21st THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL [1-10/3/2019]
Agora Doc Market
March 2 – 9, Warehouse C, Thessaloniki Port
The Agora Doc Market, introduced in 1999, will be held in Warehouse C at the Thessaloniki Port. Thirty (30) digital booths are available for private viewing. This international Market, supported by Creative Europe Media Program, caters to television networks from European countries and a wide range of professionals from various parts of the world. The Agora Doc Market is fully digital; all films are easily accessible in the video library.
Approximately 430 films will be available in this year’s Agora Doc Market, including the majority of the films that are screened as part of the 21st TDF Official Program.
Among the 150 industry professionals approximately 65 are buyers: ARTE (France), Histoire (France), MUBI (UK), RTP 1&2 (Portugal), CAT&DOCS (France), AUTLOOK FILMSALES (Austria), DRK (Denmark), RADIO&TV (Bosnia & Herzegovina), CINEPHIL (Israel), FILMS TRANSIT (Canada), AL JAZEERA DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL (Qatar), BULGARIAN NATIONAL TV (Bulgaria), SUNNY SIDE OF THE DOC (France), RADIO & TV (Slovakia), TG4 (Ireland), AYAT MEDIA (Turkey), RTS (Switzerland) and many more.
AGORA DOCS IN PROGRESS 2019
Wednesday, March 6
The Agora Doc Market will present for the eight consecutive year the Agora Docs in Progress section: 10 projects from South-eastern Europe and the Mediterranean region participate in closed sessions exclusively for Thessaloniki’s invited industry professionals, sales agents, distributors, producers and festival programmers. This year, the segment features a 50/50 ratio of projects directed by women. The participants will present and screen 6-8 minutes from their projects, aiming towards securing coproduction deals, funds for project completion, as well as deals for pre-sales and distribution.
The 2|35 post-production company offers for the fifth time an award of up to 15,000 euro in post-production services. In addition, the MuSou award for music and sound services, amounting up to 3,500 euro, will be presented for the third time and the Greek Film Centre offers an award of 3,000 euro in cash for the second time. Furthermore, through the new collaboration between TDF and Visions du Réel, the winner of the Agora DiP prize will also secure accreditation and accommodation for the Swiss Festival in April (more details below). The Agora DiP awards amount to more than 23.500 euro in total.
The international Agora Docs in Progress jury consists of:
Rada Sesic, Sarajevo Film Festival, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Elisabeth Hagstedt, Histoire TV, France
Menios Karayiannis, film director, Greece
The projects are:
- Four Seasons by Katerina Patroni. Production: Eleni Chandrinou, Maria Kontogianni, Steficon, Greece
- Libres! by Arno Bitschy. Production: Clara Vuillermoz, Les films du Balibari, Co-producer: Liisa Karpo, Marianne Makëla, Napa Films, France, Finland
- Never Whistle Alone by Marco Ferrari. Production: Patricia Robledo, Candy Glass, Co-producer: Francesco Crespi, Basement, Italy
- Our Choices by Salah Al Ashkar. Production: Etienne de Ricaud, Caractères Productions, Ariel Cypel, L'atelier des artistes en exil, Syria, France
- Overtures by Louis Henderson. Production: Olivier Marboeuf, Spectre Productions, France
- Queen of the Deuce by Valerie Kontakos. Production: Despina Pavlaki, Valerie Kontakos, Exile Films, Greece
- A Rifle and a Bag by Cristina Hanes & Arya Rothe. Production: Isabella Rinaldi, NoCut Film Collective, Co-producer: Andra Popescu, Conset Films, India, Romania
- School 54 (working title) by Dimitra Kouzi. Production: Dimitra Kouzi, Kouzi Productions, Greece
- Tobias by Alexa Bakony. Production: Gábor Osváth & Ildikó Szűcs, Filmfabriq, Hungary
- Y1 Silence of the Deep by Philippos Vardakas. Production: Stelios Efstathopoulos, Team Faos TV Productions, Co-producer: Faos TV Productions GmbH, Greece, Germany
NEW TDF COLLABORATION WITH VISIONS DU RÉEL
Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and Visions du Réel (Switzerland) are happy to announce their collaboration for 2019 - 2020. The two festivals and their Markets (Agora and Industry respectively) agree on mutual exchange and screening of six national films in their Doc Market and Media Library. In addition, accommodation and a free accreditation are offered to the winner of the Thessaloniki Docs in Progress to attend Visions du Réel and further promote their documentary film, while the winner of the Pitching du Réel receives the same advantages for next year's Agora Doc Market with the aim to promote and network their documentary project. This collaboration brings together two major European documentary festivals, which are sharing common interests and thus strengthening the circulation of talent and industry networking for European directors.
The Greek films that are screened in the 21st TDF and will take part in Visions du Réel in April are the following:
EDN DOCS IN THESSALONIKI 2019 | PITCHING FORUM
Pitching: Monday 4/3 (09.30-14.00) and Tuesday 5/3 (09.30-13.00) at Pavlos Zannas theatre, open to the public
The Docs in Thessaloniki, running since 2001 in collaboration with the European Documentary Network, gives documentary professionals the opportunity to have their projects pitched to a panel of international financiers, commissioning editors and representatives of the international audiovisual media. The first 3 days focus on project development and polishing and the last 2 days are reserved for pitching. The program is coordinated by Ove Rishøj Jensen (EDN film and media consultant, Denmark).
The following 20 projects have been selected to take part in Docs in Thessaloniki 2019:
- Climate Exodus, Director/Producer David Baute, Tinglado Film, Spain
- Dear Future, Director/Producer Christiana Cheiranagnostaki, Greece
- Democracy at Risk, Director Sylvain Pak, Producer Jennifer Deschamps, KM, France
- Do not Come Home, Director Milos Ljubomirović, Producer Ivica Vidanović, Cinnamon Films, Serbia
- Engel, Director Peter Woditsch, Producer Sophie Schoukens, Sophimages, Germany
- The Exit of a Train, Director Radu Jude & Adrian Cioflanca, Producer Ada Solomon, Micro Film, Romania, Romania
- Globus, Director Clara Kleininger, Producers Magdalena Borowiec, Tatiana Matysiak, SQUARE film studio, DI Factory and Triba Film, Poland, Romania
- Gold Miners, Director Inka Achté, Producer Liisa Karpo, Napafilms, Finland
- The Happiest Chief, Director Avra Georgiou, Producer Photini Economopoulou, Oh My Dog Productions, Greece
- Inhabitants, Director Mery Aghakhanyan, Producers Armine Anda, Mery Aghakhanyan, Renaissance Films, Armenia, France, Germany
- Intimate Outsiders, Director Roser Corella, Producers Roser Corella, Ana Catalá, Moving Mountains Films, Germany
- Magaluf Ghost Town, Directors Miguel Ángel Blanca, Raúl Cuevas, Producer Bernat Manzano, Boogaloo Films, Spain
- Nenets: People at Risk, Director Sergio Ghizzardi, Producer Valérie Montmartin, Little Big Story, France
- Phoenix, Director-Producer Daire Collins, Ireland, UK, Romania, Spain, Germany
- Safe Passage Directors Daniel Druhora & Charly W. Feldman, Producer Anna von Dziembowska, Victoria Films, UK, Russia
- The Raaby Mystery, Director Stian Indrevoll, Producer Thorvald Nilsen, Screen Story, Norway
- The Republic, Director Mustafa Ünlü, Producer Murat Baykara, Kutup Ayisi Documentary Productions, Turkey
- Scrap, Director/Producer Stacey Tenenbaum, H2L Productions, Canada
- The Settlement, Director Alex Sardà, Executive producer: Carlota Coloma, Head of production: Adrià Lahuerta, 15-L. FILMS, Spain
- Trazos, Directors Maria Isabel Ospina, Iñès Compan, Producer Vincent Gazaigne, Talweg, Medio de Contencion producciones, France, Colombia
The ΕRT Doc on Air award
With the aim to enhance documentary production, ERT, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, bestows the ERT Doc on Air award to the best project of the EDN Docs in Thessaloniki 2019. The award winner is decided by the tutor team of Docs in Thessaloniki. The winning project team receives 2.000 euro and the documentary will be broadcasted by ERT.
New MFI Doc Lab Award
TDF and the Mediterranean Film Institute are happy to announce this new award offered to one project of the EDN Docs in Thessaloniki. The MFI Doc Lab is an advanced script and project development workshop for documentaries and offers to one project of the EDΝ Docs in Thessaloniki a scholarship of 1.200 euro, as well as accommodation in Nisyros and Rhodes islands where the MFI takes place.
EDN DOCS IN THESSALONIKI MASTERCLASS
Tuesday, March 5, 17:30 – 19:30, Pavlos Zannas Theatre
“Documentary Media for Global Citizens” by Paulina Tervo, Co-CEO at Lyfta
Media literacy and distribution for younger audiences have for some years been strategic targets within European media development. Building a stronger sense of digital citizenship for future generations and stimulating creativity through media have been central in the considerations for our future media landscape. Paulina Tervo, Co-CEO at Lyfta, provides valuable insights that can help to reach new audiences and build an income from educational distribution. Lyfta supports teachers in tackling complex themes and global topics in the classroom. It is a subscription-based digital platform, where teachers and pupils can access documentary media matched with curriculum-based lesson plans. Lyfta is currently used in over 350 schools in the UK, Finland and the US.
Docs in Thessaloniki 2019 and the EDN masterclass are organized by EDN and the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival with the support of the EU Creative Europe MEDIA Program. EDN is a member-based organisation for professionals working with documentary film and television. EDN supports, stimulates, and creates networks within the documentary sector. www.edn.dk.
MOVING DOCS
Thursday 7 – Saturday 9 March 2019, Warehouse C & Takis Kanellopoulos theatre (both at the Thessaloniki Port)
At the Moving Docs Outreach Workshop the twenty Moving Docs 2019 partners will meet to work on, discuss and share best practices on outreach, audience development and impact. Moving Docs is an EDN led initiative supported by Creative Europe. The aim of Moving Docs is to create innovative outreach strategies and provide opportunities for urban and rural European audiences to enjoy regular screenings of documentary films through a wide variety of media and platforms. For more information on the Moving Docs films and partners visit movingdocs.org
MARKET TALKS EXTENDED: A practical guide for documentary filmmakers
March 5-7 2019, 17.00 – 18.00, Warehouce C, Port.
The Agora Doc Market organizes for the eighth year open discussions by professionals from different areas/professions in the documentary world. The events take place in an informal environment and the speakers share valuable advice and observations drawn from their extensive experience in the industry.
This is the Market Talks program of this year’s edition:
GREEK DOCUMENTARIES VIA FESTIVAL SCOPE
Once again the Greek documentaries in the Official Program of the 21st TDF will be available for audience viewing worldwide through the digital platform of TDF partner Festival Scope. The Greek films will be available for two weeks after the ending of the festival giving them the opportunity to reach audiences across the world.
