12th TDF OPENING CEREMONY
The curtain rose on the 12th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century on Friday, March 12, 2010 with a simple ceremony that took the audience on a voyage through the fascinating world of documentary films.
The Festival opening, which took place at the Olympion cinema, was announced by Theodora Jakry, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Decentralization and Electronic Management. The screening of the film The Invention of Dr. Nakamats followed, in the presence of its star, the famous Japanese inventor Yoshiro Nakamatsu.
Despina Mouzaki, Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival took the stage to welcome the audience and the honored guests to the 12th edition of an institution which, as she noted, successfully captures the pulse of every age. “The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has been established as an event of international stature and special importance, which helps us all to sharpen our social conscience, our reflexes, and to clearly see our position in a multifaceted world”, Ms Mouzaki stressed, while noting the efforts made by the Documentary Festival and particularly by its Artistic Director, Dimitri Eipides. She continued by pointing out that this year the Festival will once more bring to the forefront human values from unknown parts of the world, highlighting morality in film language. Closing, she underlined: “At a critical turning point for the planet, let us give a particular place to films, so that they can make us think, and let’s share our common wish for a better world and a more meaningful cinema”.
The Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival Dimitri Eipides then took the stage, saying that the anxiety of the novice is always present at every opening ceremony, since the hard work of an entire year is in front of the irrefutable critic who is none other than the audience. “For us, the documentary is the highest form of alternative information. All the films inform the audience on subjects which don’t make it in the newspapers and would never appear in a newscast”, Mr. Eipides noted. As proof that the Documentary Festival remains topical, he pointed out the Festival’s parallel events, along with the conferences taking place this year on the ethical dilemmas faced by documentaries in the digital age on the one hand, and on the prospects for the planet after the Copenhagen Conference on Climate. “The Documentary Festival is offering the highest possible honour to good cinema. Whether this is a tribute to Joris Ivens, Krzysztof Kieslowski or Contemporary Polish Cinema, our priority is good film making”. He added: “Documentary means knowledge about world issues. Therefore, this year’s Festival turns towards North Korea in order to discover its truth, beyond what is permitted to tourists by the official state”. Mr. Eipides also noted that the Documentary Festival’s Market is completely digital for the first time, making film screenings easier, and he announced that the meeting of European Documentary Producers will from now on be a permanent part of the Festival in Thessaloniki. 189 films from 41 countries will be screened during the 12th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, while as the Artistic Director stressed, Greek productions will continue to be at the center of interest, with 40 films screening at the Festival this year.
Then Mr. Eipides called the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Decentralization and Electronic Management, Ms Theodora Jakry to the stage. “ The 12th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has become more inclusive and richer in materials, retrospectives and events, keeping in step with the global tendency to view the documentary genre as one of the most dynamic film genres”, Ms Jakry stated, also passing on warm greetings from the Prime Minister Mr. George Papandreou who as she mentioned is very interested in all forms of art. “Documentaries actively participate in the planet’s political activities, it is a tool for the transmission of powerful tendencies and opinions, an all-powerful means of communication”, Ms Jakry stressed, declaring the opening of the 12th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and expressing her certainty that the Images of the 20th Century “allow us to expect even better days for Thessaloniki”.
The Opening Ceremony of the 12th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century was honored by the presence of, among others, Spyros Vougias, Deputy Minister of Citizen’s Protection, Members of Parliament Thomas Rombopoulos and Anastasios Kourakis, Representative of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and member of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival Board of Directors Nicolaos Makrantonakis, Representative of the Prefecture Christina Kelesidou, President of ERT Georgos Gambritsos, President of the Board of Directors of ERT3 Anastasios Spiliopoulos, Olympic Medalist and head of the Hellenic Red Cross Volunteer Department Voula Patoulidou, the director Theo Angelopoulos, member of the Board of Directors of ERT3 Nelly Zika, Artistic Director of the Sani Festival Olga Tabouri, the General Consul of France Christian Thimonier, the Honorary Consul of Taiwan Remis Hatzisavvas, the Honorary Consul of Latvia Agisilaos Kinigopoulos, the Director of the Thessaloniki Institut Francaise Julien Chiappone – Lucchesi, the Director of the Goethe Institute in Thessaloniki Peter Panes, the Deputy Mayor and Chief of Municipal Police Theodoros Athanassaros, Dean Yiannis Antonopoulos, municipal councilor Haralambos Barbounakis, etc.
