by guest contributor Dimitrios Machairidis
Photo credit: Dimitrios Machairidis
Film festivals love the sea. Cannes has the Croisette, Venice the canals. Thessaloniki, in Macedonia, Northern Greece, has the old pier of the city port opposite the Olympus Mountain, dwelling of the ancient Greek gods.
Every November the Thessaloniki International Film Festival takes place in the 19th century depots on the pier, now converted into cinema halls, and the “Olympion,” the glamorous theater at the neighboring Byzantine-style Aristotelous Square. Dimitris Eipidis, the Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Artistic Director and former director of the Toronto International Film Festival, introduced here many names from Europe, South and Central America, the Middle East and Asia in the international film market. Independent movie producers and directors from all over the world hold their annual meeting here for the Golden, Silver and Bronze Alexander awards.
The-Old-Pier-and-the-Depots-of-the-Festival
During the 10 days of the 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, 14 films are screened in the international competition; 40 films screened in the “Open Horizons” program, an excellent tribute to independent productions; and 17 movies from Southeast Europe were presented in the “Balkan Survey” program. There were also special screenings from Japan, Iran and Thailand, a focus on new Austrian Cinema and tributes to the French director Arnaud Desplechin and the Romanian director Mircea Daneliuc.
“Cinema is like a democracy, where all films are equal. It is a pleasure to walk among them. It is necessary to watch films made by other directors, to be able to work in a different way and advance in filmmaking. Otherwise, we only reproduce television mass culture. Cinema is an art like painting; you can find solutions for your own painting through the paintings made by others. The paradox is that the films are realized by adults but they belong to the young generation” said Arnaud Desplechin at the master class he gave during the festival. Indeed, the Thessaloniki Film Festival is a celebration of youth. More than 120,000 young people study at the universities of Thessaloniki and they love movies. Several directors have their own fan clubs in Thessaloniki, which become very active at the premiere of their films. Most of the screenings sell out quickly.
Arnaud-Desplechin
“France is not such a big country; we don’t have countless actors,” commented Desplechin at the screening of his new film “My Golden Days” last Thursday. The following evening, the murderous terrorist attacks in Paris instantly reaffirmed France as a nation we all admire. “I am French but tonight we are all French, we are all Parisians. We feel the same pain, the same fear with the people of Iraq, Syria, and so many others. We have been hit by the same brutality. And with the same courage and the same dignity we have to confront it, together, united. Fear is a human feeling, but so is showing courage,” said Michèle Ray-Gavras, president of the festival jury and wife of Kostas Gavras, the Oscar-winning film director, at the closing ceremony of the 56th Thessaloniki International Film Festival on Saturday night in the “Olympion” theater. “However, to transform grief to joy, to replace emptiness with optimism is the power of cinema.” Announcing the Alexander awards, Michèle Ray-Gavras, Jay Weissberg, a journalist from Variety and the other members of the jury warmed “Olympion” with their applause.
The Golden Alexander went to the film “Rams” by Grìmur Hàkonarson from Iceland, the Silver Alexander to “Land and Shade” by the Colombian director César Acevedo, and the Bronze Alexander to Argentinean Francisco Varone for his film “Road to La Paz”. Best Director Award went to Gabriel Ripstein from Mexico for his “600 Miles”, Best Screenplay Award went to Lorenzo Vigas from Venezuela for “From Afar”, Best Actor Award went to Alfredo Castro starring in “From Afar”, and Best Actress Award went to the American Devon Keller for her role in “Petting Zoo”, a Greek–USA production.
César Acevedo
“At the premiere of “Land and Shade” here in Thessaloniki, I was surprised by the round of applause. Tonight I am so glad. This is my first movie and it went so well,” César Acevedo, the Colombian director, winner of the Silver Alexander, told me as we were leaving the “Olympion” for the party at Depot C of the old pier. His international career as an independent film director had just begun.
Bloodthirsty attacks like this in Paris make us feel vulnerable. But cinema has the power to record our strengths and vulnerabilities at the same time, as Arnaud Desplechin said. True, cinema is a passion much more effective than atrocious force.
