Extroversion initiatives by Thessaloniki Film Festival
The Thessaloniki Film Festival is intensifying its efforts for the greater extroversion of Greek cinema and its promotion abroad. The Festival gives the opportunity to film professionals from Greece who have participated in Agora, to travel to large international film festivals, in order to promote their work. The actions are implemented within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan "Greece 2.0" with the funding of the European Union - NextGenerationEU, within the integrated project "SUB 6.3 - Market extroversion of the Thessaloniki Film and Documentary Festival".
After the successful actions in the Berlin and Cannes film festivals, the Festival continues its extroversion initiatives, supporting the participation of film professionals to the Sunny Side of the Doc festival, the Sarajevo Film Festival and the Locarno Film Festival. More specifically, the Festival financially covers the travel of cinema professionals (accreditation, travel expenses, accommodation etc.), while with the input of specialists, it provides consulting services before, during and after the completion of their trip. At the same time, the Festival supports the participation of professionals in special programs held in the framework of the international film markets.
From Docs in Progress to Sunny Side of the Doc
Two producers and a screenwriter from Greece that participated in Agora’s Docs in Progress of the 25th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival recently travelled to the renowned documentary festival Sunny Side of the Doc, held in La Rochelle, where they had meetings with top documentary professionals.
During Sunny Side of the Doc (June 19 – 22, 2023), participants Maria Karagiannaki (Chase the Cut), Mina Dreki (Marni Films) and Natasa Segkou (Homemade Films) had the opportunity to participate in matchmaking sessions, as well as in scheduled one-on-one meetings with sales agents. Maria Karagiannaki participated with the project Sacred Way ~ 21km, Mina Dreki participated with the project Stories of a Lie and Natasa Segkou participated with the project Death plan for a dog and a man. Their mentor was Katarina Tomkova, producer, mentor - kaleidoscope, Punkchart films, MIDPOINT Institute (Slovakia & Czech Republic).
Moreover, all the activities of the Greek documentary production were presented at the Greek pavilion, which was created by the Greek Documentary Association, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and the Greek Film Centre.
Three directors at the Sarajevo Film Festival
Three directors who participated in the Agora Short Film Lab 2022 and had won the biggest awards at the Greek Competition section of the Drama International Short Film Festival (Golden Dionysos for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Script) will travel to the Sarajevo Film Festival, in order to participate to Cinelink film market from August 14 to August 18. Agora Short Film Lab is an initiative hosted by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, in collaboration with Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and Drama International Short Film Festival.
The directors who will participate in Cinelink are: Michalis Kimonas, Thanos Tokakis, Valentin Stejskal. Their mentor is producer Yorgos Tsourgiannis.
Participation to the U30 program of Locarno Pro
After his participation at the Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy at the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Tasos Mallios, a cultural worker and film programmer from Greece, will participate at the U30 program of the Locarno Pro (August 3-7) that will take place during the 76th Locarno Film Festival. U30 is a think tank that aims to give a voice to a new generation of cinema professionals.
