Going down simply weeks after the historic passage of a invoice legalizing same-sex marriage in Greece, the twenty sixth version of the Thessaloniki Documentary Competition — which runs March 7 – 17 — pays tribute to that watershed second within the long-running struggle for equal rights for the nation’s LGBTQ neighborhood, whereas additionally issuing a rallying cry for range, inclusion and empowerment throughout the globe.
“Our pageant aspires to map out an in depth and thorough overview of our world’s complexity, welcoming movies from the 4 corners of the world, which define the unconventional adjustments, the challenges and the issues of our instances,” says pageant basic director Elise Jalladeau. This system spotlights “the pressing name for range, tales of girls’s empowerment [and] the visibility not solely of the LGBTQI+ neighborhood, however of all marginalized and oppressed teams of people that have suffered discrimination on account of their id,” she provides.
Following on the historic victory for same-sex marriage rights — a primary for an Orthodox Christian nation — this yr’s version of the Thessaloniki Documentary Competition features a wide-ranging tribute to queer cinema, “Citizen Queer,” which options “movies that run by means of the historical past of the LGBTQI+ motion, biopics on legendary figures, historic paperwork [and] up-to-the-minute docs that forge the constantly-evolving LGBTQI+ neighborhood,” in response to Jalladeau. The pageant will even mount a tribute to what it describes because the “fearless and pioneering cinema” of Panayotis Evangelidis, whose work has lengthy targeted on the visibility of the LGBTQ neighborhood. Evangelidis might be readily available to obtain an honorary Golden Alexander award.
Farahnaz Sharifi’s intimate household portrait “My Stolen Planet” premiered on the Berlin Movie Competition.
Courtesy of Farahnaz Sharifi
The pageant begins March 7 with “They Shot the Piano Participant,” a hybrid, hand-drawn animated documentary from Oscar-nominated Spanish administrators Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal that focuses on the disappearance of Brazilian jazz pianist Francisco Tenório Júnior in Argentina within the ’70s. Trueba — described by Jalladeau as “probably the most distinguished administrators within the historical past of Spanish cinema” — might be feted with an honorary Golden Alexander at this yr’s pageant, which will even embody a sidebar celebrating the filmmaker’s work. The pageant wraps March 17 with the world premiere of “Yanni Spanos: A Life Behind the Marquee,” directed by Aris Dorizas.
Thirty-six movies will participate within the pageant’s three aggressive sections, with 35 of these celebrating world, worldwide or European premieres. Among the many highlights from the worldwide competitors are Silje Evensmo Jacobsen’ Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “A New Form of Wilderness,” which follows a household dealing with loss after attempting to flee civilization to reside within the woods of Norway; Ramona S. Diaz’s “And So It Begins,” which paperwork the 2022 presidential election within the Philippines, and Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Dutta’s “Nocturnes,” concerning the secret nocturnal universe of the Jap Himalayas, each coming off of Sundance premieres; and Farahnaz Sharifi’s intimate household portrait of life throughout Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, “My Stolen Planet,” which took a second-place Viewers Award after premiering within the Berlinale’s Panorama strand.
Among the many 67 feature-length and brief movies representing the host nation, a pair of notable world premieres — “Stray Our bodies,” by Elina Psykou, and “Unclickable,” by Babis Makridis — characterize forays into documentary filmmaking from Greek administrators celebrated for his or her work in fiction. Makridis is greatest identified for movies together with the Sundance premieres “L” and “Pity,” whereas Psykou’s “Son of Sofia” received the Tribeca Movie Competition in 2017.
Her documentary debut, which follows 4 ladies searching for bodily autonomy in a Europe nonetheless lagging within the wrestle for equal rights for ladies, will subsequent journey to CPH:DOX for its worldwide premiere — a feat of which Jalladeau is especially proud. “We really feel it reveals the momentum that Greek documentaries have at this stage,” she says. “And naturally, the pageant is right here to help and assist Greek filmmakers in any means attainable, both in its business part, Agora, or by means of this system.”
Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner “A New Form of Wilderness” competes in Thessaloniki.
Courtesy of A5 Movie
Whereas placing a celebratory notice, this yr’s pageant however unfolds in opposition to the somber backdrop of world affairs, because the mounting humanitarian toll of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza continues to dominate headlines, whereas Russia’s conflict in Ukraine enters its third yr. In the meantime, the current dying in a Siberian penal colony of Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny — which provoked world outrage and condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin — might be marked with a particular screening in Thessaloniki of the Academy Award-winning documentary concerning the politician by filmmaker Daniel Roher.
That movie — described by Selection‘s Owen Gleiberman because the “inspiring, scary, and profoundly essential story” of the late opposition hero — spotlights the essential position that documentary filmmaking continues to play immediately, in response to Jalladeau.
“Documentary offers us one other view of the world, will get us behind the scenes, at locations the place choices are made and other people reside their on a regular basis lives,” she says. “Documentaries have the facility to alter — if not our lives — our viewpoint, to supply us a greater understanding of the complexity of human life, particularly within the midst of conflict, violence and disaster.
“I like filmmakers who’re capable of present the difficult actuality in conditions like these, whereas on the identical time looking for hope within the ruins,” she continues. “It is very important have these daring and brave voices from artists who specific a way of urgency in what we expertise. Our aim is to make sure that they will specific themselves in a protected surroundings and that their message is heard.”
The Thessaloniki Documentary Competition runs March 7 – 17.
