Exclusive: The industry-focused AGORA section of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival has selected 12 projects from 11 countries for this year’s Thessaloniki Pitching Forum and 11 films from 16 countries for the AGORA Docs in Progress sidebar. Move your mouse down For the full list of projects.
All selected projects are from Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean region.
The reconstituted Thessaloniki Pitching Forum serves as a forum for co-financing and co-production of documentaries in development. It includes recent projects that have passed through the program Boylesque (Poland, Czechia), which premiered at Hot DOCS 2022, Guardians of the Dead Sea (Israel, USA), which premiered at Haifa IFF (2021) and screened in Thessaloniki (2022), Karaoke nation (Finland, Sweden, Germany) Premiered at CPH: DOX (2022), A steady job (Italy, France) Premiered at Visions du Reel (2022), We will not fade away It premiered at the 2023 Berlinale The mighty Afrin (Greece) premiered at Thessaloniki IDF 2023 and won the WWF Prize.
This year, the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum received three new awards for its participants. The IEFTA Award for Best Documentary in Development comes with a cash prize of €10,000, a Eurodoc Prize of €1,000, and a Sunny Side of the Doc Award, which comes with two industry cards and €500 for travel expenses.
Long-term festival partnerships include the Onassis Foundation, which offers Greek filmmakers a project in either the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum or Agora Docs in Progress, the €5,000 Onassis Film Award, and the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), which offers ERT a €2,000 prize for a Greek project .
The 2024 Thessaloniki Pitching Forum jury includes Mario Adamson, Producer, Sisyfos Films – Sweden, Sophie Duncan, Marketplace & Talent Program Producer, Sheffield DocFest – UK, and Susan Knodel, Sales Agent, Cinephil – Israel.
Agora Docs in Progress screens films live before they are completed through industry screening of selected excerpts. Recent titles previously discovered in Agora include Docs in Progress Diaries from Lebanon (Lebanon, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) scheduled for Berlinale Panorama Dokumente 2024, Greek film Devil Queen (2022), which premiered at DOC NYC, and Notes on displacement (Palestine, Germany, Qatar – 2022), which was premiered at IDFA 2022.
Participants are mentored by Anna Glogowski. Films are eligible for the following awards: the 32nd (2|35) Main Prize for Post Production, the 119th Marvila Studios Award for Sound Mixing Services, the Hellenic Film Center Award of €3,000, and the Neaniko Plano Award for Film Subtitling. The 2024 Agora Docs in Progress jury includes Hanne Berman, Director of Festivals and Marketing, Film Harbor – Netherlands, Pierre-Alexis Chevet, President of Cannes Docs, Marché du Film – Cannes – France, and Komjana Novakova, film director and film curator. , Bravo Lyudski and Media – North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival takes place from March 7 to 17.
Promotion Forum projects in Thessaloniki:
Dark blue river
Directed by: Sergei Kryso, Produced by: Harman Galving – Doxy Films
Holland
If these stones could talk
Directed by: Hana Elias, Produced by: Asmahan Bakirat
Palestine
Kafka in Belgrade
Directed by: Masha Nešković, Produced by: Maja Medić, Inna Bajraktarevic – Marienbad Film
Serbia
In collaboration with CIRCLE Doc Women Accelerator
lake
Director: Nikos Ziugas, Producers: Konstantina Stavrianou and Rina Fujiokalo – Graal Films, Antigoni Papantoni – RawDOCS
Greece
Mountain cries
Directed by: Lavinia Zausa, Produced by: Sam Godfried – Yalla Docks
Holland
Operation “Hero”
Directed by: Maryam Nikolashvili, Produced by: Irina Glashvili – Radium Films
Georgia
Survivors
Directors: Nina Maria Paschalidou, Maria Luca, Producers: Mina Dreki, Ero Aidoni – Marni Films
Greece
The secret hand
Director: Valerio Valente, Producer: Paolo Maria Spina – Revolver, Co-Producers: Enrico Cannizzo – Filmin, Boris Despodov – Arthouse Blockbusters, Wojciech Karubin – Movie Mates
Italy, Germany, Bulgaria, Poland
While our sun burns
Director: David Crower, Producer: Anna Marina Skouros – Unomamono, Co-Producer: Ria Apostolides – Anemon Productions
Denmark, Greece
Why F*** am I so sad?
Director: Neela Markey, Producer: Martin Ratini – Helios Sustainable Films
Italy
Women in 1922 (Job title)
Directors: Aris Kaplanidis, Elias Roumeliotis, Producer: Ioana Soltani – Soul Productions, Co-Producer: Tonya Micheli – Bark Like A Cat
Greece, Cyprus
Women walking home
Director: Stephanie Andreu, Producer: Adrian Gutierrez – Astarte Films
Cyprus
Agora Documentaries in Progress:
Dark water
Directed by: Mariana Economou, Produced by: Ria Apostolides – Anemon Productions
Greece
Don’t worry Sari!
Director: Sari Harajonics, Producers: Sara Laszlo, Inez Mathis, Marcel Giraud – Campfilm Ltd, Co-Producer: Boris Despodov – Arthouse Blockbusters
Hungary, Bulgaria
Dream collector
Director/Producer: Sonja Dejčić – KEVA, Co-Producers: Tamara Papon, Matija Drenković – Wolfgang & Dolly
Serbia, Croatia
Edward
Directed by: Sophie Shevardnadze, Produced by: Archil Gilovany, Sergei Yahontov – Independent Film Project
Georgia
Glad you’re here
Director: Lucas Habti, Producer: Isidore Bethel – Alice Films, Co-Producers: Lucas Habti, Juan Carlos Malavi, Bikal Legacy
France, United States, Puerto Rico, Ethiopia
if
Director: Thanasis Vassiliou, Producer: Orlan Dumas – Les Films de l’AubeSauvage, Co-Producer: Konstantinos Vassilaros – StudioBauhaus
France, Greece
mail in
Director/Producer: María Silvia Esteve – HANA Films, Co-Producers: Alejandra Lopez – IKKI Films, Radu Stancu, Cristina Hanes – deFilm
Argentina, France, Romania
Madam President
Director: Marek Šulík, Producer: Barbara Janešová Vejlová – HITCHHIKER Cinema, Co-producers: Ivo Anderlij – Aerofilms, Alina Mulerová – Czech Television, Tibor Horvath – Slovak Radio and Television, Marek Šulík – Filmotras
Slovakia, Czech Republic
Super paradise
Director: Steve Krekris, Producer: Daphne Calafati, Paul Tibaldos – Filmiki SA, Co-Producer: Titus Krenberg – unafilm
Greece, Germany
the first lady
Directors: Udi Nier, Sagi Bornstein, Producer: Udi Nier – udiVsagi Productions, Co-Producer: Georg Tschorchenthaler – Beetz Brothers Film Productions
Israel, Germany
Owl secrets
Director: Irini Vourloumis, Producer: Leonidas Liambis – Long Run Productions, Co-Producer: Irini Vourloumis – Boulis Films
Greece