Music in Motion: The Art of Film Scoring

The successful initiative Meet the Future, a collaboration between the Greek Programme and the Agora of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival that was launched in 2019, aiming at bringing forth the up-and-coming Greek professionals from different sectors of the film industry, is back in action for yet another year within the framework of the 65th TIFF. This year’s Meet the Future foregrounds the art of film scoring through the tribute “Music in Motion: The Art of Film Scoring”, welcoming film composers of the younger generation from Greece, taking the baton from film directing, cinematography, editing, acting and screenwriting that took center stage over the last years.

The 65th TIFF’s Meet the Future is addressed to emergent film composers who have composed a music score for at least one short film and up to one full-length fiction film or documentary or TV series. The participants will have the chance to attend a series of intriguing masterclasses, with free admission for the public, on a first-come-first-served basis, delivered by renowned names of the field, such as Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner, Croatian music editor Suzana Perić with a longstanding career in the USA under her belt, as well as Nikos Kypourgos, Evanthia Reboutsika and Tassos Boulmetis, Kostas Christides and Coti K., which will shed light on the intricate role and the pivotal function of film music.

This year’s Meet the Future lines up eight rising musicians-composers, making their first steps in the art of film scoring: Ermis, Nick Athens, Greg Eleftheriou, Pélagie Hatzinikitas, John Konsolakis, Stavros Markonis, Panos Tsamouras, Vasilis Zlatanos.

This year, for the first time, the Thessaloniki State Orchestra is launching a new award bestowed within the framework of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, undertaking the full recording of symphonic music for the awarded film. The film composers taking part in the Meet the Future section are competing for this year’s award, which pertains to their next work in cinema. Starting from the following year, the award will be bestowed to a film taking part in the Works in Progress section of TIFF’s Agora. The recording of symphonic music for a film is a costly process that often deters film composers from writing orchestra music. The establishment of this award aims to encourage and boost the composition of symphonic orchestra music for films. The jury of the newly established award is composed of: Simos Papanas (Director of the Thessaloniki State Orchestra), Antonis Sousamoglou (concertmaster of the Thessaloniki State Orchestra), and Miltos Logiadis (orchestra director).

Moreover, as in the previous years, one of this year’s Meet the Future participants will receive the Crew United Prize, a 5-year free Premium membership subscription on Crew United, the leading online networking platform connecting audiovisual professionals in Europe, also operating in Greece.