The 61st Thessaloniki International Film Festival will take place online from November 5 – 15
Following the latest briefing by the Ministry of Health on the critical developments regarding the coronavirus pandemic in Greece, and with the assent of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, the administration of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, with a sense of responsibility and having in mind the safety of the staff and the viewers, has decided that the 61st Thessaloniki International Film Festival will take place online from November 5 – November 15.
Also, the programmed screenings in Olympion and Pavlos Zannas theatres, operated by TIFF, are cancelled beginning October 28.
We activate the alternate scenario that we had prepared. Our motto is “Cinema, no matter what”: More than 170 films from all over the world will bring closer together spectators from all over Greece.
In the online, 61st Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the viewings per film will increase by 40%, so that more viewers may have the opportunity to watch beloved films entrusted to us by filmmakers from Greece and abroad. For the needs of the online 61st edition, TIFF will maintain in effect all employee contracts.
Our cinematic celebration may take place online, however the support of the film community remains a priority for us. We will stand by the Greek cinema and its filmmakers in any way possible, through the TIFF’s Agora actions, but also through new initiatives like Directors’ Corner, a daily online meeting that will bring closer together directors from all over the world, despite the adversities of the pandemic.
We constantly plan new ways to show the films that we love. For this reason, we will expand our summer screenings summertiff and organize a week of screenings in the summer of 2021, presenting films from the 61st TIFF, with an emphasis on Greek cinema. We hope that in the summer the situation will be better, in order to welcome the creators of the films and, without distances, celebrate the Greek cinema as it deserves.
At the same time, we are already planning different scenarios for the 23rd Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and we are re-examining the way it will take place, as well as its dates.
The pandemic overturns our plans every day, but the emotion one feels when watching a movie, cannot be overturned by anything. We invite viewers to meet online and do what we know best: enjoy cinema, no matter what!
