16/10/2012 - The official poster is revealed along with Open Horizons' line-up, just a little over two weeks before the festival kicks off on November 2

Aiming for a reprise of last year's boost in attendance, reaching a spectacular 90%, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is gearing up for its premiere on November 2nd, by revealing its official poster, along with the lineup of its prominent indie section, Open Horizons.

Handpicked by festival head Dimitri Eipides, this year's selection includes nine Foreign Language Academy Award entries from around the world, along with new films by distinguished auteurs, such as Costa Gavras's Le Capital [+see also:
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film profile], and Cannes contenders In the Fog [+see also:
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film profile] by Abbas Kiarostami.

Always mindful of neighboring trends, the Balkan Survey section, programmed by Dimitri Kerkinos, will showcase the best of the year's North-Mediterranean productions. Goran Paskaljevic's When Day Breaks [+see also:
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film profile] will be having its national premiere at the fest, while Romanian director Cristian Mungiu will be attending a complete tribute to his work, complemented by a book published by the festival.

Aki Kaurismaki, Kurd Bahman Ghobadi, and German Andreas Dresen will also visit Thessaloniki, where their works will be spotlighted, while the festival is this year presenting its new Night Views section focusing on film-makers boldly experimenting with both form and content, defying mainstream concerns and conventions. Greek director Costas Zapas and Israeli Lior Shamriz will be the section's first honorees.

The fest will also be paying homage to the late Theo Angelopoulos, by screening The Travelling Players (1975), Voyage to Cythera (1984) and Landscape in the Mist (1988), as well as organizing a concert featuring music from his films, and presenting a bilingual publication focused on his filmography.