Media / Press

The 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival is pleased to announce its 2025 collaboration with the International Casting Directors Association (ICDA), bringing to the forefront the distinct features, challenges, and crucial importance of the multifaceted art of casting. In collaboration with the ICDA, TIFF will host a series of events as part of its 66th edition. Specifically, the International Casting Directors Association will present its annual award in Thessaloniki, four distinguished guests will deliver masterclasses on the unseen art of casting in the modern era, and a closed workshop will be held for actors selected from the wider region. 

The pioneering competition section Immersive: All around Cinema embraces films that make use of the most up-to-date technologies to unveil different aspects of an extended reality, paving new ways for the perception and interpretation of both the moving image and the art of cinema. The movies taking part in the Immersive section set their eyes on the Golden Alexander Immersive, accompanied by a cash prize of 2,000 euros. 

The new film of the acclaimed and beloved American film director Jim Jarmusch, Father Mother Sister Brother, Golden Lion winner at the recent Venice International Film Festival, will signal the curtain rise for the 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival on October 30th, at the Olympion movie theater. Indya Moore, leading star in the film’s third chapter, will honor the opening ceremony with her presence.

The 66th TIFF hosts for another year its Podcast Section, featuring a total of 40 Greek-speaking and English-speaking podcasts, setting a record number in the section’s history. In particular, 12 podcasts (11 Greek-speaking and one English-speaking) are lining up at the Podcast Competition, setting their eyes on the Best Podcast Award, accompanied by a 2,000-euro cash prize.  In addition, another 28 podcasts (21 Greek-speaking and seven English-speaking) will participate at the Nexus sub-section of the Podcast Section. All podcasts of the 66th TIFF are available for hearing during the entire duration of the Festival (October 30th-November 9th) at the Festival’s website (www.filmfestival.gr). 

A series of renowned names of today’s cinema, with the stunning Festival’s guest of honor Isabelle Huppert as the lineup’s spearhead, will deliver fascinating masterclasses, open to the public, within the framework of the 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The Festival’s masterclasses run through a wide spectrum of topics and themes, shedding light onto the various stages of the filmmaking process and creation: from the fields of acting, cinematography, scenario and the directorial guidance of actors all the way to the subtle mechanisms in the areas of casting, costume designing and stunts.

The spotlight hosted by the 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival re-introduces us to one of the most distinguished and versatile personalities of 20th century French culture. Film director, playwright and (mostly autobiographical) novelist, having achieved an equally stunning acknowledgement and praise in all three areas of his journey as an artist, Marcel Pagnol was the perfect embodiment of a true auteur.