Editor

49th INTERNATIONAL THESSALONIKI FILM FESTIVAL took place NOVEMBER 14 - 23, 2008

The jury of the International Competition Section of the 49th Thessaloniki Film Festival comprised of:
Michael Ondaatje, Writer (Canada), President
Lita Stantic, Producer (Argentina)
Yeşim Ustaoğlu, Director (Turkey)
Diablo Cody, Screenwriter (USA)
Emilie Dequenne, Actress (Belgium)
David Robinson, Film critic (UK)
and
Dionissis Savopoulos, Composer (Greece)

THE AWARDS

• Best Feature Film Award - Golden Alexander
(37.000 euros)
AAN JA, (OVER THERE) by Abdolreza Kahani, Producer Vahdat Yeganeh, Iran

• Special Jury Award - Silver Alexander
(22.000)
PESCUIT SPORTIV, (HOOKED) by Adrian Sitaru, Producers Adrian Sitaru, Marie-Pierre Macia, Juliette Lepoutre, Romania / France

• Best Director Award
to CELINA MURGA for Una Semana Solos (A Week Alone), Producers Juan Villegas, Inés Gamarci, Argentina

• Best Screenplay Award
to MATTHEW NEWTON for Three Blind Mice, by Matthew Newton, Producer Ben Davis, Australia

• Best Actress Award ex aequo
to IOANA FLORA AND MARIA DINULESCU for Pescuit Sportiv (Hooked), by Adrian Sitaru, Producers Adrian Sitaru, Marie-Pierre Macia, Juliette Lepoutre, Romania / France

• Best Actor Award ex aequo
to SID LUCERO AND EMILIO GARCIA for SELDA (The Inmate), by Ellen Ramos and Paolo Villaluna, Producer Josephine Saba, Philippines

• Artistic Achievement Award
to SZABOLCS TOLNAI, for Fövenyóra (Hourglass), Producers György Durst, Miroslav Mogorovic, Szabolcs Tolnai, Hungary / Serbia / Montenegro

• Special Mention
to DIASTÉME, for Le Bruit des Gens Autour (Sunny Spells), Producers Thomas Anargyros, Edouard de Vésinne, France

FIPRESCI AWARDS
The 48th International Thessaloniki Film Festival FIPRESCI (The International Federation of Film Critics) jury comprised of:
Guenter Jekubzik, President (Germany)
Margit Tonson (Estonia)
Olga Markova Kotzeva (Bulgaria)
Andrzej Bokuwiecki (Poland) and
Nikos Kourmoulis (Greece)

Bestows the FIPRESCI award for a film in the International Competition Section 2008 to
• VOY A EXPLOTAR (I’m Gonna Explode), by Gerardo Naranjo, Producers Pablo Cruz, Gerardo Naranjo, Hunter Gray, Alain de la Mata, Mexico

For a film in the Greek Films 2008 section to
• KALA KRYMMENA MYSTIKA - ATHANASSIA (Well Kept Secrets – Athanassia), by Panos Karkanevatos, Producer Panos Karkanevatos, Greece / Belgium / Netherlands / USA


HUMAN VALUES AWARD (15.000 euros)

The Hellenic Parliament TV Channel bestows the award to a film of the Independence Days ID-08 section, to the film

• TEZA, by Haile Gerima, Producers Haile Gerima, Karl Baumgartner, Ethiopia / Germany / France

FISCHER PUBLIC CHOICE AWARDS

For a film in the International Competition section
(3.000 euros)

• LE BRUIT DES GENS AUTOUR (Sunny Spells), by Diastéme, Producers Thomas Anargyros, Edouard de Vésinne, France

For a film in the Greek Films 2008 section
(3.000 euros)

• MAKRONISSOS (Exile Island), by Elias Yannakakis, Evi Karabatsou, Producer Elias Yannakakis


For a film in the Balkan Survey section
(2.000 euros)

• TURNEJA (The Tour), by Goran Marković, Producers Svetozar Cvetković, Tihomir Stanić, Serbia / Bosnia & Herzegovina / Croatia / Slovenia


For a film in the Greek Films DigitalWave section
(2.000 euros)

• TO SYNDROMO TIS HIONATIS (The Snow White Syndrome), by Angelos Spartalis, Producer Angelos Spartalis

THE GREEK UNION OF FILM TELEVISION AND AUDIOVISUAL TECHNICIANS (ETEKT) AWARD

The ETEKT award to a Greek film in the Greek Films 2008 section is given to

• WITHOUT, by Alexander Avranas, Producer Nikos Sekeris

THE GREEK FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION (PEKK) AWARD

The PEKK award for a Greek film in the Greek Films 2008 section is given to

• TI NYCHTA POU O FERNANDO PESSOA SINANTISE TON CONSTANTINE CAVAFY (The Night Fernando Pessoa Met Constantine Cavafy), by Stelios Charalambopoulos, Producer Thanos Lambropoulos


CINEMA AND THE CITY AWARD (10.000 EUROS)


• OF TIME AND THE CITY by Terence Davies, Producers Solon Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter, United Kingdom


EVERYDAY LIFE: TRANSCENDENCE OR RECONCILIATION AWARD (15.000 EUROS)

Offered by the Ministry for Macedonia – Thrace

• FIRAAQ by Nandita Das, Producers Harindra M. Singh, Shailendra M. Singh, India



WOMAN & EQUALITY AWARD (5.500 EUROS)

Offered by the General Secretariat for Gender Equality, a division of the Hellenic Ministry of the Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization

• SNIJEG (Snow), by Aida Begic, Producers Elma Tataragić, Benny Drechsel, Karsten Stoeter, Bosnia & Herzegovina / Germany / France / Iran


CROSSROADS - Co-production Forum AWARD (16.000 EUROS)

The award offered by Nokia N series is bestowed ex aequo to the projects:


• AMERICA SQUARE, Writer / Director Yiannis Sakaridis, Producers Panos Papahadzis and Maria Tsigka, Greece

and

• FALSE WITNESS, Writer / Director Iglika Triffonova, Producer Rossitsa Valkanova, Bulgaria


BALKAN FUND - Script Development AWARDS (10.000 EUROS each)


4 AWARDS:

ZINCOGRAPH – Writer Vladislav Todorov, Director Javor Gardev, Producer Buriana Zakharieva, Bulgaria

NUMBER ZERO – Writer / Director Sirri Sureyya Onder, Producer Necati Akpinar, Turkey

WHITE THREAD, BLACK THREAD – Writer Natassa Segou, Director Christos Karakepelis, Producer Zoe Lisgara, Greece

SUBMISSION – Writer Zeynep Ozcan, Director Emre Yalgin, Producer Ayfer Tuncer, Turkey