60th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL || 31/10-10/11/2019
AGORA (November 2-9, 2019 – Warehouse C)
15 projects in the 15th CROSSROADS CO-PRODUCTION FORUM
13 films in the AGORA WORKS IN PROGRESS
More than 200 international titles in the AGORA FILM MARKET
The Agora ambassador
The 60th Thessaloniki International Film Festival presents, for the second time, an initiative that aims to further enrich its well-established Agora section. Beloved Greek actor-director Yorgos Pirpassopoulos becomes the Agora ambassador who will promote the section’s events and goals, collaborating with the film professionals who will attend this year’s edition. He will also present the Agora awards ceremony that will take place on Friday November 8th, 2019.
We are, also, excited to announce the updated Agora Video Library in collaboration with Cinando. For the first time, Industry accredited guests will have the opportunity to access online a selection of films from Agora and the Festival’s program, not only onsite in Thessaloniki, but also after the festival's end, up to three months (subject to rightsholders' preferences). Press accredited guests will, also, have access to the films for the duration of the Agora.
TIFF’s AGORA (November 2-9, 2019), supported by Creative Europe-MEDIA, is an industry event offering various networking opportunities for the global film industry in an informal, welcoming and professional atmosphere. As an international meeting and trading event, AGORA runs parallel to the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and offers to its visiting industry professionals a variety of industry activities which focus on the countries of Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region:
AWARDS
The Works in Progress and Crossroads Co-production Forum awards amount up to 200.000 Euro in cash and in services.
CROSSROADS, the Co-Production Forum has selected 15 projects this year, based on the quality of the script, the creative team and the likelihood of it being produced. All selected projects are either produced or co-produced by a country in South-eastern and Central Europe or the Mediterranean area, or contain story elements linked to these regions. The selected projects come from the following countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Greece, Ukraine, France, Cyprus, Germany, Egypt, Poland, Albania, Romania, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland and Georgia.
The producers of these 15 projects will be introduced to a variety of industry professionals from all over the world. The program is varied and provides opportunities to meet other producers, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents and consultants. Crossroads’ goal is to support the producers of feature-length film projects that are linked to the Mediterranean and Balkan regions in finding the right partners to finance and accomplish their projects.
The Crossroads Awards are:
Crossroads also collaborates with MIDPOINT - A Training and Networking Platform for Film and TV Development.
The 2019 Crossroads jury consists of:
Rita Dagher – Producer, Senorita Films, France
Peter Rommel – Producer, Rommel Productions, Germany
Mira Staleva – Head of Sofia Meetings and producer, Bulgaria
This year’s projects are:
- 17 MOMENTS OF SUMMER, Directors: Sonja Prosenc, Mitja Ličen, Production: Rok Sečen, Sonja Prosenc – Monoo Slovenia | Croatia
- ACRYLIC, Director: Nikos Pastras, Production: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos, Andreas Zoupanos Kritikos– Faliro House, Amanda Livanou – Neda Film, Greece
- THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO KIMON, Director: Neritan Zinxhiria, Production: Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos – Plays2place, Greece
- HOW IS KATIA?, Director: Christina Tynkevych, Production: Olha Matat, Veronika Stepanchuk - Evos Film, Ukraine in collaboration with MIDPOINT
- IRIS, Director: Myrsini Aristidou, Production: Monica Nicolaidou – Filmblades, Nathalie Dennes– The Living, Co-production: 1.61 Films, Road Movies, Graal Cyprus | France | Germany| Greece
- THE LAND BEYOND, Director: Nadine Salib, Production: Hala Lotfy - Hassala, Egypt
- LET IT BE, Director: Łukasz Grzegorzek, Production: Natalia Grzegorzek – Koskino, Poland in collaboration with Sofia Meetings
- LEYLA, Director: Erol Mintas, Production: Etienne de Ricaud – Caractères Productions, France | Turkey
- LUNA PARK, Director: Florenc Papas, Production: Dritan Huqi, Co-production: Argonauts Production Albania | Greece In collaboration with MFI
- OCEANE, Director: Eva Pervolovici, Production: Tudor Giurgiu, Matei Truta – Libra Films, Romania
- PETER & THE WOLF, Director: Thanassis Neofotistos, Production: Ioanna Bolomyti – Argonauts Productions, Co-production: Dibona Films Greece | France
- PLANET 7693, Director: Gojko Berkuljan, Production: Marko Jaćimović, A Production, Co-production: Ivica Vidanović, Cinne Rent & Production, Montenegro | Serbia
- RIVIERA, Director: Orfeas Peretzis, Production: Konstantinos Vassilaros - StudioBauhaus, Co-production: KG Productions, Greece | France
- THIRD KIND, Director: Yorgos Zois, Production: Stelios Cotionis, Antigoni Rota - Foss Productions, Co-production: Squared Square Films, Greece (Out of Competition)
- WITH SKIN AND HAIR, Director: Elene Naveriani, Production: Britta Rindelaub, Thomas Reichlin– Alva Film, Co-production: Takes Film Switzerland | Georgia
The AGORA WORKS IN PROGRESS are closed sessions for Thessaloniki’s invited industry professionals, presented to sales agents, distributors, producers and festival representatives. This year 13 films are produced or co-produced by the following countries: Greece, The Netherlands, Spain, Georgia, Bulgaria, Portugal, Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, France, Switzerland, Italy, Estonia, Israel, Germany, Poland and Sweden.
The awards for a film in post-production include:
- The Eurimages Lab Project Award for unconventional projects which amounts up to €50,000. Through the Lab Project Award, Eurimages is investing in new forms of cinematographic expression and actively participating in the renewal of European cinema.
- Greek post-production house Graal provides a post-production award in kind services to one film participating in the Agora Works in Progress section.
- The Greek music company MuSou offers the music and sound award (composition and production of an original film score, music supervision, and assistance in licensing of commercial music for use in the film and audio post-production services).
The 2019 Agora Works in Progress Jury consists of:
Steve Krikris – Director, Greece
Daniela Persico – Programmer, Locarno Film Festival, Switzerland
Virginie Devesa – Sales Agent, Aplha Violet, France
Karin Schockweiler –Eurimages Representantive, Luxemburg
This year’s films are:
- SPECIAL SCREENING: THE CITY AND THE CITY Directors: Syllas Tzoumerkas, Christos Passalis, Production: Maria Drandaki - Homemade Films, Greece
- AMERCEMENT Director: Fokion Bogris, Production: Maria Karagiannaki, Fokion Bogris, Panos Bezirgiannnidis – Chase the Cut, Greece
- BEYOND THE BLUE BRIDGE Director: Isabel Lamberti, Production: Steven Rubinstein Malamud, Marc Bary - IJswater Films, Co-production: Tourmalet Films, The Netherlands | Spain
- THE DRUMMER Director: Konstantine Kalandadze, Production: Elene Margvelashvili – Parachute Films, Georgia (Out of Competition)
- JANUARY Director: Andrey Paounov, Production: Vanya Rainova – Portokal, Co-production: Terratreme Filmes, Bulgaria | Portugal
- LEYLA ONCE AGAIN Director: Baris Hanciogullari, Production: Soner Alper – Nar Film, Turkey
- METAMORPHOSES Directors: Dusan Zoric, Matija Gluscevic, Production: Carna Vucinic, Dragana Jovovic - Non-Aligned films, Co-production: Kinorama, Serbia | Croatia
- MOTHER LODE Director: Matteo Tortone, Production: Alexis Taillant, Nadège Labé – Wendigo Films, Co-production: C-Side Productions (Switzerland), Malfé Film (Italy), France | Switzerland | Italy
- QUICKSAND Director: Margot Schaap, Production: Ellen Havenith – PRPL, Co-production: Homemade Films (Greece), Homeless Bob Productions (Estonia), The Netherlands | Greece | Estonia
- SELENE 66 QUESTIONS Director: Jacqueline Lentzou, Production: Fenia Cossovitsa – Blonde, Co-production: Luxbox, Greece | France
- SHAKE YOUR CARES AWAY Director: Tom Shoval, Production: Gal Greenspan - Green Productions, Co-production: Les Compagnons Du Cinema (France), One Two films (Germany), Israel | Germany | France
- SWEAT Director: Magnus Von Horn, Production: Mariusz Wlodarski - Lava Films, Co-production: Zentropa Sweden, Poland | Sweden
- THE VOYAGE OUT Director: Ana Vaz, Production: Olivier Marboeuf – Spectre Productions, Co-production: Stenar projects, France | Portugal
Moreover, TIFF’s AGORA organizes a series of additional activities which contribute further in reinforcing its role and potential in the international festival circuit:
Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International (November 4-9, 2019)
The Thessaloniki IFF in collaboration with the Locarno FF launched in 2016 the Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International in the South Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. The fourth edition will take place in Thessaloniki from November 4-9, 2019, during the 60th TIFF’s Agora. The Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International is a training program created to help young professionals of the cinema industry –sales agents, distributors and new media professionals– to extend their experience and networking in the fields of international sales, marketing, distribution and programming.
The Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy International is part of the Locarno Industry Academy International network, which includes Morelia IFF in Mexico (Morelia-Imcine Locarno Industry Academy International), Australab in Chile (Valparaiso-Locarno Industry Academy International), Cinema do Brasil (Sao-Paulo-Locarno Industry Academy International), Film Society of Lincoln Center / New Directors New Films Festival in the USA (NYC-Locarno Industry Academy International), Metropolis / MC Distribution in Lebanon (Beirut-Locarno Industry Academy International).
This year’s participants are:
Hanne Biermann, Deckert Distribution, Germany
Berfin Demirat, !f Istanbul Independent Film Festival, Turkey
Florent Fagerstrom, Edge Entertainment, Sweden
Manuel Fioroni, Locarno FF, Switzerland
Margot Hervee, MUBI, UK
Natsuki Lambert, MPM Premium, France
Nadja Lazic, Soul Food Films, Serbia
Nora Sandor, Cinefil Co, Hungary
Tihomira Temelkova, Sofia IFF, Bulgaria
Agora Talks (November 5, 2019)
The Agora provides valuable tools to the professionals of the film industry, as well as the environment to develop fruitful collaborations and creative projects. The Agora Talks event encourages even more the above goals by addressing all young film directors and producers who will attend the 60th TIFF. They will have the opportunity to meet with well-established professionals, who will share with them their knowledge and experiences. In this year’s Agora Talks, Antoine Le Bos - Artistic Director of Script Development Workshop Less Is More (LIM, France), Katriel Schory - film expert, (Israel) and Amanda Livanou - producer (Neda Film, Greece) will discuss the world of micro budget films and will advise filmmakers on how to use small budgets creatively from development to production. The discussion will moderate Marie-Pierre Macia, producer (MPMP Film, France). Maria Hatzakou (creator/writer, Sleepover – TV series in development, Greece), Lefteris Charitos (film director, Wild Bees – Antenna TV, Greece), William Horberg (producer, The Queen’s Gambit – Netflix, USA) and Mike Werb (Face/Off, The Mask, scriptwriter/producer based in L.A., USA, invited by the Hellenic Film Commission of the Greek Film Centre) will walk us through a juxtaposition of the American and the Greek experience of TV series development. The discussion is moderated by Elena Christopoulou, (film journalist, Greece). In the afternoon session, producer Ida Weiss (Slovenia) and Darja Kulenovic Gudan (Croatia) will talk about co-producing children’s films from Southeast Europe, moderated by Anne Schultka (Project Manager, Kids Regio, Germany), and closing the Agora Talks, Vasiliki Ch. Diagouma representative the of EKOME: National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication will explain how the use of financial incentives in the film industry has affected the development of Greece's audiovisual sector in the past two years.
Europa Cinemas Innovation Day Lab (November 2-3)
(Takis Kanellopoulos Theatre, Cinema Museum, Port, 10:00-18:00)
The Thessaloniki IFF and Europa Cinemas co-organize the Europa Cinemas Innovation Day Lab with the topic “How to make the most of our own resources: Improving skills and renewing practices for audience development”. The Workshop is dedicated to cinema exhibitors. Directed by Iris Praefke (Exhibitor, Moviemento cinema, Germany) and Hrvoje Laurenta (Executive Director, Zagreb Film Festival, Croatia) the Innovation Day Lab will take place on Saturday 2nd November from 2:00pm to 5:00pm to Sunday 3rd November from 10:00am to 5pm.
European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA)
Mentoring Program, November 5-8
The mentoring program of EWA (European network for women in the film industry) is aimed at women cinema producers who already have a relevant experience at the national level and wish to evolve further to a European/international dimension. In most cases this growth also involves a strategic and business development of their company. Business mentoring is a one-to-one relationship focused on the needs of the mentee to develop/reinforce specific competences, skills, and a problem-solving attitude, as well as on the availability and capability of the mentor to provide advice on those issues. It is a scheme where the experience and competences of the mentor match the specific needs of the mentee. The program is running for 12 months, starting from Trieste and will be completed at the 60th Thessaloniki International Film Festival with the meeting between the mentors and mentees. During the year, there were informal meetings for the participants in Festivals such as Berlinale and Cannes.
TIFF60 EWA Network Mentoring Group: Zeynep Atakan (Turkey), Linda Beath
(Italy), Laura Briand (France), Carlota Calori (Italy), Martina Haubrich (Germany), Alexia Muiños Ruiz (Spain), Alessia Sonaglioni (Italy), Christina Zumarranga (Spain) and the mentees: Emanuela Barbano (Italy), Maria Ibrahimova (Azerbaitzan), Nancy Kokolaki (Greece), Aleksandra Kostina (Ukraine), Laurine Pelassy (France), Silvana Santamaria (Germany), Maité Wokoeck (Germany)
EU&Me discussion (November 6)
(Museum of Photography Thessaloniki, 15.00-16.30)
Cinema and the European Union: Opportunities and Prospects. How can a film professional explore the tools provided by the European Union in order to make their dreams come true and complete their work? What can the European funding program Creative Europe, and its sub-program MEDIA offer to a young artist? A discussion on cinema and the creative prospects for arts in contemporary Europe. Speakers: Tina Zournatzi, Head of Unit, DG COMM, European Commission, Helene Skikos, Program Manager, CREATIVE Europe, Anna Kasimati, Contact person in Greece for Creative Europe MEDIA program, Vasiliki Diagouma, Head of Communication and International Relations Department, EKOME: National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communicatio, Vassilis Kekatos, film director.
The Meet the Future presentation (November 8, 2019)
The 60th Thessaloniki IFF’s Agora launches the new section Meet the Future – an initiative that embraces the future of film. Every year, the Meet the Future section will focus on young, up-and-coming professionals of different capacities across the film universe, and from specific countries or regions.
For its first edition, Meet the Future will be presenting a group of Greek filmmakers. Film directors, whose short films have been screened during the last five years at one of the most important film festivals in the world (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, San Sebastian, London, Rotterdam, New York, Tribeca, Toronto, Sundance, Busan) or have been nominated for an Oscar, will introduce their debut feature, which has not yet been completed.
A great opportunity for the Agora professionals to become acquainted with the new voices of Greek film. In collaboration with the Onassis Foundation.
For more information please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
