With 86,000 spectators and visitors, the 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival has come to a close, reaching pre-pandemic levels of attendance, specifically those of 2019 and the 60th Thessaloniki Film Festival. From November 2nd to 12th, the 64th Festival hosted premieres, fascinating discussions and masterclasses, in addition to welcoming prominent figures of cinema and intellectuals, including Monica Bellucci, Alexander Payne, Jeremy Podeswa, Mark Mazower, Nikos Perakis and Volker Schlöndorff. It also had the pleasure of having the much-loved Harris Alexiou as an ambassador of the Agora.
This year, 291 screenings were held in physical venues. In total, 270 feature-length and short films were screened. Overall, 77 films were screened on the Festival's online platform, attracting an audience of 7,700 viewers.
Within the framework of the Agora's development actions, 570 meetings were held involving 639 professionals of the film industry from both Greece and abroad. Hopefully these processes will soon be translated into new projects, scripts and films.
During these eleven days, as part of the Storytelling tribute, five masterclasses were held, open to the public. It was touching to see students and young people participating in the masterclasses, in the packed theaters. A discussion on the evolution, challenges and future of representation of the LGBTQ+ community was also held under the Masterclass Powered by Mastercard initiative. In the framework of the Festival, a colloquium dedicated to the work of Nikos Perakis was held by the Laboratory for the Study of Greek Cinema & Television (LSGCT) of AUTh’s Film School. Meanwhile, the Agora of the 64th edition of the Festival organized ten Agora Talks addressed to professionals in the audiovisual field.
More than 7.000 visitors toured the two main exhibitions of the Festival, titled "FANT SM S" and "Takis Kanellopoulos: Dreaming of an Excursion." The original exhibition - art installation on Takis Kanellopoulos will be on view until late November, at the West Guardhouse of Entrance at the Gate 1 of Thessaloniki's Port.
As part of the Immersive section, 1,000 visitors experienced Medea Electronique's RED|WHITE interactive augmented reality installation, whereas 780 screenings of the virtual reality films competing for the Golden Alexander Immersive Award were carried out.
The 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Partnership Agreement of the Central Macedonia Regional Operational Program 2021-2027 and the MEDIA programme. Valuable is the support of the Hellenic Parliament. We would like to express our gratitude to ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation), official communication sponsor of the Festival, COSMOTE TV, Grand Sponsor of the Festival, Alpha Bank, the Festival’s accessibility sponsor, MasterCard, the Festival’s official payment card, Aegean, the Festival’s official air-carrier, Fischer, the Audience Awards sponsor, and Jameson. We warmly thank the Greek Film Centre, the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication, the Greek National Tourism Organization, Stone Group, a supporter of inclusion, Ktima Kir-Yianni, ON Residence, the J. F. Costopoulos Foundation, Finos Film, 2.35, and Authorwave for their contribution. Thank you to the Municipality of Thessaloniki, the Municipality of Neapoli-Sykies, the Municipality of Pavlos Melas, the National Gallery - Alexandros Soutsos Museum, Momus - Metropolitan Organisation of Museums of Visual Arts of Thessaloniki, the Ports Public Authority, the Thessaloniki Port Organization, Fraport, and Interbus. The official communication sponsor of the Festival is ERT, and other communication sponsors include Kathimerini, Cineuropa, TV5Monde, TV100, and FM100.
The actions of the 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival are carried out within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0”, funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the 26th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, which will take place from March 7th to 17th, 2024.
