The
18th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century will take place from
11-20 March 2016. Part of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, TDF presents approximately 186 films (shorts and features) by directors from all over the world, as well as a full parallel events program. This year, the festival includes 8 world, 7 international, 2 European and 148 Greek premieres.
An international
FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) jury will hand out one award to a Greek documentary and one award to a foreign documentary. The five-member FIPRESCI Jury is composed of the President Melis Behlil (Turkey), Sasja Koetsier (Netherlands), Anna Bielak (Poland), Silvestar Mileta (Croatia) and Georgios Papadimitriou (Greece).
All films will screen in the categories Habitat, Portraits: Human Journeys, Human Rights, Music, Arts, Views of the World, Recordings of Memory, Stories To Tell, Greek Panorama, Docs for Kids, as well as in the three tributes of this year; Jon Bang Carlsen, Mark Cousins, Refugees: Escape to Freedom?
Guardians of the Aegean by Omiros Evangelinos
Balkan Titles at the 18th TDF Line-Up
ARTS
The Eye of Istanbul by Binnur Karaevli, Fatih Kaymak, Turkey, 2015, 60’
Trabajadores De La Danza by Constandina Bousboura, Julia M. Heimann, Argentina, Greece, 2015, 76’
HABITAT
HUMAN RIGHTS
PORTRAITS
33,333 The Odyssey of Nikos Kazantzakis by
Menios Carayannis, Greece, Sweden, USA, 2016, 90’
Depth Two by Ognjen Glavonic
RECORDINGS OF MEMORY
STORIES TO TELL
In Solitude or in Solidarity? by Irini Karagkiozidou, Akis Kersanidis, Emilia Kougioumtzoglou, Kiki Moustakidou, Stavroula Poulimeni, Chryssa Tzelepi, Greece, 2016, 73’
True Blue by Haris Raftogiannis, Greece, 2015, 27’
Whispers of the Sky by Maro Anastopoulou, Greece, 2016, 74’
VIEWS OF THE WORLD
The Longest Run by Marianna Economou
“REFUGEES: ESCAPE TO FREEDOM?” TRIBUTE
Dreaming of Life by Morteza Jafari, Greece, 2016, 66’
GREEK PANORAMA
25 Years Without Borders - The Untold Stories, Yannis Mavrogenis, 2015, 69’, Greece
100 Years 2nd High School Of Thessaloniki, Georgios Moumouzias, 2015, 63’, Greece
1000 Miles, Vassilis Kehagias & Yannis Valtis, 2015, 33’, Greece
A Breath of Life, Dimitris Vernikos & Polly Vlahou, 2015, 66’, Greece
Andros by Marina Karagatsi, Vangelis Loukisas, 2015, 15’, Greece
Argo Navis, Stelios Efstathopoulos & Susanne Bausinger, 2016, 100’, Greece, Germany
Deconstructing Interruption, Stelios Moraitidis, 2016, 60’, Greece
Decumanus, George Kontos, 2015, 21’, Greece, USA
Epekeina, Constantinos Akrivos, 2015, 101’, Greece
Eratosthenes, Costas Vakkas, 2015, 34’, Greece
Eric, Faidon Gkretsikos & Panos Tragos, 2015, 26’, Greece
FACK MSUV / Performing The Museum As A Common / And The Common As A Museum, Stefanos Mondelos, 2016, 65’, Greece
FING 1915-2015: THE FIRST ONE HUNDRED YEARS, Dimitris Zisopoulos, Greece, 2015, 38’
Hasan "The Tank", Kakia Gkoudina, 2015, 23’, Greece
I...The Problem, Alexandros Markou, 2015, 53’, Greece
Iera Odos - The Journey of the Books, Marie-Noelle Moreigne, 2015, 56’, Greece
Ilja Finds Home, Panos Kostouros, 2015, 14’, Greece
Imperium, Stelios Oikonomidis, 2016, 23’, Greece
Invisible Paths, Yianna Dellatolla, 2016, 24’, Greece
Light Thickens, Lydia Konsta, 2016, 76’, Greece, Germany
MemORIA, Yorgos Iatrou, 2015, 71’, Greece
Metamorphoses, Vangelis Efthymiou, 2015, 50’, Greece
Mothers and Daughters, Maria Nikolaou, 2015, 28’, Greece
New Generation Got Game, Dimitris Polidoropoulos, 2015, 52’, Greece
New Life, Alexia Tsagkari, 2015, 40’, Greece
One Whole Day with Evo Morales, Iason Pipinis, 2015, 30’, Bolivia, Greece
Paolo΄s Dream, Kirineos Papadimatos & Yannis Avramopoulos, 2015, 43’, Greece
Radio Loft, Thanassis Papakostas, 2016, 68’, Greece
Skoros: Anti-Consumption in Crisis, Athina Souli, 2015, 20’, Greece
Spectrum, Hara Kalliontzi, Ioanna Papaioannou, Dione Tegou, Dimitra Tsalkitzoglou, 2015, 32’, Greece
Suspended People, Stratis Vogiatzis & Thekla Malamou, 2016, 28’, Greece
The Cherry Orchard, Mickey Mouse and Nikos Karathanos,
Elias Giannakakis, 2016, 110’, Greece
The Formidable Flags of Freedom, Takis Sakellariou, 2015, 17’, Greece
The Park, Grandmother Nissa and Ali,
Angelos Kovotsos, Anneta Papathanasiou, Antonis Tolakis, 2015, 27’, Greece
The Tree I Dreamt, Dimitris Alchatzidis, 2015, 52’, Greece
The Uncompleted Project, Manolis Papadakis, 2015, 99’, Greece
The Village That Defeated Death, Nikos Mezeridis, 2016, 50’, Greece
Viktor Ullmann: Biography of a Recording, Ioannis Grigoropoulos & Michalis Aristidou, 2015, 33’, Greece
When Dahlias Bend Down, Tassos Giapoutzis, 2015, 15’, Greece
White Steps, Michael Vitorakis & Sotiris Kappos, 2015, 61’, Greece
Yannoulis Chalepas: A Sculptor΄s Portrait, Vironas Ntolas, 2015, 23’, Greece
OPENING FILM
Landfill Harmonic – A Symphony of the Human Spirit by Brad Allgood & Graham Townsley (USA, Paraguay, Norway, Brazil, 2015), the opening film of the festival, celebrates the transformative power of music and the resilience of the human spirit. The documentary follows the Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, a Paraguayan group of young musicians who live next to one of South America’s largest landfills and play instruments made entirely out of garbage. Under the guidance of its idealistic mentor and music director Favio Chavez, the orchestra is catapulted into the global spotlight and navigates this new world of arenas and sold out concerts, proving that music can indeed change your life.
SIDEBAR EVENTS
MASTERCLASS JON BANG CARLSEN
“Inventing Reality”
Tuesday 15 March, 11:00, Pavlos Zannas Theatre
Jon Bang Carlsen, known for his radical hybrid style in which he deliberately blurs the boundaries between documentary and fiction, is one of Denmark’s most innovative documentarists. His “staged documentaries” are visually and symbolically powerful portraits of ordinary or marginal people in their daily lives. Jon Bang Carlsen will discuss his filmic method and his approach to reality in his films.
PANEL DISCUSSION
“DOCUMENTING THE REFUGEE ISSUE: METHODS, OBJECTIVES, CHALLENGES, ETHICS”
Wednesday 16 March, 11:00, Pavlos Zannas Theatre
On the occasion of the 18th TDF’s tribute “Refugees: Escape to Freedom?”, a panel discussion titled "Documenting the Refugee Issue: Methods, Objectives, Challenges, Ethics” will be held. The discussion will focus on various questions that concern the ways we approach this intricate political and humanitarian issue, one of the biggest ongoing transitions in modern history. The event is an initiative of plays2place productions, with the support of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and the Goethe Institute of Thessaloniki. The panel’s participants are: Anestis Azas (Theatre Director – Head of the Experimental Stage -1, National Theatre), Giorgos Moutafis (Photojournalist),
Martha Bouziouri (Social Anthropologist - Cross-media projects Director) and Marianna Oikonomou (Film Director).
Moderator: Konstantinos Aivaliotis (Director of Athens Ethnographic Film Festival)
EXHIBITION “IMAGES OF OUR OTHER SELF”
Thessaloniki Center of Contemporary Art (Warehouse B1, Thessaloniki Port)
Duration: March 12-26, 2016 // Opening Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday 10:00-18:00, Friday 10:00 – 22:00 (free entrance).
Back in October 2013, “shedia” street paper vendors, people who have experienced homelessness and social exclusion as an extreme result of the crisis, were handed a camera with the purpose to capture city life from their own very unique perspective. The material collected constitutes a unique social narrative: a narrative of a country deep in socio-economic crisis, of people who are suffering, but also of people determined not to let go, ordinary citizens who keep on hoping, dreaming and fighting for a better world. The exhibition is organized by the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, the “shedia” Street Paper, the State Museum of Contemporary Art and the Thessaloniki Center of Contemporary Art.
JUST TALKING
13-19 March (inclusive), 16.00–17.30
Electra Palace Hotel ground floor, Excelsior Room
The Just Talking event, introduced in 2006, brings filmmakers from various parts of the world together and creates a platform of communication, promoting creativity and forging collaboration. Daily discussion groups of directors and producers revolve around issues that concern documentary filmmakers. Apart from the groups, all other accredited festival attendees are admitted to the sessions and can either simply listen or participate.
