The curtain fell on the 54th edition of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival on Saturday, November 9 2013, with the closing ceremony at a packed Olympion Theater. Actress Stefania Goulioti presented the event.
 
The presentation of the 54th TIFF awards followed. The International Jury, headed by American filmmaker of Greek descent Alexander Payne, comprised of Variety magazine film critic Scott Foundas, producer Ada Solomon, musician and composer Konstantinos Vita and Edouard Waintrop, artistic director of Quinzaine des realisateurs at the Cannes Film Festival.

The most prestigious festival award, that of Best Feature Film (Golden Alexander – Theo Angelopoulos award), was bestowed to The Golden Cage by Diego Quemada - Diez. The award was presented by Alexander Payne, who said: “On behalf of my jury colleagues, allow me to express my thanks to festival director Dimitri Eipides and to all the contributors of this year’s festival for their wonderful hospitality and the great experience they had in store for us in Thessaloniki. We watched 14 films from 11 countries and we were very satisfied with the overall quality. Seventeen years ago, I presented at this festival my first feature film and it gives me great pleasure to see how new directors have evolved in the meantime. Our role is not limited to deciding the winners, but also extends to encouraging emerging filmmakers. Mr Eipides does this with his selections, and we are here to provide even more support.”

The award was received on behalf of the filmmaker by Marina Konti, a representative of the film’s distributor Strada Films. Ms Konti said: “I think this is a case of the common good taste shared by Mr Takis Veremis, the owner of Strada Films, who selects the movies we distribute, and Mr Eipides, who chose the film for the festival’s international competition. It is a great honor to receive the award from the hands of Mr Payne. Thank you very much indeed.”


Elina Psykou receives the award                                                
Photo by Ververidis Vassilis - motionteam


The Special Jury Award – Silver Alexander was presented by jury member Edouard Waintrop to the film Suzanne by Katell Quillevere. Mrs Konti received the award on behalf of the filmmaker, commenting: “The producers and director of the film could not join us here. We would like to thank the jury and the Thessaloniki Festival for including Suzanne, the Golden Cage, and other films distributed by our company.”

The Special Jury Award for Originality and Innovation – Bronze Alexander was presented by Ada Solomon to the film Bad Hair by Mariana Rondón. Ms Rondón said: “Thank you so much. The festival’s audience was amazing and we will never forget this experience.”

The artistic achievement award for outstanding achievement as a supporting actor was presented to François Damiens for his performance in the film Suzanne by Katell Quillévéré. Ms Solomon presented the award to the actor, noting: “Being part of this jury was an amazing experience. There are no words to express my thanks to all the people who contributed to the festival: to Mr Eipides and my fellow members of the jury, to the audience that shared with us the pleasure of watching the movies, and of course to the directors who shared their films with us.” Marina Konti received the award on behalf of Strada Films.

The best actress award was bestowed by Mr. Konstantinos Vita to Sara Forestier for her performance in Katell Quillévéré’s film Suzanne. Ms Konti received the award on behalf of the actress.

The best actor award was bestowed ex aequo to Christos Stergioglou for his performance in the film The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas by Elina Psykou and Jaime Vadell for his performance in The Devil’s Liquor by Ignacio Rodríguez. Ms Psykou accepted the award on behalf of Mr. Stergioglou: “Οunfortunately Christos was unable to attend due to his obligations at the theatre in Athens. If he were here, he would express his thanks to the jury, to the festival and his director,” said Ms Psykou humorously.

The best screenplay award was presented by Edouard Waintrop to Tae-Gon Kim for the film Sunshine Boys. Mr Foundas presented the best director award to Diego Quemada–Diez for the film The Golden Cage. Strada’s Ms Konti accepted the award on behalf of Mr Diez.

TIFF’s jury also bestowed a Special Mention for cinematography to Mahmoud Lotfy for the film Coming Forth by Day by Hala Lofty. The award was presented by Mr Foundas and received by Egyptian journalist Tharaa Goubail.

The Fischer Audience Award for a film in the Greek Films section – Michael Cacoyannis Award was bestowed to One Last Joke by Vassilis Raisis. Mr Raisis received the award and said: “I have won an award before, but unlike now, in the past we were informed about the results half an hour before the official announcement. So we were prepared. Now, I really feel astonished. I want to thank the audience for its trust, my collaborators for managing to perform the impossible, working with zero funding, and to all the people working for the Festival and keeping it at such a high level. The audience award means a lot to us. There is no company behind us, and the reactions of some professionals we had contacted was that the film was good, but the audience would snub it. I am happy we proved them wrong.”


The Priest΄s Children, Balkan Survey


The Fischer Audience Award for a film in the Balkan Survey section was bestowed to The Priest’s Children by Vinko Breŝan. A representative from Wide Management — the film’s distributor— received the award on behalf of the filmmaker, expressing her thanks for the great honor.

The Fischer Audience Award for a film in the Open Horizons section was bestowed to Papusza by Joanna Kos-Krauze & Krzysztof Krauze. Producer Lambros Ziotas received the award, noting: “On behalf of the directors, I thank you for this important award. I also wish to thank the Festival, for giving us the opportunity to present our work in Thessaloniki. Being able to present my work in my home country was also very important for me personally, since I work abroad. Art exists, art is crafted, to quote our great poet K. Varnalis, with the purpose of relieving us from life’s anxieties. We enjoyed a cinematic feast for nine days and we owe a great thank you to Thessaloniki and the festival’s organizers.”

The Fischer Audience Award for a film in the International Competition section was bestowed to The Golden Cage by Diego Quemada–Diez. Strada Films representative Marina Konti accepted the award and thanked the audience for  voting a film distributed by Strada Films for a second consecutive year.

The Hellenic Parliament bestowed its 9th Human Values award to the film The Golden Cage by Diego Quemada–Diez. The awarded was presented by the television program manager of the Hellenic Parliament TV Channel Mr Panos Kouanis and was received on behalf of the filmmaker by Mrs Konti.

The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) jury, consisting of Magda Mihailescu (jury president), Dubravka Lakic, Bojidar Manov, Boyd Van Hoeij and Dennis West, bestowed two awards: For a film in the International Competition, the FIPRESCI award went to Bad Hair by Mariana Rondón; for a film in the Greek Films 2013 section, the FIPRESCI award went to The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas by Elina Psykou.