59th THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL [1-11/11/2018] || 1-11/11/2018
Agora Crossroads Opening
The 14th Agora Crossroads Co-Production Forum opened on Wednesday, November 7, at the Warehouse C’, as part of the 59th Thessaloniki International Film Festival.
TIFF’s art director, Orestis Andreadakis, warmly thanked the participants, urging them -apart from their professional engagements- to also have fun, which “is easy in Thessaloniki”, as he said. Then it was Foivos Delivorias’ turn to speak. The celebrated Greek songwriter is the first Agora ambassador in an initiative aiming to communicate the secrets of film industry professionals to TIFF’s guests, journalists and the audience. “I am a film maniac, I watch at least three films a day. Agora, the place in here, is the very place where films are born, and I’m very happy to take part in such an event as an ambassador”, Mr Delivorias said.
The Crossroads section of Agora headed by Marie-Pierre Macia selects film projects based on the script quality, the creative team and the production potential. It aims at supporting producers of feature films related to Central Europe, the Balkans and the Mediterranean.
This year’s Crossroads jury consists of Ada Solomon – Producer, Hi Film Productions (Romania), Pascal Diot – Head of the Venice Production Bridge, Venice FF (Italy), Alexis Hofmann – Sales Agent, Bac Films (France) and Annamaria Lodato – International Relations, ARTE (France).
This year, 15 projects participate in the 14th Crossroads Co-production Forum.
Their contributors talked about these projects during the mini pitching forum that took place at the beginning of the event. In particular:
1. 40 Days, Director-Producer: Penny Panagiotopoulou - P.P. Productions, Co-production: Twenty Twenty Vision, Manny Films, Greece-Germany-France
“It is a film about survival. It is based on the true story of a hospital guard who needs money right away and gets involved in various unpleasant situations”.
2. BARBAROSSA, Director: Sotiris Goritsas, Production: Iraklis Mavroidis, Angelos Venetis – Boo Productions, Greece
“Shootings will start next year and the story is about two brothers who meet again and discover their lost fortune in the island where they were born”.
3. BEGGAR, Direction: Nadejda Koseva, Production: Vladimir Andreev – Borough Film, Bulgaria In collaboration with Sofia Meetings
“It is about the life of a loser who tries to save his city”.
4. COZ YOU’RE UGLY, Direction: Sharon Angelhart, Production: Assaf Amir - Norma Productions, Israel
“It is my first film and portrays two girls”.
5. DOMINA MARIS, Direction: Silvia Perra, Production: Luca Cabriolu - Ombre Rosse Film Production, Co-production: Sandra da Fonseca - Blue Monday Productions, Italy-France
“The film’s main character is a 12 year-old boy moving with his father and brother to a farm away from their city”.
6. EVERYTHING IN ITS RIGHT PLACE, Direction: Berrak Çolak, Production: Engin Palabıyık - Harikulade Film & Müge Özen - Solis Film, Turkey
“We make films in a country that sadly does not give us many opportunities. Our film is about a woman who vanishes”.
7. INCHALLA BOY, Direction: Amjad Al Rasheed, Production: Rula Nasser, Aseel Abu Ayyash – The Imaginarium, Jordan
“Growing up in a family with a lot of women, I used to listen to their stories. Stories of separation, sacrifice, and violence. Our film is the story of a woman who lost her husband and risks losing her house”.
8. THE LAND WITHIN ME, Direction: Fisnik Maxhuni, Production: Britta Rindelaub, Jasmin Basic - Alva Film Production, Switzerland-UNMI Kossovo
“With this film I go back to my native land, as does my main character”.
9. M (working title): Direction: Vardan Tozija, Production: Darko Popov – Focus Pocus Films, Co-production: Miroslav Mogorovic- Art & Popcorn, FYROM-Serbia
“The film is about the story of Marco living with his paranoid father in a vast vorest”.
10. MAYSOON, Direction: Nancy Biniadaki, Production: Christopher Zitterbart – Watchmen Productions, Germany In collaboration with MFI Script 2 Film Workshop
“The film is about women that take nothing as granted”.
12. MIGNON, Direction: Sofia Georgovassili, Production: Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos - Plays2place, Co-production: Irina Andreea Malcea – Luna Film, Greece-Romania
“It is about a real story I lived when I was 15 years old and visited the biggest mall in Greece, in the year 1997”.
13. THE NIGHTSIREN, Direction: Tereza Nvotová, Production: Peter Badač - BFILM, Co-production: Moloko film, Slovakia-Czech Republic
“It is a story of vanishment and magic, starring two young girls”.
14. REGRET, Direction: Kosta Đorđević, Production: Miloš Ivanović - Kinematografska kuca, Serbia In collaboration with MIDPOINT
“The film is about our need for love and our efforts to keep it”.
15. THE VOICE OF AN ANGEL, Direction: Telémachos Alexiou, Production: Anja Wendell - Czar Film, Co-production: Fenia Kossovitsa – Blonde, Germany-Greece
“A young Greek actor living in Berlin comes back to Athens after the death of his father and starts working in a drag-queen bar pretending to be his mother, a famous singer”.
16. VORTEX, Direction: Chrysanthos Margonis, Production: Eleni Kossyfidou - Blackbird Production, Greece
“Two opposite characters unite in a trip to the southernmost point of Europe, Crete”.
Crossroads collaborates with:
Crossroads also collaborates with MIDPOINT - A Training and Networking Platform for Film and TV Development.
Crossroads is part of TIFF’s Agora section that creates an international network of professionals and provides the grounds and optimal conditions for meetings, discussions and agreements, all in an informal, warm and professional environment. The TIFF Agora section is supported by the MEDIA – Creative Europe program of the European Union.
The TIFF Agora prizes will be awarded on Friday, November 9, 2018, at 10:00 PM at Warehouse C΄.
