67th TIFF: Agora Works in Progress unveils its full lineup

Agora proudly announces its selection for the Agora Works in Progress program. From November 8 to 12, 2026, eleven films from Central and Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean region will be showcased, offering an exciting look into the future of cinema from these vibrant areas.

Agora provides a unique platform for filmmakers, with plenty of extensive networking and co-production opportunities within the global film industry. As an international meeting point, Agora operates in a hybrid format, featuring a range of industry activities that emphasize collaboration both within Europe and globally.

The AGORA Works in Progress focuses on films in the post-production stage that have a connection to the Mediterranean region and Southeastern Europe. These selected films are presented to key players in the industry, including sales agents, distributors, producers, streaming platforms, and festival programmers. The aim is to help these films secure finishing funds, attract sales agents, secure festival premieres, and establish crucial partnerships.

This year's AGORA Works in Progress selection brings together eleven films in post-production from fifteen countries. Among them, out of Competition is also Swell, the new film by Alexandros Voulgaris (The Boy) which we will have the pleasure to have a sneak preview of at the AGORA WiP presentations. The film is based on the multi- awarded book with the same name, by the celebrated author Ioanna Karystiani.

Youth runs through the 2026 line-up in many forms: adolescence as a loss of innocence, as a search for belonging between cultures, as an act of rebellion, as a first love, and as a struggle to break free from inherited fates. Some of these young characters are abandoned or confined, others are drawn into the adult world too soon, and others carry the memory of conflicts they did not choose. Around them, other films turn to how war, borders and history scar families. With both emerging and established voices, the line-up looks closely at intimate lives while asking larger questions about belonging, memory, freedom and exile.

This year’s AGORA Works in Progress Jury consists of Maria Drandaki, Producer and Founder of Homemade Films (Greece), Wouter Jansen, Founder and Head of Sales & Acquisitions of Square Eyes (Austria) and Gabriela Trujillo, Programmer at Quinzaine des cinéastes / Directors’ Fortnight - Cannes FF (France).

The Agora Works in Progress Awards include:

Jury Awards:

Two Thirty-Five (2|35) Award

Post-production services

119 Marvila Studios Award
Sound mixing services

AGORA Works in Progress Award by EKKOMED

€3.000 to a Greek project

Neaniko Plano Subtitling Award

ERT AGORA Works in Progress Award
€2.000 to a Greek project

Independent Awards:

Onassis Film Award
€10.000 to a Greek project participating in the AGORA (Crossroads Co-production Forum or AGORA Works in Progress)

Let’s take a glance at the selected Agora Works in Progress films 2026:

1970
Director: Darko Lungulov, Production: Snezana van Houwelingen - This and That Productions,
Serbia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Croatia

AVANOS

Director: Panagiotis Charamis, Production: Alexis Tsoukalas - Pan Entertainment, Greece

THE CROSSROAD

Director: Mari Gulbiani, Production: Kate Kalandarishvili - MIDIFILM, Georgia

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN

Director: Diego Llorente, Production: Lara Lobo - Failo Cine, Co-production: Virginia Bogliolo - tarkiofilm, Rubén González - Báltico Media, Spain, Uruguay

THE LAW OF THE FLIES

Director: Tunahan Kurt, Production: Zeynep Ekmekci - FARO, Türkiye

THE LONGEST NIGHT

Director: Ismet Sijarina, Production: Leonora Lushtaku and Ismet Sijarina - Thumbs Up,

Co-production: Dejan Iliev - DMF doo Production, Florenc Papas – Tunnelfilm
Kosovo*, Albania, North Macedonia

With the support of: Kosovo* Cinematography Center (QKK), Albanian National Cinematography Center (QKK), and North Macedonia Film Agency.
Developed with the support of eQuinoxe Europe.

MIGNON

Director: Sofia Georgovassili, Production: Antigone Rota, Stelios Cotionis - Foss Productions, Vasilis Chrysanthopoulos - Plays2place, Co-production: Irina Malcea-Candea - Luna Film, Faye Tsitsipi-MagentaTV, Greece, Romania

RÍO MASACRE
Director: Sylvie Weber, Production: Anouk Shad - Ripe GmbH, Co-production: Lukas Rinner - Nabis Filmgroup, Austria

SWELLOut Of Competition

Director: Alexandros Voulgaris (The Boy), Production: Dionyssis Samiotis - Tanweer Productions, Giannis Iakovidis - Black Orange, Co-production: Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center, ERT (Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation), Onassis Culture,

Greece

WINTER SEMESTER

Director: Dimitris Koutsiabasakos, Production: Mary Kolonia - Lucid Dreamers Productions, Greece

YIANNIS
Director: Kyros Papavassiliou, Production: Kyros Papavassiliou - Drytree Films, Co-Production: Konstantina Stavrianou - Graal, Cyprus, Greece

Films that have participated in previous editions of the Agora Works in Progress include: THE LION AT MY BACK - Tonia Mishiali (Karlovy Vary IFF - Crystal Globe Competition 2026 - Prize of the Ecumenial Jury), PROMISED SPACES - Ivan Marković (Cannes FF - ACID Cannes 2026), BEARCAVE - Krysianna Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos (Venice FF- Giornate degli Autori 2025 - Europa Cinemas Label Award), CINEMA JAZIREH - Gözde Kural (Karlovy Vary IFF - Crystal Globe Competition 2025), GROWING DOWN - Bálint Dániel Sós (Berlinale Perspectives 2025), MEAT - Dimitris Nakos (Toronto IFF 2024), THE SUMMER WITH CARMEN - Zacharias Mavroeidis (Venice FF - Giornate degli Autori 2023), MEDIUM - Christina Ioakeimidi (Sarajevo FF 2023), THE SEA AND ITS WAVES - Liana & Renaud (Cannes FF - ACID Cannes 2023), HAVE YOU SEEN THIS WOMAN? - Dušan Zorić, Matija Gluščević (Venice FF - International Film Critics’ Week), PELIKAN - Filip Heraković (Tallinn Black Nights FF), HOW IS KATIA? - Christina Tynkevych (Locarno FF - Cineasti del Presente 2022 - Special Jury Prize, Best Actress), MOTHER LODE - Matteo Tortone (Venice FF - International Critics’ Week 2021), MOON, 66 QUESTIONS - Jacqueline Lentzou (Berlinale Encounters 2021), SWEAT - Magnus von Horn (Cannes FF - Cannes Label 2020), LAST DAYS OF SPRING - Isabel Lamberti (Cannes FF - ACID Cannes 2020, San Sebastián IFF - New Directors Award), PAPICHA - Mounia Meddour (Cannes FF - Un Certain Regard 2019) and more.

*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy

The Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy is a tailor-made training program created to help young professionals in the cinema industry, i.e. sales agents, distributors and new media professionals, to expand their experience and networking in the fields of international sales, marketing, distribution and programming. The eleventh edition is taking place physically (November 7-12, 2026) in the context of the TIFF67 AGORA. Each year up to 10 young film professionals participate in the Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy. In this five-day program, top film professionals offer their expertise to the 10 participants through discussions, case study presentations and teamwork.

This year’s participants include:

Nina Benoit
Talent Village Manager, Les Arcs Film Festival - France

Allegra Bell
Events Coordinator & Film Programmer, European Film Market (Berlinale) & Leeds International Film Festival and Innsbruck Nature Film Festival - Italy

Eleanor Debreu
Marketing and Communications Manager, Mirage - France / USA

Aliki Koutoura
Communications & Programme Coordinator, CineDoc, Anemon - Greece

Fanny Lehmann
Festivals manager, Lucky Number - France

Elena Papakonstantinou
Producer on Digital distribution of audiovisual content, ZDF Digital - Greece / Spain / Germany

Louise Richard
Festival Manager, Playtime - France

Radek Chromčák Ševčík
Festival Distribution, Split Screen - Czech Republic

Sofia Tocar
Festival Distribution - short films, Square Eyes - Republic of Moldova

Fraser White
Communication Coordinator, Rotterdam IFF, Scotland / UK

The Thessaloniki Locarno Industry Academy is part of the Locarno Industry Academy network, which includes several academies in Latin America, New York, Beirut, South Africa, South Asia and of course Switzerland.

Agora Short Film Lab

The AGORA Short Film Lab is an initiative co-organized with the Clermont-Ferrand International Short FF and the Drama International Short FF.

Taking place November 8-12 as a closed workshop in the context of the TIFF67 AGORA and comprising of working 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 transitioning from short to feature filmmaking.

In the context of our BRIDGE TO: AUSTRIA initiative, this year’s participants are joined by two emerging directors that won the Austrian Short Film Award for Best Film at the Vienna Shorts 2026.

This year’s participants include:

Vicky Anastasiadou, Greece “Wheel to Live”

Shayma' Awawdeh, Palestine “Intersecting Memory”

Lila Barmpa, Greece “Find Fenia”

Tommy Baron, France “Curiosity On Planet Mars”

Nicolas Costes, Greece “A Moment in Her Life”

Anastasia Gkivalou, Greece “Strays”

Emma Hütt, Germany “UNLEADED 95”

Jen Nee Lim, Singapore “Buah (Fruit)”

Tina Muffler, Switzerland “UNLEADED 95”