Media / Press

60^th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL || 31/10-10/11/2019

Crossroads Opening

The 15th Crossroads Co-Production Forum of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival Agora opened on Wednesday, November 6th, 2019, in Warehouse C.

Ms. Elise Jalladeau, Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, welcomed the participants to the 15th Forum, to a “professional but at the same time friendly environment”, as she said. The actor Mr. Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, this year’s Agora ambassador, gave his welcome address and talked about the duty of communicating the content and the activities of the Agora entrusted to him and wished all participants good luck.

Ms. Yanna Sarri, Director of the Agora, presented the program of this year’s activities (Agora Τalks, Works in Progress, Film Market, Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International, Meet the Future, EUandMe), along with the new collaboration with the European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA) that conducts its mentoring session for the first time in Thessaloniki.

The work of the Movement of Disabled Artists, collaborating for the third year with the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, was presented by the representative of the Movement Ms. Emmanuella Patiniotaki, who explained that in the framework of the collaboration the Festival’s films are accessible by all, through sign language and subtitles for the hearing impaired and audio description for the visually impaired.

The former Director of the Crossroads Co-Production Forum, Marie-Pierre Macia, passed the torch to her successor, Angeliki Vergou, and noted that she will remain close to the team but in a different role from now on. “I will continue as an artistic advisor, sharing my knowledge and passion”, she stressed. The new Crossroads Director, Ms. Angeliki Vergou said: “We're very happy to announce a partnership with Filmarket Hub, the first online market place dedicated to content in development from Europe and Latin America. This online marketplace connects series and films in development with the film industry players: producers, sales agents, broadcasters, OTT platforms., etc.  We have a joined online representation of the Crossroads Co-production Forum and the Connecting Cottbus projects showcasing the best projects from the region handpicked by the two markets”.

The Crossroads Co-Production Forum selects film projects based on the quality of their scripts, the teams behind them and the likelihood that they will be produced. The goal of Crossroads is to support feature-length film producers coming from Central Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean.

This year’s Crossroads committee consists of French producer Rita Dagher, of Senorita Films; German producer Peter Rommel, of Rommel Productions; and the head of Sofia Meetings, producer Mira Staleva.

The 15th Crossroads Co-Production Forum will host fifteen projects.

The contributors talked about their projects during the mini pitching that took place at the beginning of the event.

More specifically:

Acrylic – Director: Nikos Pastras

Producers: Christos V Konstantakopoulos, Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos – Faliro House (Greece), Amanda Livanou – Neda Films (Greece)

A young girl in Athens during the last days of school. A film full of music, feelings, adolescent angst, and at the same time a film roaming the independent underground Athenian music scene.

The Gospel According to Kimon – Director: Neritan Zinxhiria

Producer: Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos - PLAYS2PLACE (Greece)

A dark fantasy that gradually comes true, a film about death, mourning and forgiveness.

Peter and the Wolf – Director: Thanasis Neofotistos

Producer: Ioanna Bolomyti – Argonauts Productions (Greece)

Co-producer: Dibona Films (France)

An adolescent strives for familial and social acceptance because he is different: those around him think he is cursed because he has blue eyes.

Riviera – Director: Orfeas Peretzis

Producer: Konstantinos Vassilaros – StudioBauhaus (Greece)

Co-producer: KG Productions (France)

A tragic comedy with Lagonissi as its background, the Greek Riviera. A study on the process of changing, the past, and nostalgia through the story of a mother and her daughter after they decide to sell their home.

Third Kind – Director: Yorgos Zois

Producers: Antigoni Rota, Stelios Cotionis – Foss Productions (Greece)

Co-producer: Squared Square Films (Greece)

A science fiction Balkan retro film; an English-speaking film shot in five countries. At a certain point in the future Earth has been abandoned by its inhabitants. When humans face a threat, they must return in order to find a way to save their planet.

17 Moments of Summer – Directors: Sonja Prosenc, Mitja Ličen

Producers: Rok Sečen, Sonja Prosenc – Monoo (Slovenia/Croatia)

A comedic drama in 17 moments/fragments for four interconnected people during a hot summer on a Mediterranean island.

How Is Katia? – Christina Tynkevych

Producers: Olha Matat, Veronika Stepanchuk – Evos Film (Ukraine), in collaboration with MIDPOINT

A social drama whose protagonist is a woman that loses her daughter in a car accident; behind the wheel is an eighteen-year-old girl. A hunt for revenge and justice becomes a story of understanding and forgiveness.

Iris – Director: Myrsini Aristidou

Producer: Nathalie Dennes – The Living (France)

Co-producers: Filmblades (Cyprus), 1.61 Films (Cyprus), Road Movies (Germany), Graal SA (Greece)

A young girl tries to redefine her stance towards her estranged father in today’s Cyprus.

The Land Beyond – Director: Nadine Sabil

Producer: Hala Lotfy – Hassala (Egypt)

A myth for lost heritage. A young girl, unable to speak, is its protagonist, trying to keep the memory of her mother alive through a lullaby.

Let It Be – Director: Łukasz Grzegorzek

Producer: Natalia Grzegorzek – Koskino Film (Poland), in collaboration with Sofia Meetings

Sometimes things cannot get worse, or can they? This is the question that preoccupies the protagonist. A contemporary story concerning relationships and their balance in a familial context and the danger that they become a living hell.

Leyla – Director: Erol Mintaş

Producer: Etienne de Ricaud – Caractères Productions (France)

A nineteen-year-old girl of Kurdish descent decides to follow her dreams and goes to Marseille where she gets married to a compatriot. Yet things do not go as planned and the girl must put up a fight for her dream.

Luna Park – Director: Florenc Papas

Producer: Dritan Huqi – On Film Production (Albania)

Co-producer: Argonauts Productions (Greece)

The story of a couple taking place in Greece and Albania in 1997. Part of the film will be shot in Thessaloniki.

Oceane – Director: Eva Pervolovici

Producer: Tudor Giurgiu – Libra Films (Romania)

A Parisian girl falls in love with a Romanian photojournalist. A film that touches on the major subject of immigration in Europe, a continent that changes through the lives of young people that are off course.

Planet 7693 – Direction: Gojko Berkuljan

Producer: Marko Jaćimović – A Production (Montenegro)

Co-producer: Ivica Vidanović – Cinne Rent & Production (Serbia)

A family drama with science fiction elements. An unusual, sentimental, nostalgic story; its hero, a boy that tries to restore familial relationships after a tragic event.

With Skin and Hair – Director: Elene Naveriani

Producer: Britta Rindelaub – ALVA Films (Switzerland)

Co-producer: Takes Film (Georgia)

A film with historical references to a legendary case of the orthodox tradition in Georgia. The story of a woman that goes against sexism, oppression and prejudice.

Crossroads’ associates are:

- The Greek company post-production 2|35 Inc that provides the co-production award (image and sound) to the awarded film project.

- The CNC (Centre National du Cinéma et de l’image animée), which provides 8,000 euros for developing a screenplay into a film project.

- The Festival de Cannes Producer’s Network that provides accreditation to the awarded producer, in order to participate in the forthcoming Producer’s Network 2020.

- Sofia Meetings, of the Sofia Film Festival, which selects a film project that will be presented in the next organization, in March 2020.

- The Mediterranean Film Institute Script 2 Film Workshops, which provides a scholarship to a film project.

- The French consulting firm Initiative Film, which provides services to a Greek film project.

- Cinemed, that will select at least one Greek film project for the Development Grant organized annually.

- The THESSALONIKI EAVE Marketing Workshop Scholarship award that will select a film project for the Marketing 2020 workshop.

Crossroads is also associated with MIDPOINT - A Training and Networking Platform for Film and TV Development.

Agora, with Crossroads under its aegis, is the Festival’s Development Section, bringing together an international network of professionals and providing the space, but also the conditions for meetings, conversations, and professional agreements in an informal, welcoming, and professional ambiance. The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is supported by the European program Creative Europe by MEDIA.

Agora is addressed to all young directors and producers, giving them the opportunity to learn from esteemed professionals how to capitalize on the opportunities offered in an international market framework. In this year’s Agora Talks, hosted in the theater ‘Takis Kanellopoulos’ in the Museum of Cinema, stimulating topics concerning film and television production, but also important case studies, were addressed. The first session started with a conversation regarding limitations, but also opportunities offered by low budget productions, with the participation of Antoine Le Bos (Artistic Director of Less is More – screenplay elaboration workshop), Katriel Schory (expert on film topics) and Amanda Livanou (producer, Neda Film). The talk was coordinated by Marie-Pierre Macia (producer, MPM Film).

The Greek-American John Mavroudis, one of the most influential contemporary illustrators, awarded with the Cover of the Year for covers created for The New Yorker and TIME magazines, and, also, creator of the poster for the anniversary 60th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, gave a masterclass on Tuesday, November 5, 2019, at the Photography Museum of Thessaloniki, where he looked back on the high points of his career, and shared with the audience his views on art and politics.

The Catalan filmmaker and artist Albert Serra, invited by the 60th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, gave a masterclass on Monday, November 4, 2019, in the theater “Pavlos Zannas”, where he looked back on the high points of his career and shared with the audience his views on art, history and life.

60^th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL || 31/10-10/11/2019

Special Screening: In the Shadow of Fear, by Giorgos Karypidis

Emotions ran high at Olympion theater, as the 60th Thessaloniki International Film Festival honored the memory of director Giorgos Karypidis (1946-2019) on Saturday, November 2nd, with a special screening of his film In the Shadow of Fear. The Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Orestis Andreadakis preceded the event by stating that the screening was completely accessible, that is equipped with audio description for the visually impaired and subtitles for the hearing impaired and deaf.

Mr. Andreadakis went on to invite the writer on stage, screenwriter, translator, filmmaker and vice-president of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival BoD Achilleas Kyriakidis, who talked about the work and the personality of Giorgos Karypidis, a close friend of his. Beginning with the short film Last Station Kreuzberg, screened and awarded at the 1975 Thessaloniki Film Festival, which stands even nowadays as a landmark movie, an exemplary sociological documentary , since Karypidis, a modern-day ingenious Ulysses, does not allow himself to get carried away by the siren song of cheap sentimentalism and demagoguery”, as he said. Mr. Achilleas Kyriakidis then ran through the director’s body of films, evoking its most important turning points and its unique value. Recalling Christian Grainville’s bon mot, that “the precise formulation of the auteur theory is that each auteur makes a film by remaining faithful to his obsessions”, Mr. Kyriakidis pointed out that “nothing prevents us from the diagnosis that Karypidis’ obsession was escape. Karypidis’ heroes are as if trapped in a never-ending centrifugal movement, a Sisyphean endeavor to break through, to change, to know themselves and others.”

Speaking about the film In the Shadow of Fear (1988), screened at Olympion, Mr. Kyriakidis labelled it “a masterpiece” and stressed: “Karypidis dresses the Laestrygonians’ allegory in a thriller’s cloak (a musician, Josef K., tries to escape from his persecutors that charge him with forgery one fine morning) and eventually leads things towards a dreamlike, by default incontrollable, path, breaking loose from all imperatives dictated by unalloyed realism. Riddled with touches of inspiration, both visually and screenplay-wise, which do not put the plot/pretense on hold, the movie is granted with a demonic rhythm (and the let the word be read in its full doubled-edged meaning). The film received six awards in the Thessaloniki International Film Festival in 1988: among which for best film, direction, actor in a leading role, cinematography, scenography and music.

Mr. Kyriakidis also mentioned Giorgos Karypidis’ short stories collection Diving Champion, and observed that “if  Karypidis as a director is a filmmaker that meditates par excellence, Karypidis as a writer is a thinker who par excellence  visualizes, while his obsessions remain the same: wandering as escape, death as wandering, escape as death, the ghost as wandering.” Concerning Giorgos Karypidis’ relation to literature, his adaptation of Yannis Xanthoulis’ novel The Dead Liqueur (1992) is more than revealing: “a sotto voce film, tender, that dares open up to dreams and is not afraid of nostalgia”, as Mr. Kyriakidis put it.

The floor was then given to cinematographer and President of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival Yorgos Arvanitis, who, quite moved, referred to his collaboration with Giorgos Karypidis in the film In the Shadow of Fear: “I had the luck to get acquainted with him as he chose me for his movie;  I got to know him little by little and we enjoyed a happy collaboration. From the first to the last day we shared the same views, the same passion which was mirrored in the film. This collaboration earned me the Festival award, and I thank him for this honor”, he stated.

The event drew to its end in the presence of Rania Brilaki, wife of Giorgos Karypidis, who was in a state of emotional turmoil due to the recent loss of her beloved husband. “Giorgos’ vision was immense and went far beyond the limits of artistic creation: he envisioned and strived for a world of justice, free of poverty and human exploitation. He stood by it with every thread of his being, both in his films and his writings, and well as in his way of living, on a daily basis”, she said, making a special mention to his generosity, his love of beauty, his erudition, his close affinity with books. “He had an excellent knowledge of world history, people’s cultures, and of contemporary political and social developments”, Ms. Brilaki concluded, thanking the Festival for honoring her belated husband’s memory.

The 14 films of the International Competition section of the anniversary 60th Thessaloniki International Film Festival inspired the exhibition “Overview Effect -  Encountering the Cosmos”. The opening took place on Saturday, November 1st, 2019, at MOMus – Experimental Center for the Arts (Warehouse B1 – Thessaloniki Pier).