30/10/2018 - The 59th edition of the most important Greek film gathering is showcasing new voices in the international competition and continuing its Greek focus, while its Balkan Survey turns 25

Every year, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) focuses on a different artistic theme, which then acts as the guide for making the selection. For its 59^th edition (1-11 November), the TIFF has picked up the theme of Caritas Romana (Roman Charity). Inspired by the story of Pero, a woman who secretly breastfeeds her father, Cimon, who has been sentenced to death by starvation, the scene has been reimagined in various art forms, predominantly in paintings from the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

The 15 films selected in the international competition are directed by up-and-coming debutant and sophomore filmmakers and will be setting their sights on the Golden Alexander. European co-productions have the lion’s share, with 11 titles in the line-up, while three of them are Greek.

The selected productions include two titles from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard – the Best Screenplay winner, Sofia [+see also:
film review
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interview: Meryem Benm'Barek
film profile] by Meryem Benm' Barek (France/Belgium/Qatar), and The Harvesters [+see also:
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interview: Etienne Kallos
film profile] by Etienne Kallos (South Africa/France/Poland/Greece) – as well as North American successes such as the Tribeca winner Smuggling Hendrix [+see also:
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interview: Marios Piperides
film profile] by Marios Piperides (Cyprus/Germany/Greece), the Sundance hits Holiday [+see also:
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interview: Victoria Carmen Sonne
film profile] by Isabella Eklöf (Denmark/Netherlands/Sweden), The Guilty [+see also:
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interview: Gustav Möller
film profile] by Gustav Möller (Denmark) and We the Animals by Jeremiah Zagar (USA), and the Toronto-premiered Her Job [+see also:
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interview: Nikos Labôt
film profile] by Nikos Labôt (Greece/France/Serbia). Two Locarno winners will also be taking part: the Special Mention recipient Ray & Liz [+see also:
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interview: Richard Billingham
film profile] by Richard Billingham (UK) and Eva Trobisch’s All Good [+see also:
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film profile] (Germany), the winner of the First Feature Award. Venice’s Orizzonti winner Manta Ray [+see also:
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film profile] by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng (Thailand/France/China) and Elsa Amiel’s debut, Pearl [+see also:
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interview: Elsa Amiel
film profile] (France/Switzerland), will also get an airing. The selection is topped off by the national premiere of The Waiter [+see also:
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film profile] by Steve Krikris (Greece), the international premiere of Meili by Zhou Zhou (Taiwan), the European premiere of Alex Moratto’s Socrates (Brazil) and Chained for Life by Aaron Schimberg (USA).

The 59^th TIFF will open with the Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-Eda (Japan) and will close with the Caméra d'Or-awarded Girl [+see also:
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interview: Lukas Dhont
film profile] by Lukas Dhont (Belgium/Netherlands). Four more titles will be screened out of competition: Touch Me Not [+see also:
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interview: Adina Pintilie
film profile] by Adina Pintilie (Romania/Germany/Czech Republic/Bulgaria/France), Too Late to Die Young [+see also:
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film profile] by Dominga Sotomayor (Chile/Brazil/Argentina/Netherlands/Qatar), Sauvage [+see also:
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interview: Camille Vidal-Naquet
film profile] by Camille Vidal-Naquet (France) and A Land Imagined [+see also:
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film profile] by Yeo Siew Hua (Singapore/France/Netherlands).

For the Greek Film Festival of the 59^th TIFF, 12 established and first-time filmmakers will compete in the First Run and Beyond Borders sections for the independent awards handed out by the festival. First Run comprises Free Subject [+see also:
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film profile] by Stella Theodorakis, Holy Boom [+see also:
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film profile] by Maria Lafi, Magic Skin [+see also:
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film profile] by Konstantinos Samaras, The Mountain Tears [+see also:
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film profile] by Stelios Charalampopoulos, Refuge II: The Ice Path by Christos Nikoleris, Scopophilia [+see also:
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film profile] by Natalia Lampropoulou and Ilektra Aggeletopoulou, Still River [+see also:
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interview: Angelos Frantzis
film profile] by Angelos Frantzis, The Night of Saint Anthony [+see also:
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film profile] by Thanassis Skroubelos and The Right Pocket of the Robe [+see also:
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film profile] by Yannis Lapatas. Beyond Borders includes Night Out [+see also:
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film profile] by Stratos Tzitzis, Pause [+see also:
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interview: Tonia Mishiali
film profile] by Tonia Mishiali and Sunrise in Kimmeria by Simon Farmakas.

One of the best-established sections of the TIFF, Balkan Survey, curated for the last 25 years by Dimitris Kerkinos, will present 15 films from the region that have been successful during the year at various international film festivals: Ága [+see also:
film review
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interview: Milko Lazarov
film profile] by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria/Germany/France), Alice T. [+see also:
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interview: Radu Muntean
film profile] by Radu Muntean (Romania/Sweden/France), Butterflies [+see also:
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film profile] by Tolga Karaçelik (Turkey), Cold November [+see also:
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interview: Ismet Sijarina
film profile] by Ismet Sijarina (Kosovo/Albania/Macedonia), "I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians" [+see also:
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film profile] by Radu Jude (Romania/Czech Republic/France/Bulgaria/Germany), Lemonade [+see also:
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interview: Ioana Uricaru
film profile] by Ioana Uricaru (Romania/Germany/Sweden/Canada), The Load [+see also:
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interview: Ognjen Glavonić
film profile] by Ognjen Glavonić (Serbia/France/Croatia/Iran/Qatar), Sibel [+see also:
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interview: Çağla Zencirci and Guillaum…
film profile] by Çagla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti (Turkey/France/Germany/Luxemburg), and You Have the Night [+see also:
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interview: Ivan Salatić
film profile] by Ivan Salatić (Montenegro/Serbia/Qatar). Also, the sequel to Stere Gulea’s 1980s classic,  Moromete Family: The Edge of Time [+see also:
film review
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film profile], will enjoy its world premiere. At a tribute entitled “Before the Wave Breaks”, Balkan Survey will screen eight iconic Romanian films that date from before 2001, directed by the predecessors of New Romanian Cinema.

Finally, Spanish filmmaker Jaime Rosales, Dutch director Nanouk Leopold, and Chilean visual artists-filmmakers Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña will be honoured in the tributes of the 59^th TIFF, and a special tribute dedicated to Greek queer cinema is also being organised, including the screening of 38 rare feature-length and short films.