CROSSROADS, the Co-Production Forum at Thessaloniki Festival

CROSSROADS, the Co-Production Forum organized by the Thessaloniki International Film Festival, created by the TIFF Director Despina Mouzaki and headed by Marie-Pierre Macia, has selected 15 projects this year, based on the quality of the script, the creative team and the likelihood of it being produced. All selected projects are either produced or co-produced by a country in the Balkan or Mediterranean area or contain story elements linked to these regions. The selected projects come from the following countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, France, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Palestine, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.   

The producers of these 15 projects will be introduced to a variety of industry professionals from all over the world. The program is varied and provides opportunities to meet, formally and informally, distributors, broadcasters, sales agents and consultants. CROSSROADS' goal is to support the producers of feature-length film projects that are linked to the Mediterranean and Balkan regions.

This year's projects are the following:

1. Crossroads, Director: Robert Budina, Producer: Sabina Kodra, Company: Erafilm Albania

2. Beyond Amnesty, Director: Bujar Alimani, Producer: Bujar Alimani / Thanos Anastopoulos, Company: 90 Productions Albania / Fantasia Audiovisual SA Greece

3. False Witness, Director: Iglika Trifonova, Producer: Rositsa Valkanova, Company: Klas Film Bulgaria (In collaboration with the Sofia Meetings of the Sofia International Film Festival).

4. Shanghai - Belleville, Director: Show-Chun Lee, Producer: Juliette Grandmont, Company: Charivari & Clandestine France

5. America Square, Director: Yannis Sakaridis, Producer: Maria Tsiga, Company: Argonauts S.A Greece

6. Bloody Puppy, Director: Yannis Economidis, Producer: Maria Tsiga, Company: Argonauts S.A Greece

7. Rio, Director: Nicolas Panoutsopoulos, Producer: Menelaos Karamaghiolis, Company: Pausilypon Films Greece

8. The Tree and the Swing, Director: Maria Douza, Producer: Eleni Atsikbasis, Company: Phos Productions Greece

9. Infiltration, Director: Dover Kosashvili, Producer: Marek Rozenbaum, Company: Transfax Film Productions Israel

10. God of the Hills, Director: Christian Wagner, Producer: Paolo Spina, Company: Revolver SRLC Italy

11. When I Saw You, Director: Annemarie Jacir, Producer: Ossama Bawardi, Company: Philistine Films Jordan / Palestine (Her first film Salt of this Sea was presented at Cannes 2008 - Un Certain Regard)

12. Clandestine Ghetto, Director: Stephane Luçon, Screenwriter/ Producer: Mara Nicolescu, Company: Ora De Vara / Domino Film Romania (documentary)

13. Tilva Rosh, Director: Nikola Lezaic, Producer: Vesna Dinic, Company: Kiselo Dete Serbia

14. The Fugitives, Director: Ben Hopkins, Producer: Gulen Guler Hurley, Company: Yalan Dunya Film Production Turkey

15. Sultan's Kitchen, Director: Umit Unal, Producer: Gulin Ustun, Company: Gu Film Turkey

The Crossroads Nokia N Series Award of € 10.000 will be presented to one of the selected projects.  This award was first given to Yesim Ustaoglu's Pandora's Box in 2006, winner of the Golden Shell for Best Film and the Best Actress Award for Tsilla Chelton at this year's San Sebastian Film Festival.  In 2007 the winning project was Nadav Lapid's The Policeman which afterwards was presented at l'Atelier du Cinéma, Cannes 2008 and will be presented at the New Cinema Network of the Rome International Film Festival this October.

Additionally, this year's Crossroads will include a special focus on Greece: Generation Next. In association with the Greek Films department, Crossroads will introduce seven (7) Greek filmmakers, who are now creating their first feature film, to the network of industry professionals invited to the Forum. 

Aris Bafaloukas, Syllas Tzoumerkas, Panayotis Fafoutis, Margarita Manda, Bujar Alimani, Christos Nikoleris and Vardis Marinakis (Crossroads participant in 2006) are part of the new, dynamic generation of Greek cinema. They have made their mark with their short films and they will soon engage our interest with their first features. Some of them are already under production and others will soon begin.

Also, the Agora, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival's Market, is presenting Greek and Balkan Works in Progress. These screenings will be held during the Crossroads Co-Production Forum so as to benefit as much as possible from the vast variety of industry professionals present during that time.