Exciting, vibrant, informative, the 25 Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s podcasts explore the affinities between podcasts and cinema. Thessaloniki International Film Festival was one of the fist film festivals worldwide to include a podcast section, which comprises in this year’s edition:
From 2 to 12 March, podcast lovers from all over Greece and abroad will have the chance to listen free of charge, through the website filmfestival.gr, all podcasts taking part in this year’s edition, celebrating their world premiere. Moreover, the audience will be given the opportunity to podcasts included both in the Competition section and the Out of Competition section, in the specially configured venue of the Podcast Room, situated inside the premises of the Thessaloniki Cinema Museum (Warehouse A - Port of Thessaloniki), for the entire duration of the 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.
The Festival, in collaboration with the Louis Lumière and the French Institute of Greece, offers the scholarship-award ENS Louis Lumière - French Institute of Greece for an Upcoming Audio Documentary Creator. The recipient of the award will have the chance to attend the 6-week Sound Documentary International Summer Programme hosted by ENS Louis Lumière, in France, addressed to young professionals of the audio-visual field (authors of blogs, podcasts or any other audio project).
The Festival, in collaboration with the non-profit journalistic organization of iMEdD, founded thanks to the exclusive donation granted by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, bestowed within the framework of the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival the Podcast in Development Award to journalist Andreas Vagias. This podcast will celebrate its world premiere at the 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in a special hearing, along with the first episode of a podcast series created by journalist Aris Chatzistefanou, produced by iMEdD.
PODCAST COMPETITION SECTION
Shattering historical events, heart-wrenching stories, testimonies on cases of gender-based violence that left their mark on Greek society, portraits of stereotype-crashing artists, resourceful sound collages that unfold unique narrative threads, as well as permeating glances into the interiors of the art scene, are just few of the topics unveiled in the podcasts of the Competition section that includes 10 podcasts setting their eyes at the Best Podcast Award, accompanied by a 2,000-euro cash prize.
The Podcast Competition Jury is comprised of:
Leandros Ntounis (sound designer)
Barbara Savvidi (radio producer)
Lena Vassilakou (journalist-radio producer)
Here's the full lineup of the Podcast Competition section:
A city walk
Podcaster: Dimitris Roidis. Production: Alexandros Mistriotis - Contemporary Oralities. Script: Ioanna Siskou. Original music: Dimitris Roidis. Sound engineering: Alexandros Mistriotis. Sound editing: Dimitris Roidis. Narration: Ioanna Siskou. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 25΄
A man wakes up and dresses for work. On the road he realizes it's a Sunday and decides to take a city walk instead. Are dogs and babies the only ones that go for a walk? When does the walk end ? Is public space a requirement? What about free time? Does a walk have a purpose?
From a wonder to a trauma
Podcaster: Constantinos Vrettos. Production: Antonis Papavomvolakis - Music Row Studios. Script: Constantinos Vrettos, Antonis Papavomvolakis. Original music: Antonis Papavomvolakis (cover of the song “Eleni Topaloudi'” by Foivos Delivorias). Sound engineering: Antonis Papavomvolakis. Sound editing: Antonis Papavomvolakis. Narration: Constantinos Vrettos. Greece, 2023, 30΄
The equation of life consists of words and actions. Mother+daughter=miracle. Mother-daughter=trauma. There are millions of Greek words, but none correspond to the mother who lost her child. Koula Armoutidou, Eleni Kremastioti, Alexandra Makou were left behind and describe how the miracle of life became the trauma of a lifetime.
Halcyone
Podcaster: Phaedra Chatzopoulou. Production: Phaedra Chatzopoulou, Stavros Georgiopoulos. Script: Phaedra Chatzopoulou. Original Music: Stavros Georgiopoulos. Sound engineering: Stavros Georgiopoulos. Sound editing: Stavros Georgiopoulos. Narration: Phaedra Chatzopoulou. Poster design: Anastasia Daferera. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 21΄
Do ships carry memories? How do ships rest? Do ships die? This is the story of Halcyone, a true yet wondrous story of a classic sailing boat; it sets sail from an island, traveling for almost a century and witnessing the world changing –up till its very own transformation.
Maria Plyta. The rebellious Eve of Greek cinema.
Podcaster: Maria Chatzigianni for WIFT GR. Production: Katerina Kaskanioti for WIFT GR. Script: Manina Zouboulaki, Gay Angelis. Sound engineering: Maria Chatzigianni, Anastasia Frangoulis. Sound editing: Maria Chatzigianni. Narration: Gay Angelis, Katerina Kaskanioti, Maria Chatzigianni. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 29΄
Maria Plyta was the first Greek female director and producer. She broke taboos in the male-dominated field of cinema and offered a rich artistic work. WIFT GR outlines her portrait through the interview she gave to Gay Angelis, in a text edited by Manina Zouboulaki.
Mega Stories: Revenge Porn Stories
Podcasters: Konstantis Frangopoulos, Dora Anagnostopoulou. Production: Mega TV. Script: Dora Anagnostopoulou. Sound engineering: Vassilis Gkionakis. Sound editing: Alexandros Alevras, Afroditi Tavri. Narration: Dora Anagnostopoulou. Research: Iliana Danezi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 29΄
Sex stories that start from an “innocent” love game and end up in stories of horror, pain and humiliation for the women who fall victim to revenge pornography or, in other words, the worst form of sexual abuse through the use of the image.
Pyrgoi Eordaia, a village of martyrdom
Podcaster: Dimitris Argyriou. Production: NewBorn Filmproduktion, NewBorn Short Film Agency. Script: Dimitris Argyriou. Sound engineering: Mihalis Paleologou. Sound editing: Dimitris Argyriou. Language: Greek. Germany, 2023, 20΄
Pyrgoi Eordaia, located in the western foothills of the Vermio mountain range, is a village that was completely annihilated by the Nazis and their collaborators. More than 318 people met their death with incredibly inhuman methods that cannot be conceived by the human mind.
saBar Bar - a special flower in the desert of the pandemic
Podcaster: UrbanDig Project. Production: Local Stage. Script: Maria Chatzigianni, Giorgos Sachinis. Original music: Victoria Tagouli (song), Christos Theodorou (composition). Sound engineering: Pavlos Kerasidis. Sound editing: Maria Chatzigianni. Language: Greek. Greece, 2022, 25΄
saBar bar maps out actions and participatory observations in areas of Athens, giving space and time to artists and scientists to work creatively. A site specific project that takes shape through interviews, narratives, historical mapping, live streaming, or with music, poetry, etc, having as common denominator the history of a place, in combination with performing arts.
The Seal’s Dirge: A sonic narrative
Podcaster: Christos Goussios. Production: Maria Baziakou / Panorama-The sound of film. Script: Chryssa Pantazi. Sound engineering: Christos Goussios. Sound editing: Christos Goussios. Narration: Dimitris Naziris, Maria Baziakou. Musicology research: Despina Klonari. Production assistant: Antigoni Iliadi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2022, 20΄
This work presents an adaptation of Alexandros Papadiamantis’ short story The seal’s dirge composed with the exclusive use of sound elements. Some of these sounds were recorded and directed specifically for the podcast, while all of them have been recorded in Greece, in locations suitable for the time, location and era of the story. It is an experimental attempt to present the actions and the story without the use of the voice as a narrative means.
The Shadow City
Podcaster: Michail Efthymiou. Production: Michail Efthymiou. Script: The podcast was completed with the contribution of AI technology. Language: English. Greece, 2023, 21΄
Α podcast about the mysterious adventures of The Shadow, a private detective who finds himself in dangerous cases involving organized crime and corruption. From the dark alleys of Chinatown to the seedy underground bars in Southtown, The Shadow never stops until justice has been served.
The Skin of Time
Podcaster: Alexandros Fassois. Production: Alexandros Fassois / Ideogramma Amargi. Script: Alexandros Fassois. Original music: Alexandros Fassois. Sound engineering: Alexandros Fassois. Sound editing: Alexandros Fassois. Narration: Alexandros Fassois. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 28΄
Time is a flying serpent, and we have found ourselves in the age of changing skin... Trapped in the skin of an age, we do not feel the life that slips away, the memory that is lost and the wind of destruction that pours furiously. The time serpent is changing. A brand new age skin is rising…
Special Hearings
Mute – The Silent Violence of the Parting Wall
Winner of the Podcast Development Award based on journalistic research and documentation. The award was bestowed within the framework of the Festival’s collaboration with the non-profit journalistic organization iMEdD, founded thanks to the exclusive donation by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
Podcaster: Andreas Vagias. Producer: Panagiotis Menegos. Script: Andreas Vagias. Sound editing-sound mixing-sound design: Aris Athanassopoulos. Music: Kostas Grountas. Illustration: Evgenios Kalofolias.
The systematic gender violence of everyday life is the reality for many victims that are often helpless, while the cloud of silence arms the molesters to go as far as to commit femicides. After the prolonged lockdown triggered a skyrocket rise both in the number of people forced to move in and live together, as well as in the cases of domestic violence, a series of testimonies from women bring forth what happens on the other side of the wall.
Chasing Indiana Jones in Manhattan
A US Marine searches for the ancient relics discovered by Agatha Christie during excavations in Mesopotamia. Henry Kissinger tries to prevent the publication of a book on the history of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and a detective walks around the Manhattan subway with a frieze of a temple in ancient Pompeii.
Journalist Aris Chatzistefanou traveled to New York City on a journalistic assignment - production by the non-profit journalistic organization iMEdD, which reveals the connections of major museums with antiquities collectors, auction houses and illegal antiquities networks that span the globe. The first episode premieres at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2023. The podcast series will be completed in 4 episodes to be released in March on podcast.imedd.org and streaming platforms.
OUT OF COMPETITION SECTION
Glances and the unseen aspects of our world, family stories endowed with universal meaning, parables and fables, gloomy pages of Greek history, unknown tales from Thessaloniki’s legacy, are among the themes that stand out in the Out of Competition section.
Here’s the full lineup of the Out of Competition section:
All I hear is wedding bells
Podcaster: Sofia Sopiadou. Production: Sofia Sopiadou. Script: Sofia Sopiadou. Sound engineering: Sofia Sopiadou. Sound editing: Sofia Sopiadou. Narration: Maria Aggou, Giorgos Sopiadis, Anastasia Aggou, Lamprini Dragoudaki, Elissavet Aggou, Alexandra Aggou, Marios Kourtidis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2022, 17΄
This podcast is a documentation of the change of how relationships and marriage are built through the decades. How were they in the 60s, the 90s and the 2010s? Stories full of love and happiness, told from people with happy eyes and a big smile on their faces. Through these stories it is possible to detect the ethical principles that used to rule the relationships in each generation. The most important value that people try to define is love. For me love is the expression on people’s faces when they are telling a story about a person they love.
Bookla 99 - Legal terms in 20΄
Podcaster: Nefeli Meg. Production: Athens Voice. Sound engineering: Jannis Tomtsis. Language: Greek. Greece, 2022, 20΄
Bookla 99 is an infotainment weekly podcast created by Nefeli Meg (content creator) and Jannis Tomtsis (sound engineer). It is hosted by Athens Voice. In just 20 minutes, 30 legal terms are explained in a simple and comic way.
Einai dorean
Podcaster: Alexandros Salames. Production: Art Οn Τhe Road. Script: Alexandros Salames. Sound engineering: Grigoris Samlidis. Sound editing: Grigoris Samlidis. Narration: Alexandros Salames. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 22΄
A podcast created in order to analyze scientific and social issues from a theological point of view, highlighting the common, but also the gray, areas of the two fields.
Greek Queer Stories
Podcaster: Kyriakos Vlachos. Script: Kyriakos Vlachos. Narration: Kyriakos Vlachos. Language: Greek. UK, 2023, 27΄
Greek Queer Stories is a fiction podcast series that once a month narrates a new, original, Greek short story. In the first episode listeners can stream the story Tourourout that touches upon mental health, the hook-up culture, and addiction to dating apps.
Indoors and Outdoors: Sanja Iveković’s Trokut uncages a balcony
Podcaster: Ioanna Lioutsia. Script: Ioanna Lioutsia. Sound engineering: Ioanna Lioutsia. Sound editing: Ioanna Lioutsia. Narration: Ioanna Lioutsia. Languages: English, Greek. Greece, 2023, 20΄
During the visit of the President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito to Zagreb, performance artist Sanja Iveković, sitting on the balcony of her apartment in a building in front of the main street where Tito was passing, reads a book, drinks whiskey and grimaces as if masturbating. Although it was impossible to see her from the street, the police from the opposite building saw her, knocked on her door and arrested her. This is a brief description of Iveković’s performance, which took place in 1979 in Croatia and bears the title of – sarcastic feminist direction – Trokut (Triangle).
POLISTORIES: Thessaloniki, a nest of spies
Podcaster: Katerina Zachou. Production: Katerina Zachou. Script: Katerina Zachou. Original music: Nikos Kapantzakis. Sound engineering: Menios Exioglou. Narration: Katerina Zachou. Visual identity: Maita Chatziioannidou - Loopo Studio. Text editing: Stavroula Tsiara. Website management: Fotini Patinari. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 22΄
Thessaloniki of the spies. An audio journey from the First World War to the Occupation of the Second World War. Cinema spies, through films of German Expressionism, such as Fräulein Doctor. But also real spies, collaborators of the Nazis during the Occupation.
The Callas analogy
Podcaster: Avgi Maria Atmatzidou. Production: Avgi Events. Script: Maria Miheles. Sound engineering: Avgi Maria Atmatzidou. Sound editing: Avgi Maria Atmatzidou. Narration: Vassiliki Rapti, Avgi Maria Atmatzidou. Language: English. USA, 2023, 23΄
Episode of the The Theater Balcony podcast series that presents works by Greek theatrical writers (both contemporary and ancient ) to promote Greek theater production in the USA.
The Flower of Smyrna
Podcasters: Christina Katsiadakis, Effie Skrobola. Production: Christina Katsiadakis - Mitos Productions, Effie Skrobola - View Master Films. Script: Christina Katsiadakis, Effie Skrobola. Sound Engineering: Vangelis Makris. Sound editing: Vangelis Makris. Narration: Konstantina Koutsonasiou, Effie Skrobola. Poster design: Angeliki Vairaktaraki. Research: Spyros Loukoumis. Language: Greek. Canada-Greece, 2023, 20΄
An amalgam of fiction and documentation, in present and past tense, the transmedia project The Flower of Smyrna takes us to Smyrna before the catastrophe. In a diary form, through Instagram (@theflowerofsmyrna) and podcasts, 16-year-old Filio recounts her life in the cosmopolitan city. Historical facts complete the picture for the modern audience.
The truth about Cinderella
Podcaster: Evdoxia Karakatsi. Production: Evdoxia Karakatsi. Script: Evdoxia Karakatsi. Narration: Evdoxia Karakatsi. Language: Greek. Greece, 2023, 21΄
Everything you have been told about Cinderella is a lie! In this episode we'll learn that there is a businesswoman inside Cinderella and that the prince can wait. We analyze the classic fairy tale and put a more feminist twist on our favorite heroine.
