The “Meet the Neighbors+” competition section includes first or second films from the 36 countries of South-Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East. At the same time, in 2023, the section’s Golden Alexander was renamed into “Golden Alexander – Michel Demopoulos,” honoring the memory of the former Festival director (1991-2005) who led the institution to gain an international scope.
The films of the Meet the Neighbors+ are eligible for the following awards:
The “Meet the Neighbors+” International Competition films are eligible for prizes awarded by Independent Juries.
The members of the jury are: Ali Abbasi, filmmaker; Sofia Kokkali, actress; and Kirsten Niehuus President of the Board of Directors of DFFF (German Federal Film Fund), film funding expert.
Ali Abbasi was born in Iran and is based in Denmark. His fourth feature, The Apprentice, premiered in competition at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival – his third Cannes selection – and was nominated for two Oscars, two Golden Globes, three BAFTAs, and three Independent Spirit Awards. His previous feature, Holy Spider, also premiered in competition at Cannes, where Zar Amir-Ebrahimi won Best Actress; it earned four European Film Award nominations. Abbasi’s second feature, Border, won the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes in 2018, received an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and was nominated for six European Film Awards, winning for Best Visual Effects. In television, he directed the final two episodes of HBO’s acclaimed The Last of Us, season one. Abbasi studied architecture in Stockholm before attending the National Film School of Denmark.
Born in Greece, she graduated from the Greek National Theatre in 2012 and has since divided her creative time between the screen and the stage. She has starred in many films including Moon, 66 Questions (2021) by Jacqueline Lentzou, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and won, among others, the Best Actress Award in Festival du Nouveau Cinéma and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, as well as Hector Malot: The Last Day of the Year (2018), also by Jacqueline Lentzou, winner of the Leica Cine Discovery Award at Cannes’ Semaine de la Critique. Her latest work, They Come out of Margo (2025), her fourth collaboration with director Alexander Voulgaris (aka The Boy), premiered at the 59th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and is currently screening at the 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. In addition to her film work, she has performed in numerous theater productions across Greece, Europe, and New York.
Kirsten Niehuus has been CEO of the Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg (MBB) Film Fund 2004–2025. Prior to this role, the lawyer spent over 10 years working in various positions within the film industry, including head of various legal departments and deputy chairman of the Film Funding Agency (FFA). During this time, she also served as German representative and Vice President of Eurimages. During her time at MBB, Berlin became the most productive Film habitat in Germany for both local and international productions. MBB supported many Palm d'Or, Golden Bear, and Oscar-winning films, as well as it was a partner for many films by young talents. MBB has always supported diversity and international co-productions. Kirsten Niehuus is a recipient of the French Order of Arts and Letters (“Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres”) and has been teaching as an Honorary Professor at the Babelsberg Film University Konrad Wolf since 2014.
