With new initiatives and collaborations, Agora, the Industry section of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, that showcases tomorrow’s cinema and supports films from Southeastern Europe, the Mediterranean and Greece, invites filmmakers to submit their film projects and films to the sections Agora Film Market, Crossroads Co-production Forum and Agora Works in Progress, in the framework of the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (2 - 12/11/2023). At the same time, the Agora, supported by Creative Europe Media, continues the successful initiatives Agora Series, Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy, Meet the Future, Agora Short Film Lab and Agora Talks.
Countries that are eligible to submit are: Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kosovo*, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine.
CROSSROADS CO-PRODUCTION FORUM
November 5 – 9, 2023
Submission deadline: July 3, 2023
The 19th Crossroads Co-production Forum (November 5–9) of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival is announcing its Call for Entries.
Crossroads specialises in discovering emerging talents from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean regions. The application is open to experienced directors and producers as well as first-timers. The projects should be either produced or co-produced by a country within these regions or contain elements in the story that link them to these regions.
Films that have been presented as projects in Crossroads Co-production Forum include the recently Cannes FF titles: Inshallah a Boy - France, Jordan, KSA, Qatar (Cannes FF - Semaine de la Critique 2023), Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry - Switzerland, Germany, Georgia (Cannes FF - Quinzaine des Cinéastes 2023), The Sea and its Waves - France, Lebanon (Cannes FF - ACID Cannes 2023), 20.000 Species of Bees - Spain (73rd Berlinale International Competition 2023 - Silver Berlin Bear/Best Leading Performance), Nightsiren - Slovak Republic, Czech Republic (Locarno FF - Cineasti del Presente 2022 - Golden Leopard), How is Katia? - Ukraine (Locarno FF, Cineasti del Presente 2022 - Special Jury Prize, Best Actress), The Land Within - Switzerland, Kosovo, France (Black Nights Tallinn -Best Film - Best First Feature) Luzzu - Malta, USA (Sundance - World Cinema Dramatic Competition 2021 - Best Actor), Zuhal - Turkey (Black Nights Tallinn - International Competition 2021), 200 Meters - Palestine, Italy, Turkey, Sweden, Jordan (Venice Days 2020 - People’s Choice Award), as well award-winning films Mustang by Deniz Gamze Ergüven, September by Penny Panagiotopoulou, Still River by Angelos Frantzis, When I Saw You by Annemarie Jacir, As I Open my Eyes by Layla Bouzid, Park by Sofia Exarchou, The Cakemaker by Ofir Raul Graizer, Secret Ingredient by Gjorce Stavreski.
Crossroads Co-production Forum Awards include:
Two Thirty-Five (2|35) Award
Post-production (image and sound)
Onassis Film Award
10,000 euro to a Greek project participating in the Agora (either in Crossroads Co-production Forum or in Agora Works in Progress)
CNC - Centre national du cinema et de l’image animée
8,000 euro for script development
Finos Film
3,000 euro to a Greek project
The Producers’ Network of the Cannes FF
Free accreditation
Sofia Meetings of the Sofia IFF
Project selection
Mediterranean Film Institute
Script 2 Film Workshops scholarship
Initiative Film
Consultation to one project
EAVE
Marketing Workshop Scholarship
AGORA WORKS IN PROGRESS
November 5 – 9, 2023
Submission deadline: September 11, 2023
Films in the editing or post-production stage can submit to the Agora Works in Progress (November 5 – 9) in the framework of the Agora. Industry professionals from all over the world gather in Thessaloniki to watch the upcoming films from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean regions.
The Agora Works in Progress hosts sessions reserved only for the industry accredited guests. They will be presented to sales agents, distributors, producers and festival programmers. In this way, the professionals have access to films from the countries of the Balkan, Mediterranean and Central European regions just before completion.
Films that have participated in previous editions of the Agora Works in Progress include: The Sea and its Waves by Liana & Renaud (Cannes FF - ACID Cannes 2023), Have you Seen this Woman? by Dušan Zorić, Matija Gluščević (Venice FF - International Film Critics’ Week), Pelikan by Filip Heraković (Tallinn Black Nights FF), How is Katia? by Christina Tynkevych (Locarno FF - Cineasti del Presente 2022 - Special Jury Prize, Best Actress), Rock Bottom Riser by Fern Silva (Berlinale Encounters 2021- Special Mention), Mother Lode by Matteo Tortone (Venice FF- Venice Critics Week 2021), Moon, 66 Questions by Jacqueline Lentzou (Berlinale Encounters 2021), Sweat by Magnus von Horn (Cannes FF- Cannes Label 2020), Last Days of Spring by Isabel Lamberti (Cannes FF - ACID Cannes 2020, San Sebastian IFF - New Directors Award), Papicha by Mounia Meddour (Cannes FF- Un Certain Regard 2019).
Agora Works in Progress - Awards:
Authorwave Post-production Award
Creative Image Post Services
MuSou Music Group Award
Sound/music post-production services
119 Marvila Studios Award
Sound mixing services
Onassis Film Award
10,000 euro to a Greek project participating in the Agora (Crossroads Co-production Forum and Works in Progress)
ERT Agora Works in Progress Award
2,000 euro to a Greek project
AGORA FILM MARKET
November 3 – December 31, 2023
Applications will be available from June 26
Registration deadline: October 16, 2023
The Agora Film Market promotes the majority of the feature films participating in the official sections of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival. The Film Market includes additional titles from the countries that Agora focuses on giving them the opportunity to find their way to other international film festivals, sales agents and distributors. Also, the Film Market includes a selection of Greek films produced within the past two years.
AGORA SERIES
Agora Series, the new section of the ΤIFF Agora returns this year with an extended two-day program in a dedicated space, on November 4-5 2023. The Agora Series, that was launched last year, aims to bridge the film production and series creation for television and OTT platforms while focusing on the creative process of scriptwriting for series.
With local and international special guests, Agora Series invites the audiovisual production professionals from Greece, Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean to attend numerous events such as masterclasses, panel discussions and case study presentations while providing the opportunity for network expansion to its participants. At the same time, Agora Series is inaugurating new partnerships with prestigious organizations specializing in series content production and promotion as well as professional training in the field of content development for TV and OTT platforms.
Stay tuned for more updates on the Agora Series schedule and guests.
Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy
November 4-9
Applications for the 64th TIFF will open soon
The Locarno Film Festival and the Thessaloniki International Film Festival are organizing the Industry Academy, a joint initiative aiming to give a significant boost to the careers of new film professionals. Industry Academy is operating in Switzerland, Latin America, New York, Lebanon, South Africa and South Asia. It is a training program created to help young professionals of the cinema industry –sales agents, distributors and new media professionals– to extend their experience and networking in the fields of international sales, marketing, distribution and programming.
The young sales agents, distributors and new media professionals who will participate in the Industry Academy in Thessaloniki will take part in a special workshop during which they will have the opportunity to interact, share experiences and meet with key players of the international film industry, for discussions, case study presentations and group workshops.
Agora Short Film Lab
November 5-9
Agora Short Film Lab is an initiative co-organized with the Clermont-Ferrand International Short FF and the Drama International Short FF.
Taking place across three days and comprising sessions, seminars and talks with experienced professionals about various parts of the industry, the Agora Short Film Lab brings together directors of award-winning short films at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short FF and the Drama International Short FF to facilitate their acclimatization to the industry with an emphasis on the transition from short to feature filmmaking.
Meet the Future
Every year we present to the international industry professionals up-and-coming talents of the Greek film industry. In previous events, the Festival focused on film directors, directors of photography, film editors and young actors. Soon we will be announcing the participants of this year’s Meet the Future.
Agora Talks
Each year, Agora organizes Agora Talks, industry-focused open discussions and presentations aiming to offer best practices and practical information to Agora and Festival accredited guests in collaboration with our partners. Subjects are diverse and can touch upon co-production opportunities, film case studies, mental health in our industry, green film production, film marketing, distribution (alternative, digital etc.), inclusivity, representativeness and more.
