every home. When people used his lanterns and all other metal devices they constructed.
Through local eyes: Pagan lore of rural Thessaly
Podcaster: Panos Tsamouras. Production: Panos Tsamouras. Script: Chrisostomos Tsaprailis. Original Music: Panos Tsamouras. Sound editing: Panos Tsamouras. Narration: Eleni Kokkidou, Alexandra Stamouli, Konstantinos Tsonis. Song: Sevi Vletsi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
A journey starting in Athens and ending in Thessaly. The travelers record the confessions of the locals who interpret nature through their own eyes. Chrysostomos Tsaprailis' book Pagan lore of rural Thessaly comes to life through the narration of three actors and the original musical composition by Panos Tsamouras.
The Humming of the Moon
Podcaster: Tasos Theofilatos. Production: Tasos Theofilatos. Script: Tasos Theofilatos. Original Music: Tasos Theofilatos. Sound editing: Tasos Theofilatos. Narration: Tasos Theofilatos. Starring as Alex: Thanos Grivas. Starring as Mia: Maria Kirozi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
A new moon on the horizon that hums to those who are willing to listen, only to discover that the wonders of the universe are right beside us.A musical miniature about Alex, Mia and little Lux, who search for the essence and simplicity of life into the enchanted night.
Podcast - Nexus
The newly established Nexus subsection hosts eighteen Greek-speaking and one English-speaking podcasts, which stood out for their thematics, technique, as well as the optimal use of all podcast tools. The audience will have the chance to hear all podcasts taking part in this year’s Festival both onsite, at the specially configured venue of the Podcast Room of the Thessaloniki Cinema Museum, and online, through the Festival’s website.
2084: Α future tale
Podcaster: Konstantis Christou. Script: Konstantis Christou. Narration: Giannis Mavropoulos, Despo Pirtsiou. Dramaturgical editing: Danai Theodoridou. Graphic design: Magda Dimou. Language: Greek. Greece, 2021, 27’
One morning in the year 2084, our hero wakes up in an entirely different reality where AI operating systems have overthrown the preexisting system of government and established a classless society for… the betterment of humanity and the planet.
Alpine Zone
Podcaster: Kostis Tsiahas. Production: Valentini Margaritopoulou. Script: Kostis Tsiahas. Original Music: Kostis Tsiahas. Sound engineering: Kostis Tsiahas. Sound editing: Kostis Tsiahas. Narration: Kostis Tsiahas. Script translated by Mr. Emilios Chourmouzios. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 21’
Alpine Zone is based on Lawrence Durrell's work, Alexandrian Quartet, a tetralogy of novels published between 1957 and 1960. It is a selection- distillation of words from the translation of Emilios Chormouzios, combined with three personal recordings. A hypothetical interview from an invisible imagination.
Between two centuries
Podcaster: Styliani Alisanoglou. Sound engineering: Styliani Alisanoglou. Sound editing: Styliani Alisanoglou. Narration: Styliani Alisanoglou, Ioulieta-Victoria Karapiperidi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 21’
A mother's conversation with her nine-year-old daughter, as the little one realizes that her mom has lived half of her life in the previous century and she is now living the second half in this century. The little girl would like to discuss with her the differences and similarities about the things she is concerned about, regarding life then and life today.
(bite-sized history) the unlucky Βaltic fleet
Podcaster: Apostolos Markos Kostoulis. Production: Apostolos Markos Kostoulis, Municipal Radio of Larissa. Script: Apostolis Markos Kostoulis. Sound engineering: Konstantinos Tiganis. Sound editing: Konstantinos Tiganis. Narration: Apostolis Markos Kostoulis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 21’
A satirical podcast on world history.
Fenomena
Podcaster: Vasia Aletra. Production: Vasia Aletra. Script: Vasia Aletra. Sound engineering: Vasia Aletra. Sound editing: Vasia Aletra. Narration: Vasia Aletra. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
The Fenomena are a snapshot of the evolution of the feminist movement from the 19th century to present day. From the suffragettes to artificial intelligence applications, reality calls for feminists to equip themselves and develop an ideology that supports feminist interventions in the networks of the modern world.
Human R-Evolution
Podcaster: Theodora Tsakiridi, Georgios Kamtziridis. Script: Theodora Tsakiridi. Original Music: Lazaros Matsouliadis. Sound engineering: Lazaros Matsouliadis. Sound editing: Lazaros Matsouliadis. Narration: Magda Alliou, Giorgos Kamtziridis, Sofianos Pesiridis, Dimitris Zisopoulos, Anastasia Loule, Liana Ouggrinou, Stefanos Giaremis, Theodora Tsakiridi, Ilias Dimakis, Anna Rahovitsa, Maria Ziakou, Konstantina Eksarhou, Despo Pirtsiou. Visual Identity: Vicky Katrantzi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 23’
A group of friends try to imagine what a dystopian society would be like, each taking on a role. Is our world far from the dystopian version they imagine? Quiet! A futuristic society is being prepared!
Mama Mou (my mom): It's a boy
Podcaster: Maria Petridi. Production: Maria Petridi. Script: Maria Petridi. Sound engineering: Dimitris Ntafis. Sound editing: Dimitris Ntafis, Maria Petridi. Narration: Maria Petridi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 22’
Boys don't cry. Boys don't lose. They don't get hurt. They hurt others. Women.The weaker ones. Maria Petridi , mother of a 3-year-old boy, has no doubt in her mind that in order to stop violence against women (and not only women) we have to change the way we raise boys.
My Grandfather, the Gastarbeiter
Podcaster: Katerina Margaritopoulou, Eugenia Moustaka. Production: POLIISTORIES. Script: Katerina Margaritopoulou. Sound engineering: Menelaos Eksioglou. Sound editing: Menelaos Eksioglou. Narration: Dimitris Margaritopoulos, Katerina Margaritopoulou, Eugenia Moustaka. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
The true story of a Greek immigrant in the 1960s unfolding through personal narration. The everyday life of Dimitris Margaritopoulos during his stay as a gastarbeiter in Germany in the time of the Greek Junta. Friendships, experiences and difficulties of a student in a foreign country in a paradoxically humorous interview.
Photoreporters_GR
Podcaster: Sophia Irini Sopiadou. Production: Sophia Irini Sopiadou. Script: Sophia Irini Sopiadou. Sound engineering: Sophia Irini Sopiadou. Sound editing: Sophia Irini Sopiadou. Narration: Sophia Irini Sopiadou. Production supervision: Tzina Georgiadou-School of Journalism and Mass Media Communication AUTH. Sound processing: Lazaros Vrisis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 22’
In this podcast five photo reporters that live and work in Thessaloniki and are currently starting their careers in the field, express their opinions about their profession and especially about some difficulties such as sexism, danger and citizen journalism.
POLISTORIES: Rebetika and sephardic songs and Stella Haskil.
Podcaster: Katerina Zahou. Production: Katerina Zahou. Script: Katerina Zahou. Original Music: Nikos Kapantzakis. Sound engineering: Menios Eksioglou. Sound editing: Menios Eksioglou. Narration: Katerina Zahou. Visual Identity: Maita Chatziioannidou & loopo studio. Texts’ editing: Stavroula Tsiara. Website administration: Fotini Patinari. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
Rebetika and Sephardic songs at the beginning of the 20th century. Odeon's first recordings, the café of Peter Nedos and the “Seviliana” of Salonika, singer Stella Haskil.
Social Media: Me and my other Self!
Podcaster: Manina Parara. Production: Georgios Delikostas, Hellenic Institute of Systemic Constellations Bert Hellinger. Original Music: Anna Maria Katsanevaki, Eleftherios Pitsiavas, Ioannis Logothetis. Sound engineering: Georgios Delikostas. Sound editing: Georgios Delikostas. Narration: Georgios Delikostas. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 25’
As I read posts and comments on social media as an observer, I tried in vain to explain to friends how much we change within them! That personal, under blinkers defense of each one of us, was the generative cause of a certain Mr. Leonidas, so that through an apparently related plot – aimed at personal disengagement – he becomes our awakening mirror!
Songlines with Jimmy Trash Episode 2: Rebetiko, part 1
Podcaster: Jimmy Trash / James Cameron. Script: Jimmy Trash. Narration: Jimmy Trash, Thanasis Tavtalis. Language: English. Greece-Germany, 2023, 30’
Songlines with Jimmy Trash is a new podcast about flashpoints in history where music, politics and culture are inseparable. This second episode is the beginning of a series about the political and traumatic history of rebetiko music, through the filter of an outsider in love with this music.
Sounds and whispers, human roots
Podcaster: Konstantina Stavropoulou. Production: Educational Research Center. Script: Konstantina Stavropoulou. Original Music: Konstantina Stavropoulou. Sound engineering: Konstantina Stavropoulou. Sound editing: Konstantina Stavropoulou. Narration: Manolis Chrisoulakis, Konstantina Stavropoulou. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 24’
An exploration of humanity in the plateau of Armenochantrades, encountering the tomb of poet Dionysios Solomos' ancestors. Guided by a local's rich life and experiences, Solomos' verses sketch the landscape, while the soundscapes, combined with traditional instruments, create the auditory sensation.
Spiral
Podcaster: Konstantinos Kasidakis. Script: Konstantinos Kasidakis. Original Music: Konstantinos Kasidakis, Vradypnea. Sound engineering: Konstantinos Kasidakis. Sound editing: Konstantinos Kasidakis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 30’
Spiral: a curve that draws an object as it spins around its center while getting away from it. Images, thoughts and music from a journey that seemed like any other, but it turned out it was not.
Tear Tank Or Aquatic
Podcaster: Eleni Passa. Production: Eleni Passa. Script: Eleni Passa. Original Music: Eleni Passa. Narration: Eleni Passa. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 22’
In memory of my mother. Tears-Water-Embryo. A short story about the gift of life.
The Elephant In The Room: House Hunting Stories
Podcaster: Katerina Anastasiou, Christos Kapenis. Production: MASH (Katerina Anastasiou & Christos Kapenis) Original Music: Katerina Anastasiou. Sound engineering: Katerina Anastasiou. Sound editing: Katerina Anastasiou. Narration: Katerina Anastasiou, Christos Kapenis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 25’
This art podcast is edited as an audio-performance of nine real heroes who narrate their personal stories from house hunting in Greece. What problems do they face? What are their homes like? Who is the elephant in the room, or which elephant never managed to fit in?
The lives of others
Podcaster: Vasilis Zabikos. Production: Vasilis Zabikos. Script: Vasilis Zabikos. Original Music: Vasilis Zabikos. Sound engineering: Vasilis Zabikos. Sound editing: Vasilis Zabikos. Narration: Vasilis Zabikos, Aris Messinis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 27’
Aris Messinis, award-winning photojournalist and war correspondent, talks about his life,photography and stories from the front.
The Voice
Podcaster: Eleni Dangelo. Co-podcusters: Alexandra Theodoraki, Dimitris Sakalis. Production: Eleni Dangelo, Alexandra Theodoraki, Dimitris Sakalis. Sound editing: Alexandra Theodoraki. Narration: Eleni Dangelo. Visual Identity / Graphic Design: Sakalis Dimitris. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 22’
The Voice has no gender like the characters in the story. It is a mirror of consciousness, an anger and potential catharsis. The Voice is a fiction podcast, a play of sound and emotion. Listening with headphones is recommended.
Who is afraid of Mrs. Dalloway?
Podcaster: Katerina Andreadou. Original Music: Eva Matsigkou. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 20’
What kind of insidious literary parasite had infected Virginia Woolf's brain when she was writing Mrs. Dalloway? What is wrong with the realistic novel and why is it not exciting any more? Some thoughts on the eternal unquenchable thirst of female writers and readers for more and more “reality” in storytelling.
