The competition section “Meet the Neighbors” includes films that look at the world beyond ‘our neighborhood’ – through a singular and innovative artistic lens. This year’s three-member jury will award a Golden Alexander (accompanied by an 8,000 euros cash prize) to the best film of the section and a Special Jury Award (Silver Alexander 4,000 euros).
The members of the Meet the Neighbors Jury of the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival are Tonia Mishiali, Cypriot director/producer; Avi Nesher, Israeli director and screenwriter; and Joyce Pierpoline, American producer and co-founder of Women’s Impact Network.
Tonia Mishiali is a director/producer, member of the Hellenic and European Film Academies and Berlinale Talents alumna. Her films have been selected and awarded at major markets (TFL, coco, Crossroads, Sofia meetings, Meetings on the bridge, MFI) and many prestigious film festivals (Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Palm Springs, Cairo, Stockholm, Santa Barbara, Thessaloniki). Her debut feature Pause received rave reviews and listed one of “20 most daring films of 2019” by Rotten Tomatoes. It was awarded the FIPRESCI among others, and distributed worldwide, while it was selected at Sydney IFF in EFP’s “Voices of women in film” as one of the ten most outstanding women directors in Europe.
Avi Nesher’s acclaimed films have played a major part in Israeli cinema’s success and rise to international prominence. Each of his successful recent features (The Secrets, The Matchmaker, The Wonders, Past Life, and The Other Story) had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and was greeted with critical accolades. In 2021, Nesher completed his newest film Image of Victory, which he wrote and directed. The film was nominated for 15 Israeli Academy Awards. That year, for the first time since its inception, The Israeli Academy of Motion Pictures Awarded Nesher The Cinematic Excellence Award.
Joyce Pierpoline is producer of award-winning films and founder of Pierpoline Films, based in Paris and New York. Her most recent film, The Listener, premiered in Giornate degli Autori-Venice Film Festival this year; other films include The Transfiguration (Un Certain Regard, Cannes Film Festival), Sundance award-winning cult favorite Teeth considered one of the top 10 political horror films of all time, Happy Tears, Angelica, and In the Company of Men. She currently serves on the board of BAFTA-North American where she is chair of the film committee, and also on the executive board of NYWIFT. She is member of the European Producers Club, the European Film Academy, and the Producers Guild of America where she is the co-founder of the Women’s Impact Network, promoting gender equality in the industry.
