As the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival embarks on its second quarter-century, with its 26th edition kicking off March 7, the event’s industry arm continues to look for ways to reinvent itself. “We are educating ourselves. We are asking the local and the regional industries and communities, ‘What do you need from us?’” says Angeliki Vergou, who heads the Agora industry program. “I believe in this open dialogue…with our colleagues about the challenges they face and we face [as we] try to figure it out together.”
A perennial highlight of the industry program is the Agora’s co-production and co-financing forum, which takes place March 11 and will present 12 projects in development by documentary filmmakers from Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and the Black Sea region. Another highlight, Agora Docs in Progress, held March 12, showcases 11 films nearing completion and ready to hit the festival circuit this year.
Recent titles to take part in the...
A perennial highlight of the industry program is the Agora’s co-production and co-financing forum, which takes place March 11 and will present 12 projects in development by documentary filmmakers from Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and the Black Sea region. Another highlight, Agora Docs in Progress, held March 12, showcases 11 films nearing completion and ready to hit the festival circuit this year.
Recent titles to take part in the...
- 3/6/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Agora, the industry section of Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival, kicks into gear this weekend with an eye on expansion as industry head Angeliki Vergou and her team introduce a series of changes to the established event.
Agora Series, the fest’s hybrid film-series industry strand, returns for its sophomore outing, now running over an extended two days, starting November 4 with a focus on the creative process of series screenwriting. Paper Entertainment CEO and Tehran executive producer Julien Leroux will serve as program consultant. The two-day schedule features a range of masterclass sessions from local and international series professionals. Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa, best known for his work on shows like Game Of Thrones and The Handmaid’s Tale, will host a masterclass on the future of storytelling.
The festival will also launch Bridge to the North, a new collaborative strand aimed at fostering connections between professionals from the local region and Northern Europe.
Agora Series, the fest’s hybrid film-series industry strand, returns for its sophomore outing, now running over an extended two days, starting November 4 with a focus on the creative process of series screenwriting. Paper Entertainment CEO and Tehran executive producer Julien Leroux will serve as program consultant. The two-day schedule features a range of masterclass sessions from local and international series professionals. Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa, best known for his work on shows like Game Of Thrones and The Handmaid’s Tale, will host a masterclass on the future of storytelling.
The festival will also launch Bridge to the North, a new collaborative strand aimed at fostering connections between professionals from the local region and Northern Europe.
- 11/3/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
When the Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s industry arm, Agora, kicks off this week in Greece’s second city, organizers will be looking to expand upon recent additions to a time-tested formula that’s served the event across nearly two decades as a launching pad and incubator for Greek and regional talent.
“We’ve been doing the Agora since 2005, and we have slowly but steadily established it as one of the markets where you can find new talents and emerging directors from this region,” says industry head Angeliki Vergou, who took over from longtime Agora topper Yianna Sarri last year. “I think we are maintaining the essence of Agora that we have developed all these years, but just tweaking it a little bit to make it more available and more open to bring in new opportunities.”
In her second year in charge of the Agora, Vergou is looking to build...
“We’ve been doing the Agora since 2005, and we have slowly but steadily established it as one of the markets where you can find new talents and emerging directors from this region,” says industry head Angeliki Vergou, who took over from longtime Agora topper Yianna Sarri last year. “I think we are maintaining the essence of Agora that we have developed all these years, but just tweaking it a little bit to make it more available and more open to bring in new opportunities.”
In her second year in charge of the Agora, Vergou is looking to build...
- 11/1/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Locarno, Thessaloniki, Tallinn, IFFR and Karlovy Vary are collaborating on the initiative.
Locarno, Thessaloniki, Tallinn Black Nights, Rotterdam and Karlovy Vary film festivals have joined forces on Launchpad, a new network for selected film professionals giving access to the industry programmes at each event.
Each festival, industry platform or market participating in the network will select a maximum of 10 emerging professionals per year through a public applications call. The 10 participants will have automatic access to all partner events at each festival for the following 12 months, and will receive free industry accreditation for either on-site or online.
Scroll down for the...
Locarno, Thessaloniki, Tallinn Black Nights, Rotterdam and Karlovy Vary film festivals have joined forces on Launchpad, a new network for selected film professionals giving access to the industry programmes at each event.
Each festival, industry platform or market participating in the network will select a maximum of 10 emerging professionals per year through a public applications call. The 10 participants will have automatic access to all partner events at each festival for the following 12 months, and will receive free industry accreditation for either on-site or online.
Scroll down for the...
- 7/11/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The Locarno Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Rotterdam”s IFFR and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival have joined forces in a new initiative called Launchpad which aims to nurture budding film professionals.
The basic purpose of Launchpad is to facilitate the formative process of selected emerging film professionals working in international sales, marketing, traditional and online distribution, exhibition and programming, and funds and commissions. The idea is to give them facilitated access to a network of European film festivals spread throughout the yearly calendar.
Through Launchpad, these prominent partner fests “will offer participants the chance to discover important industry events either online or on-site, be part of key industry activities and further expand their international network,” they said in a statement.
Each festival, industry platform, or market within the Launchpad network will be selecting a maximum of 10 emerging film professionals through a public call for applications.
The basic purpose of Launchpad is to facilitate the formative process of selected emerging film professionals working in international sales, marketing, traditional and online distribution, exhibition and programming, and funds and commissions. The idea is to give them facilitated access to a network of European film festivals spread throughout the yearly calendar.
Through Launchpad, these prominent partner fests “will offer participants the chance to discover important industry events either online or on-site, be part of key industry activities and further expand their international network,” they said in a statement.
Each festival, industry platform, or market within the Launchpad network will be selecting a maximum of 10 emerging film professionals through a public call for applications.
- 7/11/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
A collection of European festivals including Locarno, Thessaloniki, Tallinn Black Nights, Rotterdam, and Karlovy Vary, have partnered to create a new network aimed at integrating film professionals.
Titled Launchpad, the network will offer selected emerging film professionals working in international sales, marketing, traditional and online distribution, exhibition and programming, funds, and commissions access to a network of film festivals in the yearly calendar.
The platform will allow participants to discover industry events either online or on-site, and be part of key industry activities. Each festival, industry platform, or market in the Launchpad network will select a maximum of 10 emerging film professionals through a public call for applications.
All the selected participants will be granted automatic access to all partner events for 12 months after their selection. Participants will also receive a free industry accreditation — either on-site or online – and those able to attend the events physically will be offered a tailor-made...
Titled Launchpad, the network will offer selected emerging film professionals working in international sales, marketing, traditional and online distribution, exhibition and programming, funds, and commissions access to a network of film festivals in the yearly calendar.
The platform will allow participants to discover industry events either online or on-site, and be part of key industry activities. Each festival, industry platform, or market in the Launchpad network will select a maximum of 10 emerging film professionals through a public call for applications.
All the selected participants will be granted automatic access to all partner events for 12 months after their selection. Participants will also receive a free industry accreditation — either on-site or online – and those able to attend the events physically will be offered a tailor-made...
- 7/11/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
The highest award for docs-in-progress at the Cannes Film Market’s sidebar dedicated to documentary, Cannes Docs, has gone to Ya-Ting Hsu’s debut feature doc “Islands of the Winds.”
Twenty years in the making, the film follows the anti-eviction struggle of the patients of Losheng Sanatorium for lepers, which became a symbol of the fight for democracy in Hsu’s native Taiwan.
The prize comes with a €10,000 cash prize and project follow-up by Iefta (the International Emerging Film Talent Assn.).
It is produced by Hsu’s Taiwan-based Argosy Films and Media Productions, Huang Yin-Yu and Baptiste Brunner.
Handing out the prize, the jury, composed of Angeliki Vergou, head of Agora at Thessaloniki Doc Fest, French producer Karim Aitouna and Brazilian Fernanda Lomba, EP at Mundi Filmes and co-founder of Nicho 54, congratulated the film “for its patience, dedication and the respectful way the filmmaker approached this grass-roots movement with an engaged and passionate camera.
Twenty years in the making, the film follows the anti-eviction struggle of the patients of Losheng Sanatorium for lepers, which became a symbol of the fight for democracy in Hsu’s native Taiwan.
The prize comes with a €10,000 cash prize and project follow-up by Iefta (the International Emerging Film Talent Assn.).
It is produced by Hsu’s Taiwan-based Argosy Films and Media Productions, Huang Yin-Yu and Baptiste Brunner.
Handing out the prize, the jury, composed of Angeliki Vergou, head of Agora at Thessaloniki Doc Fest, French producer Karim Aitouna and Brazilian Fernanda Lomba, EP at Mundi Filmes and co-founder of Nicho 54, congratulated the film “for its patience, dedication and the respectful way the filmmaker approached this grass-roots movement with an engaged and passionate camera.
- 5/23/2023
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
The Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival wrapped its 25th edition with a muted closing night on Sunday, with festival organizers scrapping an official award ceremony as Greece continues to mourn the loss of 57 lives in a deadly rail accident on Feb. 28.
The awards for this year’s festival — including the Golden Alexander, which went to Heba Khaled, Talal Derki and Ali Wajeeh’s “Under the Sky of Damascus” — were handed out behind closed doors earlier in the day.
Artistic director Orestis Andreadakis told Variety prior to the festival’s conclusion, “As a sign of respect, the festival canceled from the very start all ceremonies and festive events. In the same spirit, it was decided to call off the closing ceremony.”
Many of the awarded filmmakers were nevertheless on hand at Thessaloniki’s Olympion cinema on Sunday night, for the world premiere of “My Pet and Me,” by Dutch documentary filmmaker Johan Kramer.
The awards for this year’s festival — including the Golden Alexander, which went to Heba Khaled, Talal Derki and Ali Wajeeh’s “Under the Sky of Damascus” — were handed out behind closed doors earlier in the day.
Artistic director Orestis Andreadakis told Variety prior to the festival’s conclusion, “As a sign of respect, the festival canceled from the very start all ceremonies and festive events. In the same spirit, it was decided to call off the closing ceremony.”
Many of the awarded filmmakers were nevertheless on hand at Thessaloniki’s Olympion cinema on Sunday night, for the world premiere of “My Pet and Me,” by Dutch documentary filmmaker Johan Kramer.
- 3/13/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Stories of war and its devastating human toll, migration across borders, the struggle for human rights and the battle to save a rapidly warming planet are among the themes that take center stage on March 6 during the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum, the co-production and co-financing platform of the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival.
Fourteen projects representing filmmakers from 21 countries will be pitching before an audience of international industry guests including producers, broadcasters, funding bodies and festival programmers, as well as a jury comprised of Eleni Chandrinou, a consultant and producer from Cigale Films; Nevena Milašinović, a sales and acquisitions executive from Lightdox; and Sara Rüster, international distribution manager at the Swedish Film Institute.
Eleven more films that are nearing completion and looking for festival premieres and distribution will also be screened as part of the Agora Docs in Progress program.
Angeliki Vergou, who heads the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s Agora industry section,...
Fourteen projects representing filmmakers from 21 countries will be pitching before an audience of international industry guests including producers, broadcasters, funding bodies and festival programmers, as well as a jury comprised of Eleni Chandrinou, a consultant and producer from Cigale Films; Nevena Milašinović, a sales and acquisitions executive from Lightdox; and Sara Rüster, international distribution manager at the Swedish Film Institute.
Eleven more films that are nearing completion and looking for festival premieres and distribution will also be screened as part of the Agora Docs in Progress program.
Angeliki Vergou, who heads the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s Agora industry section,...
- 3/6/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
As the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival reaches the quarter-century mark this year, the festival’s industry arm, Agora, will host a range of events and initiatives looking to bolster documentary production and distribution in both the host country and the wider region.
Headlining the industry program is the Agora’s co-production and co-financing forum, which takes place March 6 and will present 14 projects in development by documentary filmmakers from Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and the Black Sea region. Another highlight, Agora Docs in Progress, showcases 11 films nearing completion and ready to hit the festival circuit this year.
The success of those two programs is evident in the selection at this year’s festival: Fifteen documentaries that have been supported in previous editions of the Agora will celebrate world, international or European premieres in the competition sections or Open Horizons section, including Agora Docs in Progress alumni “Narrow Path to Happiness” (pictured), by Kata Oláh,...
Headlining the industry program is the Agora’s co-production and co-financing forum, which takes place March 6 and will present 14 projects in development by documentary filmmakers from Southeastern Europe, the Middle East and the Black Sea region. Another highlight, Agora Docs in Progress, showcases 11 films nearing completion and ready to hit the festival circuit this year.
The success of those two programs is evident in the selection at this year’s festival: Fifteen documentaries that have been supported in previous editions of the Agora will celebrate world, international or European premieres in the competition sections or Open Horizons section, including Agora Docs in Progress alumni “Narrow Path to Happiness” (pictured), by Kata Oláh,...
- 2/28/2023
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Greek prime minister attends festival to highlight incentives for international projects.
Costa Rican director Valentina Maurel’s I Have Electric Dreams has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place from November 3-13.
The film’s lead actor Reinaldo Amien Gutierrez also won the best actor award at the festival.
The French, Belgian and Costa Rican co-production, which premiered in Locarno, follows a young girl’s coming of age and her relationship with her estranged father. World sales are handled by Greece’s Heretic.
The international competition jury...
Costa Rican director Valentina Maurel’s I Have Electric Dreams has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at Greece’s Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which took place from November 3-13.
The film’s lead actor Reinaldo Amien Gutierrez also won the best actor award at the festival.
The French, Belgian and Costa Rican co-production, which premiered in Locarno, follows a young girl’s coming of age and her relationship with her estranged father. World sales are handled by Greece’s Heretic.
The international competition jury...
- 11/16/2022
- by Alexis Grivas
- ScreenDaily
As the Thessaloniki Film Festival kicks off its 63rd edition, this year’s industry section features the pilot edition of a dedicated television strand and the launch of a Think Tank series calling on European film markets to chart a common course for industry confabs in the future.
Such initiatives are part of newly appointed industry head Angeliki Vergou’s mandate to steer the annual event through uncertain times for the global film industry even as the growing Greek business continues to surge, thanks in part to a 40 cash rebate that has lured international productions such as Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness” and Rian Johnson’s Netflix blockbuster “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”
With its Agora Series section, Thessaloniki will hope to capitalize on a raft of new high-end TV productions looking to put Greek drama on the map.
“There has been such a...
Such initiatives are part of newly appointed industry head Angeliki Vergou’s mandate to steer the annual event through uncertain times for the global film industry even as the growing Greek business continues to surge, thanks in part to a 40 cash rebate that has lured international productions such as Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness” and Rian Johnson’s Netflix blockbuster “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.”
With its Agora Series section, Thessaloniki will hope to capitalize on a raft of new high-end TV productions looking to put Greek drama on the map.
“There has been such a...
- 11/6/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
When “Silent Road” (pictured above), a Greek abduction thriller written by Melina Tsampani and Petros Kalkovalis, dropped its first episode on Mediaset Italia’s flagship Canale 5 station this summer, 1.4 million viewers tuned in, making it the second-highest rated show in its timeslot.
The series, which follows an affluent Athenian family after a school bus carrying their children is held hostage, set a new benchmark for the Greek television industry, which even in the era of globe-trotting drama has been slow to cross borders. Directed by Vardis Marinakis and produced by Athens-based Filmiki for Greek broadcaster Mega TV, “Silent Road” is being sold internationally by Beta Film.
Tsampani and Kalkovalis acknowledge that the industry is still “taking baby steps.” “Greek fiction has to find its place in a vast global market and to do so we have to invest in premium series,” the duo tells Variety.
Yet all signs suggest a shift is underway.
The series, which follows an affluent Athenian family after a school bus carrying their children is held hostage, set a new benchmark for the Greek television industry, which even in the era of globe-trotting drama has been slow to cross borders. Directed by Vardis Marinakis and produced by Athens-based Filmiki for Greek broadcaster Mega TV, “Silent Road” is being sold internationally by Beta Film.
Tsampani and Kalkovalis acknowledge that the industry is still “taking baby steps.” “Greek fiction has to find its place in a vast global market and to do so we have to invest in premium series,” the duo tells Variety.
Yet all signs suggest a shift is underway.
- 11/3/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
In a bid to adapt to the ever-changing content market, Thessaloniki International Film Festival’s industry component, Agora, is unveiling a slew of new initiatives as it gears up for its 63rd edition.
This year, it’s launching its newly-established Agora Series section, where it will dedicate an entire day (November 10) to shining a spotlight on the TV sector. Representatives from Greek broadcasters and international execs from places such as Netflix Italy, Sky Studios and Germany’s Nadcon Production, will touch down for the event, which will also feature networking events, discussion panels and a masterclass from Big Mouth and Glow scriptwriter and producer Victor Quinaz.
“We wanted to introduce this to the Agora line-up to reflect what is happening right now in Greece and how we’re working with TV series,” says Angeliki Vergou, head of Agora. “There has been a boom of production in Greece right now from abroad and that,...
This year, it’s launching its newly-established Agora Series section, where it will dedicate an entire day (November 10) to shining a spotlight on the TV sector. Representatives from Greek broadcasters and international execs from places such as Netflix Italy, Sky Studios and Germany’s Nadcon Production, will touch down for the event, which will also feature networking events, discussion panels and a masterclass from Big Mouth and Glow scriptwriter and producer Victor Quinaz.
“We wanted to introduce this to the Agora line-up to reflect what is happening right now in Greece and how we’re working with TV series,” says Angeliki Vergou, head of Agora. “There has been a boom of production in Greece right now from abroad and that,...
- 10/27/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Nadine Salib and Matteo Tortone with their upcoming projects were the main winners in Crossroads and Works in Progress, respectively. Agora, the industry section of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (31 October - 10 November) has wrapped this year’s edition, which ran in parallel to the celebratory 60th edition of the main Greek gathering. The awards ceremony was held on 8 November at the Thessaloniki Pier and was presented by Agora’s ambassador, Greek actor Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, in the presence of Yianna Sarri, head of the Agora and Angeliki Vergou, director of the Crossroads Co-production Forum. Starting with the 15th Crossroads Co-Production Forum, the winner of the Co-Production Award provided by Greek post-production company 2/35 was The Land Beyond, a mythical tale of a mute young girl, the fiction feature debut from Egyptian filmmaker Nadine Salib. The story is set in an isolated village built by an exiled community which avoids...
- 11/11/2019
- Cineuropa - The Best of European Cinema
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