At the 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, which took place under the gloomy shadow of the tragic Tempi accident, documentaries offered us shelter and tried to give us a note of hope. Viewers followed with great interest the urgent social issues that were pointed out in the documentaries and actively participated in discussions with the filmmakers. In all, 55,400 people watched documentaries, masterclasses, open discussions and Agora events. Compared to last year, there was an 11,2% increase in attendance, approaching pre-pandemic levels.
This year, 220 screenings took place in physical spaces. In all, 237 short and feature documentaries were screened, while 147 documentaries were screened digitally, through the online Festival platform. During the Festival, ten masterclasses, open discussions, book presentations and talks about sustainability took place, with a large audience participation. Until Friday, March 17, the screenings of the films from the section Platform and From screen to Screen continued, giving the possibility to viewers from all over Greece to watch Greek films focusing on issues that concern us all.
In the framework of the developmental program of the Agora, 670 meetings took place between 407 film professionals from Greece and abroad. Also, eight Agora Talks and four presentations addressed to audiovisual professionals, took place during the Festival.
We hope that the projects presented in the Agora will soon become films, that will have the chance to travel to cinemas, international festivals, platforms, television networks and of course to one of our next festival editions.
