Media / Press

Her lasting contribution in the art of documentary making and her valuable support to the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival all these years, is the reason behind the Festival’s idea to honor Madeleine Avramoussis, Commissioning Director for Arte France, in a special event organized on Monday 5 March 2018 at a stacked “Stavros Tornes” Theatre, as part of TDF’s 20th anniversary edition. The event ended with the screening of Lefteris Haritos’ documentary Dolphin Man, a co-production with Arte.

“In appreciation of her passion for documentary and her ongoing support to the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, we honor Madeleine Avramoussis”, noted Elise Jalladeau, General Director of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, handing the honorary plaque to Mrs Avramoussis, who counts more than 25 years of experience with Arte. On his part, TIFF’s Director, Orestis Andreadakis, welcomed once more the guest to Thessaloniki and TDF, and described her as a “unique personality and a citizen of the world”.

“It’s more than I’m worthy of”, noted Madeleine Avramoussis, who during her long career in documentary and from her key position in Arte, has participated in the co-production of many Greek production and co-production documentaries, such as Roy Sher’s My Sweet Canary and Up to the Last Drop: The Secret Water War in Europe by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, which is being screened in this year’s event. “Documentary is above all teamwork. Therefore, I return the honor to all the people we have worked together with for the promotion of Greek documentary. I come to this festival ever since it was a ‘baby’, and now it is a twenty-year old... girl. So, happy birthday, and know that TIFF is not just a good opportunity to watch interesting things and relax with the films; it is mostly a chance to see and meet people and build relations with them eventually, so that beautiful partnerships can happen. You would not believe how many remarkably talented Greek documentarists are out there”.  Mrs Avramoussis added: “If I’m worthy of this honor at all, it is for my decisiveness. Because the producer clearly needs to be very decided and open-minded. I’m proud and thrilled to be here today, in this historic, cosmopolitan and open-minded city, in this historic building, just like I was proud every time we were going, together with all the team of Dolphin Man, to pitch this film in every big documentary festival in the world”,» Mrs Avramoussis noted, and concluded: “In our job, in order to make a documentary you have to wait for the right moment. It is like building a house. You need patience and time in order to lay the proper foundations”.

Collaboration between the TIFF & Greek Film Centre with the Festival de Cannes

The second edition of the event “Thessaloniki Goes to Cannes” will take place on Monday May 14^th 2018, during the 71^st Festival de Cannes (8-19 May, 2018). This is a collaboration of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, in partnership with the Greek Film Centre, and the Festival de Cannes.

Following last year’s successful pilot event, TIFF’s Agora will participate in “Goes to Cannes” of this year’s edition of Cannes’ Marché du Film by presenting 5 Works in Progress: fiction or documentary films at post-production stage from Greece or the surrounding area. These films will be showcased to the sales agents, distributors and programmers who attend this year’s Cannes’ Marché du Film, one of the world’s largest film markets, discovering up-and-coming directors from all over the world.

Greece is the only country in Southeastern Europe and the Balkans that participates in the event.

For more information about project submissions please contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or +30 210 8706010.

What kind of content could possibly be considered “dangerous” in the era of political correctness and lobbying? How can we be certain that anything we publish on the Internet will stay there? These questions and many more were addressed in the course of the very interesting and timely discussion “Social Media and Human Rights” that took place on Monday 5 March 2018, in Warehouse C, as part of the 20th anniversary edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.

Spectacular technological discoveries, big science achievements, innovative ideas; what is their impact on human health and well being, as well as our way of living in general? The question is complicated and the answers pose important issues to discuss about.

Spectacular technological discoveries, big science achievements, innovative ideas; what is their impact on human health and well being, as well as our way of living in general? The question is complicated and the answers pose important issues to discuss about.

A “window” with a view to the world of the fiery artist Jean-Michel Basquiat and the New York art scene in the late 1970s and the early 1980s was opened by the “high priestess” of independent cinema Sara Driver, as part of the open discussion “De(re)constructing Legends” that took place on Saturday 3 March 2018 at the Contemporary Art Center of Thessaloniki, as part of the 20th anniversary edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival.