News

Exclusive: Twelve new works including a feature-length pic from Palestinian filmmaker Laila Abbas will screen as part of the Meet The Neighbors+ competition sidebar at this year’s Thessaloniki Film Festival.

The jury for this year’s Meet The Neighbors+ comp will feature Ukrainian filmmaker Maryna Er Gorbach, actress Manal Awad, and distributor Vassilis Sourrapas.

The top prize in the Meet The Neighbors+ comp is the Golden Alexander “Michel Demopoulos” for Best Full-length Feature Film. The award comes with a 10,000-euro cash prize, which is shared equally between the producer and film director. The Silver Alexander – Best Director Award comes with a 5,000-euro cash prize.

Abbas’ Thank You for Banking With Us is a Palestine-Germany-Saudi Arabia-Qatar-Egypt co-production. The film will arrive in Greece after screening at the London Film Festival. Abbas, a filmmaker and academic, first gained international attention in 2013 with the doc feature Ice & Dust. The Thank You for...

Exclusive: The Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Agora Series, a hybrid film-series industry strand, returns this year for its sophomore outing with Paper Entertainment CEO and Tehran executive producer Julien Leroux serving as program consultant.

This year’s Agora series program will run for two extended days, starting November 4, with a focus on the creative process of series screenwriting. The schedule will feature a range of masterclass sessions from local and international series professionals. Canadian filmmaker Jeremy Podeswa will host a masterclass on the future of storytelling titled From Six Feet Under to the Top: The Evolution of Contemporary Television at the Pavlos Zannas Theatre on November 4. Podeswa — who was recently announced as the lead director of the Blade Runner 2099 mini-series at Amazon — will discuss the evolution of series content throughout the years and his personal journey in the business. Podeswa’s credits include Six Feet Under, Game of Thrones,...

Since the launch of its cash rebate in 2018, which covers up to 40 of qualifying expenditures along with 30 in tax relief, Greece has become one of Europe’s hottest filming destinations. But domestic production is surging as well, and the industry reached new heights in 2022, with the rebate scheme supporting 132 international and domestic projects.

Here’s a round-up of some of the top Greek feature films currently in the pipeline:

Buzzheart

Director: Dennis Iliadis

Producers: Amanda Livanou, Dennis Iliadis

The veteran director, who helmed the 2007 remake of Wes Craven’s “The Last House on the Left,” returns with a film that asks: If you had to make sure that someone could truly love without any moral limitations, how far would you go?

Sales: N/A

My Soul Startled

Director: Syllas Tzoumerkas

Producers: Maria Drandaki, Nadia Trevisan, Julie Paratian

The acclaimed director returns with 18 interwoven love stories of gods, titans, nuns, madmen,...

Cannes’ Critics Week winner Laura Ferrés’ debut feature The Permanent Picture is among the projects.

Cannes’ Critics Week winner Laura Ferrés’ debut feature The Permanent Picture and the new film from Tribeca winner Elina Psykou are among 14 feature projects in post-production selected for the 2022 in-person edition of the Les Arcs Film Festival Work in Progress session.

The annual industry event designed to help projects find international sales agents, distributors and festival premieres will run on Sunday, December 11 as part of the Industry Village at the 13th edition of the festival (December 11-19).

Scroll down for the full list of projects

This year,...

France’s Les Arcs Film Festival has unveiled the 14 European feature film projects that will be presented in its Works in Progress showcase as part of its industry program, running December 1-10.

The selected projects were picked out of 160 submissions this year.

The line-up includes Rossa Speranza, the second film from Italian director Annarita Zambrano, whose debut feature After The War world premiered in Cannes Un Certain Regard in 2017.

Set in the 1980s, the dark comedy revolves around a group of teenagers who meet in an institution for wayward rich kids.

Other projects in the mix include the Peruvian feature Fuga by directorial duo Mary Jiménez and Bénédicte Liénard, whose previous collaborations include the award-winning documentary By The Name Of Tania.

The Work in Progress showcase is aimed at connecting features in post-production with sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.

Twelve of the projects will compete for a €10,000 post-production prize,...