Greek Films

  Greek cinema again this year holds a dynamic leading role in the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, remaining for the 56th year at the center of the event’s attention. In its natural vital space – the Thessaloniki film theaters – Greek cinema continues to monopolize, to divide opinions, to raise questions, to take us on journeys, to enchant, to evolve. This year’s program presents recent Greek productions in a diverse panorama of films by distinguished auteurs as well as by young directors. The selection’s main goals are to show, in the most comprehensive way, the new dynamics that are developing in Greek cinema today, and to offer Greek filmmakers the opportunity to communicate their work to the public and to film professionals.
 With an anthropocentric outlook, with sensitivity, with a penchant for experimentation and a distinct way of seeing, Greek filmmakers have managed, despite the increasingly difficult conditions in the Greek film industry, to continue to leave their mark on the world map of cinema.
  At the same time, the Agora and its events consistently remain the most powerful tool of Greek cinema, enabling it to develop the necessary synergies within the international cinema circuit and to promote its work in an integrated and efficient manner.
  This year’s tribute attempts to highlight the Greek approach to a perennial favorite among film genres on a worldwide scale: that of animation. On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the creation of the first Greek animation film and with the invaluable collaboration of ASIFA Hellas (the Greek chapter of the International Animated Film Society), an anthology of 40 animation films by Greek filmmakers will be presented. An anthology which will give Festival audiences the chance to get to know and enjoy the manifold styles of Greek animators, while at the same time encouraging the further evoluton of animation artistically, as well as in terms of its advancement.
  Last but not least, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is honoring Nikos Kavoukidis, a tireless creator, who for the past 60 years has served Greek cinema with devotion and constancy, as a Cinematographer, an Editor, a Director and a Producer. Having lived through all of Greek cinema’s great eras, from the time of the legendary Filopimin Finos, he remains a vital supporter of young filmmakers. An artistic personality who embodies the fervor and passion for creation.