The 28th TIDF Agora Awards

The Agora of the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival bestowed its awards amidst a warm ambiance at Warehouse C, on Wednesday March 11th.

Making use of all the available tools and new technologies, the Festival’s Agora showcased a new series of actions and backed successful initiatives that took place both in physical spaces and online. This year’s Agora was crowned with great success, as more than 500 international visitors attended its events.

Angeliki Vergou, the Head of Agora, welcomed the audience: “Welcome everybody! It has been a fascinating Festival and a very busy Agora during very interesting times. We hope you all had great meetings, meaningful conversations and watched films! We are here to celebrate your brave projects and give thanks to the creative teams. Thanks to the wonderful partners we have many awards to give, so we will try to keep it short. At this point we give the floor to the Festival’s General Director Elise Jalladeau.”

Taking the baton, Elise Jalladeau went on to say: “We hope you had an amazing time at the 28th TiDF Agora and that it gave your films — whether they're still in the works or coming along nicely — a real boost! Our big goal is to create a safe, welcoming spot where we can all swap ideas, spark great conversations, and lift up voices from every corner of the world. And to make that happen, we just need to come together—like we always do. That's just what we've done these past few days, and we can't thank you enough for your energy, your active involvement in Agora, and your passion for documentary filmmaking! Before we wrap up tonight, a huge, heartfelt thanks to our fantastic Agora team and all our partners. None of this would happen without you!”

Coming right next, Angeliki Vergou thanked the tutors and mentors who prepared the filmmakers and creators, while helping them have five productive days during the 28th TIDF’s Agora. “A round of applause please for Brigid O’Shea, Babette Dieu, Zeynep Güzel, Ieva Ubele, Arkaitz Basterra, Ove Jensen, Peter Jaeger, Mila Turajlić, Vassiliki Khonsari, Tobey Coffey, Corine Meijers, Annette Mees and Eirini Lampiri. For the Agora XR Lab, Vassiliki Khonsari and Lazaros Boudakidis with whom we co-designed the Lab and selected the projects. We want to thank the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum readers and the Advisory Committee Brigit O’Shea and Ove Jensen and our colleagues in the international and greek departments and the wonderful panelists who gave feedback to the selected projects. The Docs in Progress selection, composed of Malin Hüber, Carmina Orozco López and Rohan Berry Crickmar, along with our team and our colleagues in the program departments. On that note we would like to ask Head of International Programme Yorgos Krassakopoulos and Head of Greek Programme Eleni Androutsopoulou to come and share the stage with us as they are an integral part of Agora!”

Thanos Stavropoulos, the Agora Manager, was the next to take the floor: “We are so lucky! So lucky to be able to get together and do this. So lucky to have such great colleagues, partners and friends. We are a buzzing hive, a collective mind and we all build together this amazing event for which we are proud. None of it would be possible without our colleagues in all Festival departments and of course without the devotion and true love of the Agora team! Please give it up for Errika, Elena, Dimitra, Rafaela, Ermioni, Anna, Lilith, Konstantinos, Elena The Shaman, our awesome production team and tech crew and the absolutely fantastic volunteers’ team!”

Angeliki Vergou closed the introductory statements by saying: “I am very happy to be surrounded by such wonderful colleagues. It warms my heart, truly. On that note we have a small announcement. Now that we are altogether on stage we wanted to announce that moving forward, my role in the festival will transition to Agora Advisor, International Partnerships & Development. The Agora will remain in the capable hands of Thanos and the Agora Team - the one collective mind that has been producing Agora all along!”

Elise Jalladeau went on to thank Angeliki Vergou on behalf of the entire Festival organization: “On behalf of the entire team, we would like to thank Angeliki for her incredible work. Her vision and energy, her expertise and interpersonal skills, her heart, her intuition, her leadership have enabled our two Agoras to become benchmarks for the European audiovisual sector. Fortunately, she will remain with us, as part of our team, to continue this work and work with us to make European and regional cinema and documentaries even stronger and more meaningful. Thank you Angeliki!”

The Thessaloniki Pitching Forum awards:

Thessaloniki Pitching Forum is the co-production and co-financing platform of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival for creative and TV documentaries, docs for kids and docs series for theater distribution and TV broadcast.

Fourteen (14) documentary projects in development from seventeen (17) countries are taking part in the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum, including Belgium, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. The selection focuses on themes such as displacement, companionship, and mental health, highlighting stories that shed light on hidden aspects of history and defend human rights.

The jury of the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum that consists of:

• Malin Hüber | Producer, HER Film – Sweden
• Èric Motjer | Head of DocsBarcelona Pro & Co-Artistic Director, DocsBarcelona International Documentary Film Festival – Spain
• Selin Murat | Executive Director, IDFA Bertha Fund – Netherlands

bestowed the following awards:

The IEFTF Award for Best Documentary in Development, accompanied by a 10,000-euro cash prize. Lianne Llewellyn, Marco Antonio Orsini and Gary Springer from IEFTF went on stage and bestowed the award to the documentary:

NAVA MAMǍ

Director: Ana Vijdea, Production: Ana Vijdea, Ana Gheorghe, Cosmin Nicoara - Remora Films, Co-production: Louis Beaudemont - Les Steppes Productions, Romania, France

Reasoning: Navigating the inner and outer worlds of an incredible young person with intimacy and delicacy, this debut feature director shows resilience, sensibility, creativity in the constant adaptation to life’s constraints. Together the filmmaker and their protagonist create a magical space for true collaboration and exploration of youth. This film touched us deeply and we are happy to give the IEFTF award to NAVA MAMǍ.

The ERT – Thessaloniki Pitching ForumAward to a Greek project, accompanied by a cash prize of 2,000 euros was bestowed by Aris Panagiotidis, General Director of ERT3, to the documentary:

UNWANTED PAST

Director: Thanassis Vassiliou, Production: Konstantinos Vassilaros - StudioBauhaus, Greece

Reasoning: Pursuing truth and recognition despite a nation’s relentless efforts to erase it, it feels essential to strengthen this filmmaker and their project’s ability to confront a dark and silenced past. We would like to present the ERT award to UNWANTED PAST.

The DAE -Documentary Association of Europe Award amounts to consultation and free membership. The award was bestowed by Brigid O’Shea, Director of DAE & International Consultant, to the documentary:

OF THE TREES UNMOVED

Director: Nino Benashvili, Production: Tekla Machavariani - Nushi Film, Co-production: Eva Blondiau, Elmar Imanov - Color of May, Georgia, Germany

Reasoning: This filmmaker is crafting an intimate portrait of exile, exploring the physical and emotional impacts of history, distance and belonging. In the process of doing so, she meets a kindred spirit producer and together they already bring their worlds closer. In the spirit of community, we invite the project to create more connections with documentary makers. The DAE award goes to OF THE TREES UNMOVED.

The DOK Leipzig Award, which includes two festival accreditations, accommodation and a fast-track in the preselection, was bestowed by Nadja Tennstedt, to the documentary:

WHO WE ARE

Director: Sophie Ataya, Production: Thomas Kaske, Marion Schmidt - Seera Films, Greece

Reasoning: Acknowledging the team’s own reflections on the erasure of the Palestinian experience, the jury wanted to help mark the next step in the project's journey to be seen and to tell a vital international and deeply personal story. The Jury would like to give the DOK Leipzig award to WHO WE ARE.

The Aylon Productions Digital Services Award offers an hour of high quality digital transfer of archival material. The award was bestowed by Selin Murat to the film:

WHO WE ARE

Director: Sophie Ataya, Production: Thomas Kaske, Marion Schmidt - Seera Films, Germany

Reasoning: With a family archive filled with silence and unspoken pasts, the filmmaker sets out on a personal journey of re-discovery, moving from public archives to the streets in Damascus and Palestine. To support her discoveries, the Aylon award goes to WHO WE ARE.

Within the framework of the 28th TIDF a series of independent awards were also bestowed:

Onassis Culture, consistently offering its support to Greek independent cinema, within the framework of its collaboration with the Festival, bestows the Onassis Film Award (5,000 euros) to one of the Greek projects taking part in the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum or the Agora Docs in Progress. The Onassis Film Award was bestowed by Elizampetta Georgiadou to the project:

UNWANTED PAST

Director: Thanassis Vassiliou, Production: Konstantinos Vassilaros - StudioBauhaus, Greece

Reasoning: The Onassis Film Award goes to a film which - with as much force as sensitivity - brings the trauma of a whole nation to the surface. Through a political event that marked whole generations, the film finds its own distinctive voice and particular cinematic gaze to speak on memory, resilience, and the collective call for justice, which is more urgent than ever. The award goes to the film UNWANTED PAST by Thanasis Vasileiou.

The EURODOC Award of 1,000 euros along with a VIP membership was bestowed by Leonard Cortana, of the Inclusion Program and Strategic Partnerships at EURODOC, to the documentary:

VOICES

Director: Persefoni Miliou, Production: Persefoni Miliou - Per Se Productions, Sofia Mavragani, Greece

Reasoning: EURODOC is pleased to give its award to a documentary project whose creative ambition expands our collective imagination around different body abilities and storytelling, while shedding light on ways to connect empathetically with life stories that are too often pathologized in mainstream media. As specialists in international co-production, we also wish to support the team by opening the door to our extended professional community, helping to expand the project’s transnational possibilities. We are particularly interested in accompanying reflections around the post-production process so that it is carried out with a strong impact perspective, allowing the project to fully develop the social relevance it holds. We are therefore very happy to present the EURODOC Award to VOICES.

The EURODOC Special Mention featuring a VIP Membership was also bestowed by Leonard Cortana to the documentary:

THE LAST CLASS

Director: Michele Fornasero, Production: Alice Drago - Epica Film, Co-production: Francesca Portalupi - Indyca, Italy

Reasoning: EURODOC is pleased to offer this Special Mention to a project whose narrative holds strong potential not only to raise awareness, but also to foster meaningful dialogue in Europe and beyond about the complexities of integration, intercultural sensitivity, and the often-silenced consequences of structural racism. We believe the team’s vision lies at the heart of EURODOC’s mission: learning from our film practices in ways that can impact society, while also transforming our own practices as producers. The project opens a wide range of possibilities in terms of impact strategy — from the potential use of archival footage, to multi-distribution approaches, and the ethical participation of youth characters and audiences. These are all conversations that are vital within our training program. We are excited to offer the teaching support of our network of practitioners, whose expertise will help the team identify meaningful avenues for collaboration and development. We hope that THE LAST CLASS will continue opening new classes and perspectives, while respecting communities that are too often read as “other,” even though they are fully part of society.

The Mediterranean Film Institute-George Kalogeropoulos Award, which consists of a scholarship for Doc Lab, a script development program dedicated to documentaries within the framework of the MFI Script2Film program.

The Mediterranean Film Institute-George Kalogeropoulos Award was bestowed by Leda Dialyna, MFI Coordinator, to the documentary:

THE LAST CLASS

Director: Michele Fornasero, Production: Alice Drago - Epica Film, Co-production: Francesca Portalupi - Indyca, Italy

Reasoning: The scholarship is awarded to a project that delicately captures the meeting point between childhood vitality and systemic exclusion, revealing the fragile future of a village. Through patient observation, the project crafts an intimate portrait of a community at a turning point. For its tender and urgent vision, the George Kalogeropoulos MFI Award goes to THE LAST CLASS (Michele Fornasero, Alice Drago).

The Agora Docs in Progress awards:

Agora Docs in Progress has established itself as a key meeting point for documentaries at the final stage before completion. Directors and producers from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean are given the opportunity to present their films to buyers, co-producers, sales agents, and international festival programmers, with the aim of attracting their interest.

This year’s selection presents 10 documentaries in post-production from 11 countries, including Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Jordan, Kosovo*, the Netherlands, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the USA. Drawing on rich personal and collective stories and archival material, the selection explores pressing social issues related to memory, resistance, queer identity, family bonds, human–nature interdependence, radio music production, psychedelic therapy, and more.

The jury of Agora Docs in Progress that consists of:

• Anja Dziersk | Sales agent & Festival manager, Rise And Shine World Sales – Germany
• Ahmed Shawky | Film critic, FIPRESCI & Head of CineGouna Funding, El Gouna Film Festival – Egypt
• Ada Solomon | Producer, MicroFILM – Romania

bestowed the following awards:

The 2|35 Post-Production Award which offers post-production services to the selected project. Nikos Moutselos from Two Thirty-Five (2|35) went on stage to bestow the award to the documentary:

IMMORTAL FLOWERS

Director: Brian Logvinsky, Production: Harrison Jaffee, Anna Konik - Catharsis Pictures, Tommaso Rositani - FFB Pictures, Co-production: Eugene Rachkovsky - Tabor Production, USA, Ukraine

Reasoning: The synopsis alone captivated: what if the world's best party unfolds amid a nation ravaged by years of catastrophic war? Gaining rare access to vibrant young people brimming with energy and doubt, uncertain if tomorrow even exists, the filmmaker reveals how living fiercely in the moment becomes a primal defense. The Two Thirty-Five (2|35) Post-Production Award goes to IMMORTAL FLOWERS by Brian Logvinsky.

The Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center Award, accompanied with 3,000 euros to a greek project, was bestowed by Evi Gavriilidou from the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center to the project:

CAREFUL WHERE YOU TREAD

Director: Smaro Papaevangelou, Production: Iro Aidoni, Mina Dreki - Marni Films, Greece

Reasoning: For the honest portrayal of a singular father-daughter relationship, this film daringly probes what happens when we outgrow our parents in maturity. Hilariously poignant yet disarmingly confounding, it left us eager to delve deeper into these characters and reflect on our own families. The Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center Award goes to CAREFUL WHERE YOU TREAD by Smaro Papaevangelou

The Impronta Films Guidance Award, which offers tailored consultancy sessions to the winning project. Ana Fernandez Saiz, the Head of Acquisitions of Impronta Films was called on stage to bestow the award to the project:

MATI 2307

Director/Journalist: Marianna Kakaounaki, Production: Marianna Kakaounaki, Greece

Reasoning: When politicians and officials fail society, documentary filmmakers rise to champion the victims' quest for justice. This incisive work exemplifies investigative journalism's vital role in exposing corruption that claimed dozens of innocent lives. Because our world needs such films, the Impronta Films Guidance Award goes to MATI 2307 by Marianna Kakaounaki.

The Neaniko Plano Subtitling Award for subtitling services was bestowed by Katerina Zampeli from Neaniko Plano to the project:

LANDWARDS
Director: Rama Ayasra, Production: Asmahan Bkerat - Arkima Productions, Jordan

History weaves nature and human endeavor, but what happens when both conspire to harden daily life? In an agricultural region battered by urbanization, climate change, and unjust occupation, the director chronicles a man's desperate fight to preserve centuries-old ways of living. A daunting mission, yet profoundly worth witnessing. The Neaniko Plano Subtitling Award goes to LANDWARDS by Rama Ayasra.

AGORA XR Lab

The AGORA XR Lab is a workshop dedicated to XR and new media projects in development. It is designed for emerging creators who wish to explore new forms of storytelling in both fiction and documentary, aiming to investigate the boundaries of audiovisual creation in the digital age. The initiative focuses on projects that bridge the fields of cinema, digital media, new technologies, and the performing arts. AGORA XR Lab promotes innovation and collaboration by supporting creative, interdisciplinary partnerships across film, the arts, science, technology, and social entrepreneurship.

The Beldocs XR Academy award, which offers accommodation and accreditation to the Beldocs Documentary Festival held in May 2026 was bestowed by Andrijana Sofranić to the project:

NOTHING IS EVER REALLY LOST
Director: Anna Szylar, Production: Pola Komarowa - Monster Mind Studio, Poland

Reasoning: This mixed reality project creates a space where technology becomes a vessel for remembrance and emotional dialogue. Through real-time AI-powered conversations between a mother and daughter, the work navigates the fragile boundary between mourning and imagination, presence and absence. The Beldocs XR Academy Award is presented to NOTHING IS EVER REALLY LOST for its sensitive and thought-provoking exploration of memory, grief, and the ways technology can mediate human connection.

The Agora Boost awards

The Crew United Prize, a five-year premium subscription on Crew United Platform to a participant in the Agora Boost, was bestowed by Venia Vergou to:

MOVING STILL

Director: Ioanna Tsoucala, Production: Elias Katsoufis - Hiccup Film, Greece

Reasoning: The Crew United Prize is awarded to a project in which the director's urgency to construct meaning and to understand issues of identity through displacement, by following traces of life through archival photos, promises a fascinating cinematic experience. The Crew United Prize goes to the project MOVING STILL, to the director Ioanna Tsoucala and to the producer Elias Katsoufis. The winners receive a 5-year Premium membership subscription at the leading online networking platform, Crew United.

The Guidance Award by Paradiddle Pictures, bestowed to a project taking part in the Agora Boost, and offering a consultancy session for the steps to come towards the project’s completion was bestowed by Konstantinos Aivaliotis to the documentary:

MAKASI

Director: Danai Maria Samara, Production: Spiros Betsis - NOT A PROJECT, Greece

In partnership with the Greek Documentary Association - Hellas Doc

Reasoning: Sometimes the biggest stories hide in the smallest universes. Something very personal can have a very universal appeal. This is for sure the case with the project chosen for the Paradiddle Pictures Award. A daughter’s relation to her father. The intimate space of a workshop, where brakes and other car parts are repaired. The small details of everyday life are lifted to a poetic approach to our existence as human beings. To further stimulate the development of this story, the Paradiddle Pictures Award is presented to MAKASI.