26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival: Films in the Competition Sections - World premieres and a “ticket” to the Oscars

With great pleasure, the 26th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival announces the films taking part in the three competition sections of this year’s festival edition; the International Competition, the Newcomers competition section and the >>Film Forward competition section. The competing documentaries are holding their world, international, or European premiere in the Festival, while the International Competition Golden Alexander winner will secure its place in the Oscars’ shortlist, for the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award.

The competition section’s 35 documentaries - including 9 Greek productions - deal with issues that concern each and every one of us, telling coming-of-age stories or stories of women emancipation, capturing the resistance to all kinds of discrimination and prejudice, crafting extraordinary people’s compelling portraits, as well as tracing our relationship with the environment.

In total, 34 films taking part in the Festival’s competition sections, International Competition, the Newcomers and >>Film Forward are celebrating their world, international or European premiere, competing for both the official and the parallel awards, most of which are accompanied by cash prizes.  

International Competition 

The twelve films taking part in the International Competition have their eyes set on the Golden Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of 12,000 euros, and the Silver Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of 5,000 euros.

The members of the Jury are producer and director Valerie Kontakos, director and producer Rachel Leah Jones and  festival programmer Sudeep Sharma. 

Here’s the lineup of the International Competition:

• Stray Bodies (world premiere) by Elina Psykou follows four women, seeking bodily autonomy in a Europe which permits traveling, working, and consuming freely, but not necessarily living, or dying how you wish to.
• The dark story of hundreds of tuberculosis patients who died without being sought after by anyone, is brought to light 80 years later, through their personal belongings and the search for living relatives in Marianna Economou’s Unclaimed (world premiere).
• Unclickable (world premiere) by Babis Makridis introduces us to the murky world of digital ad fraud, through testimonies. At the same time, it delves into the role of the biggest tech companies.
• A New Kind of Wilderness (European premiere) by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen, transports us to the heart of the dark Norwegian woods, where Maria's unexpected passing will upend her family’s tranquility and expose them to new challenges. 

• In And So It Begins (international premiere) by Ramona S. Diaz, we watch the attempts of a grassroots movement in defending the notions of truth and democracy, during a major electoral contest in the Philippines. 

• In Forest (world premiere) by Lidia Duda, we delve into the everyday life of a family living in the heart of the oldest forest in Europe, near the borders of Poland and Belarus, as it changes radically when refugees, pushed out of their countries, find shelter a breath away from the family’s home. 
• In Johatsu - Into Thin Air (world premiere) by Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori, we get to know Japan’s elusive “night movers,” who aid people in disappearing from their lives without a trace.
• My Stolen Planet (international premiere) by Farahnaz Sharifi showcases Farah’s memories, which are stitched onto fragile film; The memories of a woman who collects 8mm film fragments, capturing the beauty of everyday life in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
• Nocturnes (international premiere) by Anupama Srinivasan and Anirban Dutta follows ecologist Mansi as she sets out on a quest in one of the most vibrant places on earth, in the Himalayan forests. The documentary traces her attempt in finding and studying moths, while questioning our fragile relationship with nature. 
• In Pol Pot Dancing (world premiere) by Enrique Sánchez Lansch, we follow a star dancer at the Cambodian royal court, who lovingly raises her husband’s little brother as her own son. Years later, she discovers that her foster son is none other than the bloodthirsty dictator Pol Pot. 
• In Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other (international premiere) by Jacob Perlmutter and Manon Ouimet, we observe the conflict between a couple of elderly artists, Maggie and Joel, following an incident involving Maggie that disturbs the relationship’s equilibrium.
• where we used to sleep (world premiere) by Matthäus Wörle transports us to a Romanian village in the Apuseni Mountains, the residents of which were forced to flee due to a neighboring copper mine.

Newcomers

The Newcomers competition section showcases twelve debut or sophomore films of up-and-coming directors contending for the “Dimitri Eipides” Golden Alexander, featuring a cash prize of 10,000 euros, and the Silver Alexander, featuring a cash prize of 4,000 euros.

The members of the Jury are producer Maria Drandaki, director Alisa Kovalenko and director Gianluca Matarrese.

Here’s the lineup of the Newcomers competition section:

• Tzeli Hadjidimitriou in Lesvia (world premiere) embarks on a voyage to a village in Lesvos during the ’70s and goes on to narrate a tale of love and what it means to be accepted.
• Panellinion (world premiere) by Spyros Mantzavinos and Kostas Antarachas is a documentary about an out of place and time chess café in the center of Athens, a shelter for people suffocating in their everyday lives.
• Sofia Bekatorou, Olympic sailing champion, sparks off the MeToo movement in Greece, transforming into a symbol for abuse victims. Amalia, a talented young sailor, is seeking justice for her rape at the tender age of 11. In Vania Turner’s Tack (world premiere) we follow the struggle of two women confronting their trauma.
• A Shelter of One's Own (world premiere) by Éva Tourrent shows a feminist portrait shedding light to an isolated women's shelter, where the filmmaker raises questions regarding women's place in society and the freedom of the body. 
• In A Stranger Quest (international premiere) by Andrea Gatopoulos, we meet David Rumsey, who has devoted the past 30 years of his life to collecting maps. A portrait of a truly unique personality, of a man nearing the age of 80, and being faced with the ghost of the past. 
• A Tree Grows In My Dreams Every Night (world premiere) by Vid Hajnšek examines the coexistence of past and present in the collective memory of a village in a remote region of Slovenia. A touching portrait of a community deeply connected with the landscape.
• In Eternal You (european premiere) by Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck, we follow as people all over the world attempt to connect with their loved ones who have passed away, with the aid of artificial intelligence.
• In Fighting Demons With Dragons (world premiere) by Camilla Magid, we get to follow three pupils at Østerskov Boarding School, where learning takes place through role-playing games. A coming-of-age documentary about feeling excluded, searching for one’s identity, and the sense of belonging.
• Glass, My Unfulfilled Life (international premiere) by Rogier Kappers, an autobiographical documentary about the everyday life of a fifty-year-old who is convinced that everything will get better in his life if only he manages to become a virtuoso in an improvised music instrument made out of water glasses. 
• May Your Will Be Done (world premiere) by Adrián Silvestre is a bittersweet story concerning the filmmaker’s reconnection with his father, an eccentric personality who was absent from his children's lives and is now, in the twilight of his life, growing closer to them.
• Tell Them About Us (world premiere) by Rand Beiruty is a coming-of-age story of six teenage girls of Arab, Kurdish and Roma descent confronted with racism and the pressures of their families in a provincial town in Germany. 
• Touché (international premiere) by Martina Moor is the larger-than-life tale of fencing world champion Nathalie Moellhausen, who participated in three Olympiads as a representative of two different countries. A film with generous doses of drama, on and off the field.

>>Film Forward

>>Film Forward competition section, hosting movies that challenge conventions and utter a bold and daring cinematic language, offers the audience the chance to watch twelve films. 

The awards include the >>Film Forward Golden Alexander, featuring a 6,000 euros cash prize, and the >>Film Forward Silver Alexander, featuring a 3,000 euros cash prize.

The members of the Jury are visual artist Sister Sylvester, director Bo Wang and curator Christoforos Marinos.

Here’s the lineup of the >>Film Forward competition section:

• Avant-Drag! by Fil Ieropoulos puts the spotlight on ten drag performers who deconstruct gender, ethnicity, and political identity, while simultaneously dealing with police brutality, transphobia and racism in Greek society.
• First Milk (world premiere) by Panagiotis Papafragkos documents the cycle of life: birth-death-rebirth, focusing his camera lens on the rearing of newborn lambs on Mount Pateras.
• In the shadows, workers dressed like astronauts get ready to decontaminate and destroy asbestos. Many generations of workers intersect in Sarah del Pino’s Chrysotile (world premiere).
• Desire Lines (European premiere) by Jules Rosskam is a hybrid film intertwining personal interviews, archival material and fiction, as it narrates the story of a transitioning, undertaking a journey through time.
• In Diagnonsense (international premiere), Ane-Martha Tamnes Hansgård grasps the lost thread of herself, turning her 15-year odyssey into psychiatrists and institutions into a touching film with therapeutic power.
• From Abdul to Leila (international premiere) by Leila Albayaty is the filmmaker's fascinating personal story, as she reconnects with her family, after an accident that caused her to lose her memory.
• Holding Back the Tide (international premiere) by Emily Packer constitutes an impressionist hybrid documentary connecting New York’s queer community with the oyster through its many life cycles in the American metropolis.
• Only Godard (international premiere) by Arnaud Lambert and Vincent Sorrel attempts to discover the real Godard, who, hidden behind his media persona, worked tirelessly to (re)create cinema.
• Reas (international premiere) by Lola Arias is a hybrid musical, in which former prisoners return to a Buenos Aires prison to relive their days imprisoned, this time as fiction.
• Το Soundtrack to a Coup d'État (European premiere) by Johan Grimonprez is investigating Patrice Lumumba’s murder, who was the first democratically elected prime minister of the newly independent Congo. An astonishing political thriller, a heartbreaking denunciation of imperialism, racism, and colonialism, but a wonderful music documentary, at the same time.
• The Forest In Me (world premiere) by Rebecca E. Marshall Is an esoteric and lyrical letter to the filmmaker’s young child, through which it attempts to document our fragile presence on the planet.