COMMUNICATION & COLLABORATION

Our goal is to communicate our green initiatives on a regular basis and to share the knowledge we acquire with our audiences, partners, collaborators and the wider community we serve. We also wish to exchange knowledge and work together with the cultural sector in Greece and abroad, with the aim to learn from each other and offer mutual support in navigating the challenges of the ecological transition.The two main annual events, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, undertook a public commitment to follow a mindful approach in regards to environmental impacts, while inspiring audiences and participants to do the same – both during the festivals and beyond.

• The two main annual events, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, undertook a public commitment to follow a mindful approach in regards to environmental impacts, while inspiring audiences and participants to do the same – both during the festivals and beyond.
• Guests and audiences are offered advice about and urged to consider mindful travel, sustainable water consumption, avoiding single-use plastics, more sustainable food and beverage choices and are asked to help the Festival’s waste management policy. This communication takes place through the screening of relevant message cards on the large cinema screens before each film, as well as the smaller trailer screens located throughout each Festival venue. It is also carried out through each Festival’s official catalogue (in print and online), and through informational emails and newsletters, etc.

• The Green Corner was one of the initiatives launched by the Festival to promote sustainable transport and environmental awareness. Visitors had the opportunity to ride two stationary bikes, with a “virtual” destination set in protected Natura areas of Northern Greece. The initiative concluded with a raffle, in which one participant won a bicycle.
• A bicycle-mobile charging station is also the at the heart of the Green Corner stands. During the Festivals/Markets, visitors can cycle and charge their mobile devices at the same time on a specially adapted bicycle designed by the Festival team.
• Starting with the 64th TIFF (2023) and in order to share and support the commitments of its environmental policy, the Festival established a 10-euro “green fee” for accredited guests (3-euro for film students), with the explicit assurance that the money would be reinvested towards its sustainability action plan. The initiative was warmly embraced by accredited guests. Since then, at each Festival, an amount ranging from 13,000 to 17,000 euros has been raised, exclusively funding the organization’s environmental activities.
• TFF communicates its environmental policy to public and private bodies, who the Festival often collaborates with in co-hosting selected events, to encourage them to adopt similar practices and become active partners in the common effort for a greener and more sustainable future.
• TFF is part of the SMART7 Festival Network which organizes focused training sessions and know-how exchanges for their employees. In 2024, a Sustainability Workshop was held in Iceland, where we shared our experiences and practices with our colleagues from SMART7 and other European festivals.
• We were selected by the Region of Central Macedonia for our good practices and presented our environmental policy in Lithuania in 2024. The presentation took place as part of the European MINEV project, which focuses on “Waste Minimization in Large Events” and is co-funded by the Interreg Europe program 2021-2027 and national resources. A similar presentation was also delivered in Thessaloniki. The Festival's good practice is featured on the Interreg Europe website https://www.interregeurope.eu/good-practices/making-film-festival-greener.
• As guests of the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, we spoke about our environmental policy and exchanged views with other organizations from Greece and abroad at the Sustainable Culture Toolkit event, held in Athens in 2025.
• We also presented our actions, experiences, and the challenges we face at a meeting organized by Creative Europe Media, focused on sustainability measures. The meeting took place in 2025 in Berlin, within the framework of the EFM and Berlinale, with the participation of representatives from European markets funded by Media.