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The 20^th anniversary edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s Doc Market award ceremony (Docs in Progress section) took place on Wednesday March 7 2018 in Warehouse C, in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere, with filmmakers exchanging views and personal stories.

The General Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival Elise Jalladeau opened the event, while the Head of the Agora, Yianna Sarri, welcomed the attendants. Docs in Progress were hosted for a seventh year in a row in TDF’s Doc Market section. This year ten films from Eastern Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean were presented to the producers, sales agents, distributors and festival representatives who attend the 20^th TDF.

This year’s international Docs in Progress jury consisted of Laia Abuia (Distribution Manager, DocsBarcelona, Spain), Charlotte Madsen (Buyer, SVT, Sweden) and Takis Veremis (Distributor, StraDA Films, Greece).

The first prize for post-production services, amounting to 15,000 euros, was granted by the Greek post-production company 2|35 Inc to the film Seeds of Columbus directed by Marianna Economou – Greece (Production: Stefi/Lynx Productions, Spyros Mavrogenis, Co-production: Rea Apostolides - Anemon Productions). “I warmly thank the Festival; everything I know about documentary I learned it here in Thessaloniki” said the film director.

The second MuSou prize in sound and music services, amounting up to 6,500 euros, was granted to the film Staring at the Sun directed by Atieh Attarzadeh and Hesam Eslami – France, Iran (Production: Etienne de Ricaud, Caractères Productions, Co-production: Hesam Eslami, Atieh Attarzadeh). “I will inform the film’s directors, I’m sure they will be thrilled with the news. We thank the TDF and the jury”, said the film’s producer. Also, the jury awarded special mention to the film Gentle Warriors directed by Marija Stonyte – Lithuania, Esthonia (Production: Giedre Zickyte, Moonmakers, Co-production: Riho Vastrik).

Consequently, the Greek Film Centre’s Hellas Film Promotion director Kostas Aivaliotis presented the new award, amounting to 3,000 euros, which was offered by the Greek Film Centre as a gesture of support to the 20^th anniversary edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and the Doc Market. The award was offered to the film Tiny Souls directed by Dina Naser – Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar, The Netherlands, France (Production: Dina Naser and Ruba Ghazi Hannun - Mad Moshawash, Co-production:  Khaled Haddad - Jordan Prioneers, Palmyre Badinier- Urban Factory). The director warmly thanked the Festival for the opportunity to participate in Docs in Progress.

How do you reach and build an audience in the early stages of a film production? How do you draw and execute the appropriate marketing strategies for a film promotion? In an effort to answer these and many other questions, the EDN Docs In Thessaloniki Masterclass entitled “How to find and approach your audience” took place on Tuesday March 6 2018 in “Pavlos Zannas” Theater, as part of the 20th anniversary edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. 

This masterclass forms part of Docs in Thessaloniki Pitching Forum 2018, co-organized by EDN - European Documentary Network and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, and supported by the MEDIA Creative Europe program. EDN, the leading European organization for professionals working with documentary films and TV from around the world, supports and builds networks for the production of documentaries in Europe and has a long and vigorous presence in the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, in close collaboration with the festival’s Doc Market. For yet another time in the 20^th TDF, EDN attracts film professionals, as well as some of the most renowned TV networks worldwide, such as Al Jazeera, ARTE, HBO Europe, SBS Australia and Films Transit, who participate in its events this year.  

The masterclass presenter was Ben Johnson, CEO at Gruvi, a technology media company that helps entertainment businesses reach and engage online audiences. Mr Johnson shared valuable insights that can help film professionals with digital film marketing, and spoke about the ability to reach and communicate with the audience, as well as the new marketing tools and practices.

A valuable guide in Q&A:

What is not taken into consideration by the modern film industry?

• Above all, the fact that the audience willing to watch movies in theaters is experiencing the attention deficit and the lack of free time that are typical of our times.
• The overabundance of available options, since a very large number of films are being released each week, which means that some films are pulled from theaters before people can really make the decision to go and watch them.
• The fact that we witness a large deviation between the decreasing number of tickets and the non-decreasing prices.
• The extremely complex and long chain intervening between the filmmaker and the audience, with many interim phases and many intermediaries who, though aiming to satisfy the audience, are unaware of its likes and dislikes.

Which are the facts that we should examine thoroughly in order to get a clearer view of the modern scenery as to which films make it to the theaters, but also to home entertainment industry?

• We have to study properly and assisted by scientific tools the psychology of the consumer, who has nothing to do with the traditional cinema regulars of past decades.
• Piracy remains a plague, though downloading has receded worldwide thanks to the rapid rise of live streaming. Piracy counts on the fact that there are long intervals between the first announcement of an upcoming film and its release in theaters. The numbers are so discouraging that even if a mere 10% of those who resort to piracy came back, the landscape would change radically.
• The excellent ratings given to well-made TV series, in comparison to the very low ones that Hollywood blockbusters receive by Internet users, show that, even in our times, a solid plot and a satisfactory dramaturgy can attract mass audience.
• Hollywood seems to have run out of script ideas, since the percentage of sequels and remakes remains impressively high during the last decade.
• New powerful players prevail since, besides Netflix’s blistering rise in the last three years, Amazon, Hulu and Apple are set to seize a growing market share.
• Big studios are confused as to the traditional distribution procedure and the profit potential it offers. A typical example is Alex Garland’s recent film Annihilation, which Paramount basically got rid of, conceding its distribution to Netflix, though its strong cast and high budget.

What do filmmakers have to focus on to differentiate themselves from distribution companies?

• They have to move away from the mentality of a two-week marketing campaign, which is more or less the time of films release, and keep in mind that they have to start the whole procedure, or at least make some trial tests on where and how they need to focus, a lot sooner.
• It is useful to remember that, while the decision to go to the movies is more or less spontaneous, the selection of the film to watch is a product of preparation and “scanning” among various potential films.
• It is necessary to keep in mind that the main attraction for a platform to accept buying a film is not what exactly they have made, but why they chose to make it in a specific way; the rationale behind the work itself, which consists its “charter”.
• Their film, as well as its promotion, has to prompt an immediate emotional and intellectual involvement on behalf or the viewer, focusing on five axes: The sense of availability and accessibility in a tangible and subconscious level, the sense of permanence that the first positive impressions must prompt, the underlining of all assets the work possesses, the sense of coherence between the film and its promotion, and finally the careful and thorough “framing” of the target audience.
• The abandonment of the false stereotype that successful films are “films for all”, since rather the opposite is true: they have to be very well aware whom their film is aimed at, at least in the initial phase.
• The necessity to move away from the target group of avid moviegoers and their trained audience and approach the much more crowded groups of people who interact with the trained audience and those who affect mass and popular culture.
• The detailed and systematic defining of the target group, the use of specialized demographic filters, as well as methods for analyzing and calculating this target group. Example: The audience calculator method used by Gruvi company.
• The simultaneous trial of some basic assumptions, based on which the respective strategy will be drawn. The less successful assumptions must be abandoned immediately, while the most successful ones must become the keystone for the film’s promotion. Case Study: Promotion of the film Iron Lady in Scandinavia. Initial assumptions as to the main target group: Female emancipation / comparisons to great female politicians in Scandinavia / audience who admire the leading character, Meryl Streep (which was proved the most successful assumption).

What is the role of the creative part in the whole promotion procedure?

• It is equally important as the successful audience targeting. As to the initial visual stimulus, we must remember that: a) the first impression of a site must be created within 90 seconds, b) each image has to have a positive effect to the eye in less than 2 seconds (1.8, to be precise), c) it is necessary to provide in advance a big volume of available accompanying pictures, so that the promotion campaign switches “covers” constantly, invigorating the audience’s interest, d) the pictures with positive effect in a country may have zero effect in another part of the world, e) there must be an analogy between the means selected (image, picture, video), the source audience and the platform through which the film is promoted.
• The main picture for promoting the film must include bright faces in high resolution.
• The duration of each accompanying video must not be particularly long, since it is proven that the audience is nowadays rejecting anything they consider time-consuming and wordy.

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival educates the new generation of filmgoers: for yet another year, the event’s successful Docs for Kids program presents a selection of engaging feature and short documentaries from all over the world that are suitable for children and teenagers 

In the framework of this year's 20^th anniversary edition, a special screening of the French documentary Wiz Kids: Making School a Better Place by Antoine Fromental will be held in collaboration with TV5 Monde on Friday 9 March 2018, in the Stavros Tornes theatre.

The screening will be attended by teenage students of French schools based in Thessaloniki, as well as other schools in the city, with the aim to promote the French language and culture through the festival's activities.

About the film:

Wiz Kids: Making School A Better Place by Antoine Fromental

France 2017, Color 91’

Α headmaster of a public middle school in a diverse Parisian suburb has decided

to implement an alternative teaching program, based on intensive acting classes and rugby trainings – 2016 is the graduation year for the two classes that were at the spearhead of the experiment…

The Docs in Progress of the Doc Market of the 20^th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival were presented on Wednesday 7 March 2018 at Pavlos Zannas theatre. The Docs in Progress are hosted for the seventh consecutive year in the festival’s Doc Market. This year 10 projects from Central Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean region participate in closed sessions for Thessaloniki’s invited industry professionals, sales agents, distributors, producers and festival representatives who attend the 20^th TDF; six out of the ten projects are directed by women.

Thessaloniki International Film Festival Orestis Andreadakis warmly welcomed the participants in the event, highlighting that “Docs in Progress are here to encourage you to keep making films”.

This year, 2|35 Inc Post-Production House offers for the fourth time an award of up to 15.000 euro in post-production services. In addition, the MuSou award for music and sound services, amounting up to 6.500 euro, will be presented for the second time and the Greek Film Centre offers an award of 3.000 euro in cash.  The DiP awards amount to 24.500 euro in total.

The international Docs in Progress jury consists of:

Laia Aubia, Distribution Manager, DocsBarcelona, Spain

Charlotte Madsen, Buyer, SVT, Sweden

Takis Veremis, Distributor, StraDA Films, Greece

The projects are:

1. 1000 m2 of Time, Direction: Maro Anastopoulou, Production: Lilette Botassi - Inkas Film Productions, Co-producer: Pangaia Pictures, Greece
2. Body Struggles, Direction: Francesco Corona, Production: Lorenzo Cioffi – Ladoc, Italy
3. Figures, Direction: Eugenio Canevari, Production: Eugenio Canevari, Melina Pereyra, Waking Films Co-producer: Felipe Yaryura - Mamá Húngara Cine, Spain-Argentina
4. Frugal Abundance, Direction: Giorgos Savoglou & Frantzeska Romanou, Production: Amanda Livanou - Neda Film, Greece
5. Gentle Warriors, Direction: Marija Stonyte, Production: Giedre Zickyte – Moonmakers, Co-producer: Riho Vastrik, Lithuania-Estonia
6. Janitou, Direction: Amine Hattou, Production: Boualem Ziani - Libre image Production, Co-producer: Thomas Kaske - Kaske Film, Algeria-Germany-France-Qatar
7. KAT People, Direction: Marco Gastine, Production: Eleni Chandrinou, Marco Gastine - MINIMAL FILMS, Co-producer: Alexandre Cornu - Les films du tambour de soie, Greece-France
8. Seeds of Columbus, Direction: Marianna Economou, Production: Spyros Mavrogenis -Stefi/ Lynx Productions, Co-producer: Rea Apostolides – Anemon, Greece
9. Staring at the Sun, Direction: Atieh Attarzadeh & Hesam Eslami, Production: Etienne de Ricaud - Caractères Productions, Co-producer: Hesam Eslami, Atieh Attarzadeh, France-Iran
10. Tiny Souls, Direction: Dina Naser, Production: Dina Naser - Mad Moshawash, Co-producer: Khaled Haddad - Jordan Prioneers, Palmyre Badinier- Urban Factory, Jordan-Lebanon-Qatar-The Netherlands-France

Expanding further in dynamics and international collaborations each year, the Doc Market of the 20^th TDF takes place March 4-10 2018, daily 10:00-20:00, at Warehouse C (Thessaloniki Port).

The Doc Market, introduced in 1999, provides a substantial space to its participants, outfitted with 30 digital booths for private viewing. The Market, supported by Creative Europe Media program, caters to television networks from European countries and a wide range of professionals from various parts of the world. The Doc Market is fully digital; all films are easily accessible in the video library.

Her lasting contribution in the art of documentary making and her valuable support to the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival all these years, is the reason behind the Festival’s idea to honor Madeleine Avramoussis, Commissioning Director for Arte France, in a special event organized on Monday 5 March 2018 at a stacked “Stavros Tornes” Theatre, as part of TDF’s 20th anniversary edition. The event ended with the screening of Lefteris Haritos’ documentary Dolphin Man, a co-production with Arte.

“In appreciation of her passion for documentary and her ongoing support to the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, we honor Madeleine Avramoussis”, noted Elise Jalladeau, General Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, handing the honorary plaque to Mrs Avramoussis, who counts more than 25 years of experience with Arte. On his part, TIFF’s Director, Orestis Andreadakis, welcomed once more the guest to Thessaloniki and TDF, and described her as a “unique personality and a citizen of the world”.

“It’s more than I’m worthy of”, noted Madeleine Avramoussis, who during her long career in documentary and from her key position in Arte, has participated in the co-production of many Greek production and co-production documentaries, such as Roy Sher’s My Sweet Canary and Up to the Last Drop: The Secret Water War in Europe by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, which is being screened in this year’s event. “Documentary is above all teamwork. Therefore, I return the honor to all the people we have worked together with for the promotion of Greek documentary. I come to this festival ever since it was a ‘baby’, and now it is a twenty-year old... girl. So, happy birthday, and know that TIFF is not just a good opportunity to watch interesting things and relax with the films; it is mostly a chance to see and meet people and build relations with them eventually, so that beautiful partnerships can happen. You would not believe how many remarkably talented Greek documentarists are out there”.  Mrs Avramoussis added: “If I’m worthy of this honor at all, it is for my decisiveness. Because the producer clearly needs to be very decided and open-minded. I’m proud and thrilled to be here today, in this historic, cosmopolitan and open-minded city, in this historic building, just like I was proud every time we were going, together with all the team of Dolphin Man, to pitch this film in every big documentary festival in the world”,» Mrs Avramoussis noted, and concluded: “In our job, in order to make a documentary you have to wait for the right moment. It is like building a house. You need patience and time in order to lay the proper foundations”.