65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival concludes with 89,000 visitors
The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival concluded with 89,000 spectators and visitors. From 31 October to 10 November, this year’s event hosted premieres, fascinating discussions, masterclasses, exhibitions, and parties, while welcoming renowned figures of global cinema, including Juliette Binoche, Ralph Fiennes, Matt Dillon, Joshua Oppenheimer, and Panos H. Koutras. The festival also featured Victoria Hislop, the acclaimed author, as the Agora ambassador.
This year, 281 screenings were held in physical venues, with 164 of them being sold out. A total of 252 feature-length and short films were screened, while 67 films were available on the festival’s online platform.
As part of the Agora’s development activities, 583 meetings were held between 648 film professionals from Greece and abroad. The organisers hope these interactions will translate into new projects, scripts, and films. Additionally, 211 films were available to professionals and journalists at the Agora Film Market via the Cinando platform.
Over the course of 11 days, six masterclasses were held and open to the public as part of this year’s “Meet the Future” initiative, which spotlighted the art of film scoring through the tribute “Music in Motion: The Art of Film Scoring.” Masterclasses were conducted by composer Zbigniew Preisner, a close collaborator of Krzysztof Kieslowski; music editor Suzana Peric, known for her work on films by Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, and Peter Jackson; and acclaimed creators Nikos Kypourgos, Evanthia Reboutsika, and Tasos Boulmetis, as well as Kostas Christides (Kostas Christides) and Coti K., whose significant work has earned them recognition in Greece and abroad. Another masterclass was presented by the distinguished casting director Ellen Lewis, a frequent collaborator with renowned filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese and Jim Jarmusch. All masterclasses were held in the packed Pavlos Zannas hall, attracting strong participation from students and young people.
The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival organised a major tribute to unconventional, pioneering, and daring director Panos H. Koutras, who was awarded an honorary Golden Alexander. In collaboration with the Department of Communication and Media Studies and the Department of Digital Arts and Cinema of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the festival held a conference dedicated to Koutras’s work. Additionally, Koutras delivered a masterclass titled “Queer Before It Was Cool,” focusing on queer identity in his cinema, as part of the Iconic Talks series powered by Mastercard. The acclaimed Greek filmmaker discussed unknown aspects of his work, valuable experiences from nearly 25 years in Greek cinema, queer representations in his films, and the influences and references that have shaped his directorial vision.
More than 2,845 visitors attended the festival exhibition “We, the Monster” and Jesper Just’s visual installation “Interfears.” The “We, the Monster” exhibition will continue until 24 November at MOMus-Experimental Centre for the Arts.
In the Immersive section, 882 spectators watched the virtual reality films competing for the Golden Alexander Immersive Award and the “Intangible” installation by Danish artist and designer Carl Emil Carlsen. Additionally, 1,446 people listened to podcasts from the Podcast Competition Section and the Nexus section, available on the festival’s website.
The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival was held with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the ESPA Regional Programme of Central Macedonia 2021-2027, and the MEDIA programme. Valuable contributions were also made by the Hellenic Parliament and the Ministry of Tourism.
The festival’s activities were implemented with the support of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0,” funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
The 27th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival is scheduled to take place from 6 to 16 March 2025.
Source: ANA-MPA
