Agora/Industry, the industry section of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, announced its awards on Friday, November 10, 2017, in Warehouse C, as part of the 58th Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
The first to speak was the head of Agora/Industry and TIFF consultant for innovative programs and new technologies Yianna Sarri, thanking the participants, the sponsors, the jury and the film industry professionals that supported the event, while she did not omit to stress the valuable contribution of Creative Europe Media program, which supports the Agora.
Consequently, the director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival Orestis Andreadakis warmly thanked the participants for their kindness and talent, and the sponsors for their moral and material support.
This year’s Agora awards are the following:
The 13th Crossroads Co-production Forum awards:
The jury of the 13th Crossroads Co-Production Forum consists of Teresa Hoefert de Turegano (funding advisor, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg, Germany), Dominique Welinski (producer, DW, France) and Konstantinos Kontovrakis (producer, Heretic, Greece), and grants:
Ι. The co-production award (audiovisual) by the Greek post-production company 2|35 to the film project
MARGHERITA, Directed by: Valentina Carnelutti, Produced by: Marco Alessi - Dugong Films & Valentina Carnelutti - Fioere Leonen Produzioni, Italy
The jury reasoning: “For the courage of letting teenagers be teenagers”.
The producer of the winning project will also be granted a free accreditation for the Producer’s Network session of Cannes Film Festival 2018.
II. Τhe Centre National Du Cinema Et De L’ Image Animée (CNC), a French public organization aiming to the support and promotion of cinema in France and abroad, grants, for a seventh year in a row, a Development award of 10,000 euros for script development, as part of the Crossroads Co-production Forum.
The jury grants the award to the film project
200 METERS, Directed by: Ameen Nayfeh, Produced by: May Odeh - Odeh Films, Palestine.
The jury reasoning: “For breaking down walls and helping them run their financing marathon”.
III. THE MuSou award provides composition and production of an original film score, music supervision and licensing of commercial music for use in the film, as well as audio post production services.
The jury grants the award to the film project
ZUHAL, Directed by: Nazlύ Elif Durlu, Produced by: Anna Maria Aslanoğlu - istos film, Turkey
The jury reasoning: “For the organic and inventive use of sound in the narrative and the inner world of the main character”.
ΙV. Heretic Asterisk provides services in development and packaging.
The jury grants the award to the film project
RAINBOWS DON’T LAST LONG, Directed by: Mayye Zayed, Produced by: Mayye Zayed – Rufy’s Films, Co-production: Halina Dyrschka – Ambrosia Film, Egypt, Germany
The jury reasoning: “To help her reach the Red Sea and the international market”.
MFI SCRIPT 2 FILM WORKSHOPS, organized by the Mediterranean Film Institute (MFI) awards a full scholarship to the film project
200 METERS, Directed by: Ameen Nayfeh, Produced by: May Odeh - Odeh Films, Palestine.
VI. To MFI Script 2 Film Workshops also awards a half scholarship to the film project
RAINBOWS DON’T LAST LONG, Directed by: Mayye Zayed, Produced by: Mayye Zayed – Rufy’s Films, Co-production: Halina Dyrschka – Ambrosia Film, Egypt, Germany
VΙI. For a seventh year in a row the French consulting firm Initiative Film, represented by the CEO Isabelle Fauvel will offer its services to a Greek project. The selected project is:
WE KISS IN DARK NIGHTCLUBS AND I EXPLAIN, Directed by: Daphné Hérétakis, Produced by: Jasmina Sijercic - Bocalupo Flms, Yorgos Tsourgiannis - Horsefly Productions, France, Greece
The jury reasoning: “As it represents a great challenge to work with a young filmmaker who is crossing the path from experimental non-narrative background to her fiction feature film in which nowadays Athens has the role of the main character”
“Often, in this hard film industry world, directors and producers feel lonely and need any kind of advice, help and guidance while they try to realize their project”, Isabelle Fauvel said.
Agora Works in Progress awards
The Agora Works in Progress jury, consisting of Bero Beyer (Artistic Director, International Film Festival Rotterdam – The Netherlands), Dorien van de Pas, (Netherland Film Fund/Eurimages Representative, The Netherlands) and Ilias Georgiopoulos, (distributor, Danaos Films, Greece) granted two films out of 12 that took part in this year’s Works in Progress.
“This year’s Works in Progress selection took us to different places, both geographically and emotionally. There was a clear sense of wanting to use the power of cinema to investigate societies and relationships in sometimes very remote areas of Europe and the human condition. All projects had passionate filmmakers that made up for the restrictions in budget with a richness of imagination and perseverance. Two projects stood out for their originality of storytelling and exploration of the very medium of cinema itself” said Bero Beyer on behalf of the jury.
VIΙI. GRAAL post-production award of Agora Works in Progress section with in kind services in image post-production to the film
SISTER, Directed by: Svetla Tsotsorkova, Produced by: Svetoslav Ovcharov – Omega Films, Vetla Tsotsorkova– Front Film, Bulgaria
The jury reasoning: “The Graal post-production award goes to a personal and deeply human film with a striking lead character and a fierce director”.
IX. Eurimages Lab Project Award of Agora Works in Progress section amounts up to 50.000 euros, and is granted this year for the second time in a row in the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. This particular award, as Yianna Sarri explained, is only granted in four European film festivals (Karlovy Vary, Haugesund, Les Arcs and TIFF).
Eurimages Lab Project Award is granted to the film
SPEAK SO I CAN SEE YOU, Directed by: Marija Stojnic, Produced by: Marija Stojnic, Milos Ivanovic, Bilboke, Co-production: Tibor Keser, Vanja Jambrovic – Restart, Serbia, Croatia.
The film Speak So I can See you took part in this year’s EDN Docs in Thessaloniki which took place in the 19th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.
The jury reasoning: “The jury selected a film which tries to create an innovative and playful cinematic experience through the transforming use of sound”.
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