Media / Press

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival presents an International Competition Section. Twelve films of over 70 minutes in length compete for the Golden Alexander and the Silver Alexander Award. The Golden Alexander award is accompanied by a €12,000 cash prize. The Silver Alexander Award is accompanied by a €5,000 cash prize. This year, the International Competition Jury members are: Valerie Kontakos, filmmaker and producer; Rachel Leah Jones, filmmaker and producer; and Sudeep Sharma, festival programmer.

The presentation of the films participating in the Agora Docs in Progress of the 26th TiDF Agora took place on Tuesday March 12th, at Frida Liappa theatre. Agora Docs in Progress has established itself as the main meeting point for documentary films that are in the stage just before their completion. 

The screening of the documentary, Mary, Marianna, Maria – The Unsung Greek Years of Callas, an invaluable recording of the life of the great Greek soprano, but also a testimony of our cultural legacy, took place on Monday, March 11th, at the John Cassavetes theater, in the presence of the filmmakers, Michalis Asthenidis & Vassilis Louras. The film, produced by the Greek National Opera and ESCAPE, and carried out thanks to the support of PPC, the Festival’s new Strategic Partner, and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, was created within the framework of the Year of Callas, dedicated to celebrating the centenary of the legendary soprano’s birth. 

The presentation of the projects taking part in the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum of the 26th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s Agora took place on Monday, March 11th, at John Cassavetes theatre. This year's Thessaloniki Pitching Forum features 12 projects from the wider Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean, highlighting diversity and presenting fascinating human stories.

On Sunday March 10th, a discussion took place in the Green Room with Dimitris Papaioannou, on the occasion of his fully-rounded presence in the 26th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Dimitris Papaioannou signed the Festival’s poster, his video installation Inside, along with the backstage video Backside, are showcased at the MOMus - Experimental Center for the Arts. Eva Stefani’s documentary Bull’s Heart, produced by Onassis Culture, will also be screened at the Festival as a work-in-progress. The film follows Dimitris Papaioannou’s play Transverse Orientation, produced by Onassis Stegi, during its tour on the European stages. In addition, the artist will present his short films Nowhere and Primal Matter on Wednesday March 11th, in Stavros Tornes cinema, at 17:00.

Within the framework of the 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, the interdisciplinary installation Xirómero / Dryland, which will constitute Greece’s participation at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, was unveiled to the public for the first time, on Saturday, March 9th, at Pavlos Zannas theater. The artists Thanasis Deligiannis and Yannis Michalopoulos, responsible for the basic concept of the work, co-creators artists Elia Kalogianni, Yorgos Kyvernitis, Kostas Chaikalis, and Fotis Sagonas, along with the curator, Panos Giannikopoulos, attended the event and spoke about their work.