The 53^rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival will screen 14 feature films produced in 2012 in Greece and in coproduction with other countries, two of which will be participating in the International Competition section. In addition, the award-winning Greek films from the Drama Short Film Festival will be presented during the event.

From the roster of this year’s works it is evident that the Greek crisis and its multiple facets, in societal, familial and individual levels, have inspired and motivated a variety of directors, who, nevertheless, have created very diverse films, both thematically and aesthetically.

Participating in the International Competition section this year are:

Boy Eating The Bird's Food by Ektoras Lygizos and Joy by Ilias Yiannakakis

Critically acclaimed debut Boy Eating The Bird's Food, which has had a very successful run in international film festivals and garnered a Special Mention at the 2012 Karlovy Vary IFF for protagonist Yiannis Papadopoulos, is about a solitary boy, without shelter or food, scrambling to make ends meet for himself and his cherished canary. Joy, which will hold its International Premiere during the 53^rd TIFF, recounts the story of a woman that steals a new-born baby from a hospital. Embodying the role of the protector as much as that of the offender, her mindset unfolds before the eyes of the viewer, resulting in a complex and poignant psychological drama.

Amongst the 12 Greek films that are screened out of competition and in several of the Festival’s sections are:

A.C.A.B. All Cats Are Brilliant by Constantina Voulgari is the story of Electra, a 32-year-old Athenian who struggles with her own personal crises, living in a city and country that dispel her ideals and cannot help her realize her aspirations. In 11 Meetings With My Father, director Nikos Kornilios focuses on an unusual family of two. A young woman meets her father for the first time and, although they come from vastly different worlds, they manage to forge a unique bond. Higuita, Alexandros Voulgaris’ imaginative new feature, constructs an interplay between experimental sensibilities and a more traditional narrative, while Red City by Manos Cizek presents an Athens plagued with social unrest, not due to an economic collapse, but because of an error in an android community. Loveless Zoritsa, co-directed by Greek Christina Hatziharalambous and Serbian Radoslav Pavkovic, is a Balkan comedy with fairytale elements about a girl with a mysterious curse, while Alexander Nally’s The Telemachy, inspired by Homer’s “Odyssey”, is the story of a young man looking for his real father and, consequently, for his roots.  Athina Rachel Tsangari’s newest film, The Capsule, an avant-garde, hypnotic short produced for the DesteFashionCollection 2012, creates a dialogue between fashion and cinematic art (Special Screenings section).

In addition, the 53^rd TIFF Agora/Market Library will host 20 more Greek films, thus providing them with the opportunity to be viewed by industry professionals such as distributors, sales agents and festival programmers from all over the world. Amongst these films are: The Guide by Zaharias Mavroeidis, Dogs, Cats & Rats by Andrianos Georgantas, Tungsten by Giorgos Georgopoulos, L by Babis Makridis and Narcissus by Dovile Gasiunaite.

FILM LIST:

A.C.A.B. All Cats Are Brilliant (Syngharitiria stous esiodoxous?), Constantina Voulgari, 95’, Greece

A Ship For Palestine (To plio gia tin Palestini), Nikos Koundouros, 120’, Greece

Big Hit, Karolos Zonaras, 93’, Greece

Boy Eating The Bird's Food (To agori troi to fagito tou pouliou), Ektoras Lygizos, 80’, Greece

The Capsule, Athina Rachel Tsangari, 35’, Greece

11 Meetings With My Father (11 sinantiseis me ton patera mou), Nikos Kornilios, 90’, Greece

Joy (Hara), Ilias Yannakakis, 80’, Greece

Higuita, Alexandros Voulgaris, 67’, Greece

Kame Koummando, Manolis Damianakis, 78’, Greece

Loveless Zoritsa (Crna Zorica), Radoslav Pavkovic & Christina Hatziharalambous, 80’, Greece/Serbia/Cyprus/Poland

Papadopoulos & Sons, Markus Markou, 105’, Greece/UK        

Red City, Manos Cizek, 100’, Greece/UK 

The Telemachy (Tilemahia), Alexander Nally, 119’, Greece/UK           

Yellow City (Kitrini poli), Savvas Katirtzidis, 98’, Greece