22/10/2014 - White God and A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence will bookend the festival’s 55th celebration

With little over a week left until it gets under way, the 55th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (31 October - 9 November) has unveiled its full line-up. Kornel Mundruczo’s Cannes contender, White God [+see also:
film review
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interview: Kornél Mundruczó
film profile] (Hungary/Germany/Sweden), will be opening the gathering, while Roy Andersson’s Venice winner, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence [+see also:
film review
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interview: Roy Andersson
film profile], will close a programme consisting of over 160 features from global independent cinema.

Andersson and Mundruczo will be present during the festival, attending retrospectives of their works, while Hannah Schygulla will be this year’s guest of honour, as an eclectic selection of her work will be presented at Thessaloniki. The grande dame of German film and stage will be awarded a special Golden Alexander, followed by a short concert given by the lady herself.

Confirming previous reports (see news), Yannis Veslemes’ Karlovy Vary-screened Norway [+see also:
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film profile] and Yannis Fagras’ ten-years-in-the-making expansive drama Forget Me Not have been announced as the two Greek films vying for the Golden Alexander within the festival’s debut and sophomore International Competition.

Moreover, San Sebastian-screened films Modris [+see also:
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film profile] (Latvia/Greece/Germany) by Juris Kursietis and The Lesson [+see also:
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interview: Kristina Grozeva, Petar Val…
interview: Margita Gosheva
film profile] (Bulgaria/Greece) by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov will also spark local interest, competing against the likes of EFA contender The Tribe [+see also:
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film profile] (Ukraine) and the Israeli Film Academy-awarded title Next to Her (Israel).

Meanwhile, celebrating the centennial of Greek cinema, the gathering will be showcasing the strongest local selection that it has presented in years, with recent festival hits like Yannis Economides’ Berlinale entry Stratos [+see also:
film review
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interview: Yannis Economides
film profile], Panos H Koutras’ UCR contender Xenia [+see also:
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interview: Panos H. Koutras
film profile] and Syllas Tzoumerkas’ Locarno-screened A Blast [+see also:
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interview: Syllas Tzoumerkas
film profile] rubbing shoulders with iconic titles like Nikos Koundouros’ The Ogre of Athens and Theo Angelopoulos’ The Travelling Players.