The Thessaloniki International Film Festival goes to Cannes

Aiming to support the Greek film community, as well as filmmakers and films from Greece, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, funded by the Ministry of Culture, is traveling to Cannes, where it will carry out a series of major initiatives at the Cannes Film Festival (May 12–23, 2026).

Thessaloniki FF at the Marché du Film

The Thessaloniki Film Festival will present five producers from Greece at the prestigious Producers Network of Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival, one of the largest film markets globally, in collaboration with the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center – EKKOMED.

The producers, who participated with new projects in the Agora of the 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival in November 2025, will present their work at a special event on May 16 to a wide range of industry professionals, aiming to secure co-productions, international sales, and festival premieres. Greece is one of only six countries participating in this year’s Producers Network.

The producers participating are: Leonidas Konstantarakos – Alaska Films, with Pirateland directed by Stavros Petropoulos, Konstantinos Koukoulis – Πlankton Films, with the project A Girl Named Zeus directed by Nikos Dayandas, Spyros Skandalos – Assumed Position, with Who Killed the Pigeons directed by Stratis Chatzielenoudas, Konstantina Stavrianou – Graal Films, with Black Money for White Nights directed by Kristina Grozeva and Petar Valchanov, Christina Stavropoulou – Filmiki Productions, with The Tide Hears Them But They No Longer Have a Voice directed by Yannis Veslemes.

In addition to these specific projects, the producers will represent all of their film projects in Cannes. The event also aims to highlight the initiatives of the Festival and EKKOMED in supporting Greek cinema.

At the same time, the Agora will participate in Co-production Night, an exciting event involving the world’s leading film markets, promoting networking among filmmakers, producers, and markets. This major celebration of European co-productions will take place on May 16.

The Agora will also be present at Cannes Docs as an official partner, promoting the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s initiatives to thousands of documentary professionals from around the world.

Reception celebrating Greek cinema

As part of the Marché du Film, a reception will be held on May 17 at the Greek Pavilion to promote Greek cinema to international professionals attending Cannes and to celebrate all Greek entries in this year’s festival. As every year, this reception provides an opportunity for Greek creators to network in the world’s most important film market, develop new projects and films, secure co-productions, financing, and new collaborations, and promote Greece as a filming destination for international productions.

Greek Pavilion

The Greek Pavilion will operate at #133, Village International Riviera, home to hundreds of national pavilions from around the world, serving as the hub of activity for Greek filmmakers. It offers workspace to all Greek professionals and ideal conditions for meetings and networking. The pavilion showcases the full range of initiatives of the Greek film community.

Variety Global Conversations Panel

The Thessaloniki Film Festival and EKKOMED, in collaboration with Variety, are organizing a panel discussion on Monday, May 18 at 10:30 a.m. at Lucia, on the Cannes beachfront. The discussion is titled: Producing and filming with / in Greece and the participants are: Orestis Andreadakis, Artistic Director, Thessaloniki Film Festival, Leonidas Christopoulos, CEO, EKKOMED, Konstantina Stavrianou, Producer, Graal Films, Eduardos Kalimeris, Producer, Argonauts Productions.

We celebrate the Greek films participating @ Cannes

A historically significant screening will take place in the official Cannes Classics programme at the Cannes Film Festival. The 1953 film Eve by Maria Plyta, the first female director in the history of Greek cinema, will be presented in the Cannes Classics section, which features masterpieces of world cinema in newly restored prints. This is the first time a restored Greek film has been included in this section at Cannes.

The Thessaloniki Film Festival congratulates all Greek films traveling to the Cannes Film Festival this year.

• Konstantina Kotzamani’s first feature film, Titanic Ocean, will have its world premiere in the Un Certain Regard competition section at Cannes. Kotzamani previously participated in the Thessaloniki IFF’s Meet the Future initiative in 2019 with this project. This is not the first time she is participating at the Cannes Film Festival, having screened her short film Limbo at the 2016 International Critics’ Week.
• Alexandra Matthaiou will participate in the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival with her new short film Free Eliza (notes on an anatomical imperfection). The film, a co-production between Cyprus, Greece, and France, is among the nine short films selected for this year’s Quinzaine programme, a section long known for highlighting independent and daring cinematic voices. Alexandra Matthaiou is also taking part in Cannes’ Focus COPRO with her project Shibboleth (Bark Like a Cat / Cyprus and Homemade Films / Greece), a section dedicated to first fiction features. The project was previously presented at the Crossroads Co-Production Forum of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, where it won the 2|35 Post-Production Award.
• Alexandra Matthaiou will participate with her new short film Free Eliza (notes on an anatomical imperfection) in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes. The Cyprus-Greece-France co-production is among the nine short films selected for this year’s program.
• Director Stavros Markoulakis and producer Ioanna Bolomyti are participating in the Focus WiP 2026 program with Tropic of the Mourning Gecko, one of five short films in post-production presented to leading audiovisual professionals.

Additionally, director Argyris Papadimitropoulos will participate in the Cannes Film Market with his new project Oh, How Fun!, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Édgar Ramírez, Annabelle Wallis, Lena Headey, Angeliki Papoulia, and Makis Papadimitriou. The film, a dark comedy, is expected to begin shooting this autumn on the island of Antiparos and is an ambitious co-production between Greece, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

It is our great joy that Promised Spaces by Ivan Marković, which participated in the Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s Works in Progress in November 2025, was selected for the Cannes ACID program, known for discovering emerging filmmakers and showcasing the next generation of cinema. The film also won the Authorwave Post-production Award in Thessaloniki.

The Festival congratulates Danae Spathara, producer at Heretic, who is participating in the Producers on the Move program by the European Film Promotion. Danae Spathara was a jury member at the Agora Works in Progress at the 66th TIFF. The program gives emerging European producers from 20 European countries a platform and the opportunity to build and enlarge their international network.

The Festival’s outreach activities are supported by the Ministry of Tourism and are carried out with support from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF).