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INDUSTRY Greece

Thessaloniki commits to market events

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Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) organisers have pledged to continue helping industry professionals not only exhibit but also market their work. TIFF has created half a dozen market and development events in its two major yearly actions, the feature film extravaganza in late autumn and the Documentary Festival in March.

During the recent documentary festival (March 16-25), TIFF director Despina Mouzaki admitted that while the Festival has already become one of Europe's elite destinations for film exhibition, the growth of its industry offerings can help it become a must-see event.

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It is indeed the documentary festival that has paved the way. Its Doc Market, already in its ninth year, started off as a place to see and buy only Balkan productions but is now a truly international event. This year, 56 buyers from 47 countries were able to select from 480 available films.

The main festival's market, Agora, is relatively younger but its prospects seem to be greater. Following the success of its inaugural 2005 edition, TIFF'S second Agora, held during the 2006 festival last November, exceeded expectations with more than 400 films on offer.

"Obviously, we can’t give any numbers yet with regard to the deals made at both events but things went really well, perhaps more than we thought they would", said Elpida Kallinteri, head of the Doc Market.

Agora is part of TIFF's Industry Centre, a set of events during the festival dedicated to sales and development. It includes the co-production forum Crossroads and the Balkan Fund, a script development initiative that has identified and assisted important films from the region in the past, including Berlinale Golden Bear winner Grbavica [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Barbara Albert
interview: Jasmila Zbanic
film profile
]
by Jasmila Zbanic (see Focus).

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