Editor

The 11th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Images of the 21st Century will take place from the 13th to the 22nd of March 2009.

The TDF is carried out every March in Thessaloniki since its inception in 1999 and under the umbrella of the Thessaloniki International Film Festival organization. Through its tributes and retrospectives, the TDF focuses on filmmakers with unique cinematic voices, internationally renowned for their contribution to the documentary genre.

Amongst others, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century has held tributes to the work of Werner Herzog, Bruce Weber, Monika Treut, Joris Ivens, Johan van der Keuken, David & Albert Maysles, Pirjo Honkasalo, Stefan Jarl, Kim Longinotto, Barbara Kopple, Julia Reichert & Steven Bognar, Jennifer Fox, Jon Alpert, Arto Halonen, Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky.

The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century began in March 1999, at the dawn of the new millennium and in the middle of profound changes taking place in the information community as well as the international social arena. The rapid development of digital technology, with all this entails for artistic expression and communication, and influential multidimensional phenomena such as globalization, which marked the beginning of the 21st century, gave documentaries a creative push. New perspectives and possibilities brought the genre to the international cinematic forefront, and correspondingly established the creation of this international event uniquely suited to the genre. Something which has proven itself in practical terms by a great and immediate audience response of the (an average of 40,000 viewers annually) and the massive participation of important personalities and industry professionals from Greece and abroad.

Dimitri Eipides, the Artistic Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival – Images of the 21st Century, has always believed that “recording reality is the most important and most contemporary element of civilization.”

Entering its second decade, the Festival has expanded, its program has grown, including more seminars, lectures and conferences among its events; it has produced publications on the documentary genre; and has established itself in the worldwide festival circuit. Reality is mercurial and multidimensional and the Festival, with each passing year, takes care to adapt to changes and keep abreast of developments – whether technological, cinematic, political, social or commercial.
A great many things have changed, but the above goals remain unaltered at their core. And that very first wager of the Festival’s keeps coming back and being renewed each year, more and more challenging, more and more demanding, more and more creative.

THE AWARDS OF THE THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL

In principle, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival is a non-competitive event. However, we do not object to awards being offered in the context of the Festival by independent organizations.
The awards given out by the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century are the following:

i. Two Audience Awards for films over 45' minutes in length (one Greek and one foreign). They are accompanied by a cash prize of 4,000 euros each.

ii. Two Audience Awards for films under 45' minutes in length (one Greek and one foreign). They are accompanied by a cash prize of 2,000 euros each.

All the Greek films that are having their first public screening, are featured in the International Program or the Greek Program, are eligible to compete for the Audience Award for a Greek Film.

All films compete for the corresponding Audience Award for a Foreign Film, except for those presented within the context of the tributes.

Every year, the FIPRESCI prize for Best Greek and Best Foreign Documentary will be awarded by the International Federation of Film Critics to one Greek and one foreign film.

Amnesty International Award for a film from the “Human Rights” segment

WWF Greece Award for a film from the “Habitat” segment