Images of the 21st Century Every March, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival celebrates the constantly changing and ever vigilant art of the documentary. Its purpose is to present images of social history and politics.

Every March, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival celebrates the constantly changing and ever vigilant art of the documentary. Its purpose is to present images of social history, politics and most of all human reality in the new century, which functions as the starting point for cinematic adventures. The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival aims to inform, sensitize and mobilize the audience about critical issues (Human Rights, Habitat, Recordings of Memory, Portraits-Human Journeys, Views of the World, Stories to Tell) which require the audience's active participation. Giving particular importance to Greek documentaries, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival gives recent Greek documentaries the opportunity to be promoted and to begin their journey towards screening at major international television networks. The Festival's eclectic program includes parallel sections –meetings, masterclasses, conversations and conferences.

Annual Activities

The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is active throughout the year, operating two cinemas, the Olympion and Pavlos Zannas theaters as first-run cinemas. At the same time, it organizes interesting film tributes and retrospectives, on great contributors to the 7th art as well as national cinematographies, rich parallel events and innovative educational programmes for students of all stages. The publication activity of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is also important. It includes directors' monographs, catalogues of film tributes and exhibitions, as well as the publication of "First Shot" magazine. Aside from their main function, the two cinemas are also available for hosting other events, such as meetings, conferences, discussions, book presentations, teleconferences, commercial product presentations, press conferences. There have also been musical events, theatre presentations, magazine photography and special evenings. Finally, the OLYMPION building also functions as an exhibition space. The Festival also organizes Regional Screenings of selected films and documentaries following the closing of both annual events, in collaboration with regional authorities and the support of cultural organizations and universities. There are also screenings held at prisons, with the consent of the Ministry of Justice.

Details and Regulations

15th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Data Sheet

Name of Festival: Thessaloniki Documentary Festival– Images of the 21st Century

Town & Country: Thessaloniki/ Greece

Sections:

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Images of the 21st Century is Greece's major annual non-fiction film event. Its sections include:

Views of the World (subjects of social interest),

Stories to Tell (short personal stories that stand out for their unique subject matter)

Portraits – Human Journeys (highlighting the human contribution to cultural, social and historical developments)

Recordings of Memory (facts and testimony of social and historic origin)

Music (A section devoted to music documentaries, new trends, great composers etc.)

African Stories (This segment is dedicated to Documentaries that reflect the vulnerable and complex reality of the African continent)

Human Rights (Films that shed light on the violation of human rights)

Planet in Peril (Presents documentaries that highlight the disastrous effects of the destruction of the ecosystem)

Habitat (This segment examines the relationship between man and nature and the consequences of human intervention in the environment)

Hubrid Docs (This program hosts films that experiment with the different formal aspects of the documentary genre)

Greek Panorama

Tributes

Various Side Events (Exhibitions, Masterclasses, Concerts, etc.)

The festival also hosts the third largest documentary market in Europe, the Thessaloniki DocMarket

Conditions of Participation (Film-/Video-Formats/

/Length/Prod.-Data):

The films that meet the following conditions are eligible to participate:

• has been produced in the 18 months preceding the Festival

• has not been released in Greece

• must be in a standard 16mm, 35mm or Digital Betacam format

Languages/Subtitles : English, Greek/ Greek and English subtitles

Fees: No entry fees apply

THE AWARDS OF THE THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

In principle, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival is a non-competitive event. However, we do not object to awards being offered in the context of the Festival by independent organizations.

The awards given out by the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century are the following:

i. Two Audience Awards for films over 45' minutes in length (one Greek and one foreign).

ii. Two Audience Awards for films under 45' minutes in length (one Greek and one foreign).

All the Greek films that are having their first public screening, are featured in the International Program or the Greek Program, are eligible to compete for the Audience Award for a Greek Film.

All films compete for the corresponding Audience Award for a Foreign Film, except for those presented within the context of the tributes.

Every year, the FIPRESCI prize for Best Greek and Best Foreign Documentary will be awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics to one Greek and one foreign film.

Amnesty International Award for a film from the "Human Rights" segment

WWF Greece Award for a film from the "Habitat" segment

Thessaloniki Documentary Festival– Images of the 21st Century

Address: 7 Dion. Areopagitou str. 117 42 Athens, Greece

Director: Dimitri Eipides

Phone-No. Tel: (+30 210) 870 6000

Fax-No: +30 210 6448143

E-mail-address: documentary@filmfestival.gr

Website: www.filmfestival.gr