20th THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

In 2017, Artistic Director Orestis Andreadakis introduced a competition section: The International Competition section program comprises 10 first or second films of over 50’ competing for the Golden Alexander (€8,000 cash prize, sponsored by the Municipality of Thessaloniki) and the Special Jury Award (€2,000 cash prize). The International competition films are assessed by a five-member International Jury. In addition, a new VR Competition section featuring 7 virtual reality films was introduced at the 20th TDF. The VR Competition has one cash prize of €3,000, sponsored by the Greek Film Centre. The VR Int’l Competition films are assessed by a three-member Int’l Jury.
Other Awards include: 2 FIPRESCI Awards, 1 Human Values Award of the Hellenic Parliament (Int. Competition), 2 Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation awards(3,000 in the int. competition and 2,000 euro for EDN Pitching Forum), 1 WWF Greece Award (Habitat section), 3 Greek Film Centre Awards: VR Competition, 3,000 cash prize Docs in Progress, 3,000 cash prize to a Greek newcomer, 1 Amnesty International Award (Human Rights), 4 Fisher Audience Awards for Greek and international titles, Youth Jury Award by Students of the Thessaloniki Universities and 2 more Docs in Progress Awards.

The other sections of the festival are:
Kaleidoscope, featuring films about the world around us, the stories it’s made of, the mystery we’re hiding inside, our contact with others. Human Rights, presenting cinema as a declaration of rights and a tool for recognizing the otherness that gives humankind its humanity. Memory/History: Personal memory takes on collective resonance through documentaries which don’t file away but rather bring to life the stories or the history that define us. Ηabitat: focusing on the relationship of man and nature and the consequences of human intrusion on the environment. Food vs. Food: Food not only as sustenance, but as memory, culture, human right. >>Film Forward: Testing the limits of the form; looking at reality from a radical perspective; giving the documentary a new dimension. Music: A segment in which the art of music meets cinema and the volume’s turned up high. Cinema: Holding up a mirror to itself, cinema takes its own selfie, but delving deep below its surface. Greek Panorama: Greek auteurs and their gaze on the world around us. Docs for Kids: documentary films made especially for school children. In addition, tributes to documentary filmmakers (Agnès Varda & V. Paravel & L.Cataing-Taylor), a Carte Blanche (by director Sara Driver) as well as thematic tributes (’68 beyond ’68, Brave New World) were organized. The Festival’s side events hosted masterclasses, happenings, open discussions, special events and parties. The official publications were also issued.

The main objectives and expected results of the 20th edition were to maintain the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s position as the prominent documentary event in Greece; to consolidate its position as a top European documentary festival; to promote its Doc Market as the most important one for the Southeastern Europe and to expand its influence into the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean.

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival aims to become a reference point for the documentary of the wider Southeastern European and Eastern Mediterranean region, working to meet the needs of an internationalized documentary audience and it has achieved this goal by being listed in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival List that comprises of 28 leading festivals around the world, including the TDF. The documentary feature films that win a qualifying award at the selected festivals will automatically become eligible for Oscar consideration in the Documentary Feature category.