13/03/2023 - The Voice and Blue Bag Life have received the other Golden Alexanders in their respective sections at the biggest documentary festival in Greece

The 25^th edition of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (TiDF) came to a close by announcing its award winners, after running from 2-12 March. In light of the tragic deadly Tempe train crash, all festival events, including the opening and closing ceremonies, were cancelled as a sign of respect.

The jury of the International Competition Feature Length section – comprising Rea Apostolides, producer and co-founder of the CineDoc network; Alin Tasciyan, film critic and deputy secretary of FIPRESCI; and Jeffrey Winter, co-executive director at The Film Collaborative – picked Under the Sky of Damascus [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Heba Khaled, Talal Derki and Ali Wajeeh as the winner of the Golden Alexander Award for Best Documentary, which comes with a cash prize of €12,000. The gong also secures the film a place on the selection shortlist for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. According to the jury, the film “precisely describes what lies beneath the major problems of humanity: deeply rooted gender violence and patriarchal oppression”.

The Silver Alexander, worth €5,000, went to Tünde Skovrán’s Who I Am Not [+see also:
film review
film profile], which “boldly redefines the meaning of being born female and male, through a highly emotional and powerful cinematic journey”. It also picked up the Mermaid Award for the best LGBTQI-themed film and the WIFT GR Award. Furthermore, Narrow Path to Happiness by Kata Oláh received a Special Mention, with the jury describing it as “a delightful love story that springs from the most unexpected of places to joyfully challenge the conventions of family, gender, culture, fame and musical theatre”.

In the Newcomers International Competition, which included debut and sophomore features, the Golden Alexander – Dimitri Eipides Award, accompanied by a cash prize of €10,000, was bestowed upon The Voice [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Dominika Montean-Pańków. The jury members – filmmaker Ditte Haarløv Johnsen, screenwriter Katerina Kaklamani and film curator Karen McMullen – underlined that the director “delivers an intimate examination of the quest to find one’s place in the world”. The Silver Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of €4,000, went to In the Sky of Nothingness with the Least by Christos Andrianopoulos, an “intimate portrayal of an elderly couple in the final chapter of their lives”, which also received the Greek Film Centre Award. A Special Mention was bestowed upon Ladies in Waiting by Ioanna Tsoucala, for its “fresh perspective on destigmatising mental illness”.

In the »Film Forward International Competition, which showcases the work of new and daring directors, the jury – comprising scriptwriter Alexandra Katsarou, visual artist Tim Leyendekker and documentarian Fabrizio Maltese – gave the Golden Alexander, which comes with €6,000 in cash, to Blue Bag Life [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Alex Fry, Rebecca Lloyd Evans and Lisa Selby, “a raw yet tender film depicting an intergenerational struggle to transform addiction into connection”. The Silver Alexander, accompanied by a €3,000 cash prize, was granted to Dogwatch [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Gregoris Rentis, for “its profound exploration of stereotypical masculinity through a powerful lens and a form that blurs the lines between perception and reality”.

Furthermore, in the Immersive: All Around Cinema competition section, the Immersive Golden Alexander went to the film Darkening by Ondřej Maravec (see the news), for “its intimate, poetic and deeply affecting personal portrayal of depression, and the author's personal struggles and strategies of fighting mental illness”. Finally, the Podcast Award was bestowed upon From a Wonder to a Trauma by Constantinos Vrettos, as its “well-balanced script conveys the journey from wonder to trauma”.

Here is the full list of award winners at the 25^th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival:

International Competition

Golden Alexander
Under the Sky of Damascus [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] - Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh (Denmark/Germany/USA/Syria)

Silver Alexander
Who I Am Not [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Tünde Skovrán (Romania/Canada)
Special Mention
Narrow Path to Happiness - Kata Oláh (Hungary/USA)

Newcomers International Competition

Golden Alexander - Dimitri Eipides
The Voice - Dominika Montean-Pańków (Poland)

Silver Alexander
In the Sky of Nothingness with the Least - Christos Andrianopoulos (Greece)
Special Mention
Ladies in Waiting - Ioanna Tsoucala (Greek)

»Film Forward International Competition

Golden Alexander
Blue Bag Life - Alex Fry, Rebecca Lloyd Evans, Lisa Selby (UK)

Silver Alexander
Dogwatch [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Gregoris Rentis (Greece/France)

Immersive: All Around Cinema Competition

Immersive Golden Alexander
Darkening - Ondřej Maravec (Czech Republic/Germany)
Special Mention
The Man Who Couldn’t Leave - Singing Chen (Taiwan)

Podcast Award
From a Wonder to a Trauma - Constantinos Vrettos (Greece)
Special Mention
Halcyone - Phaedra Chatzopoulou (Greece)

ENS Louis Lumière Award – French Institute of Upcoming Audio Documentary Creator
Dimitris Roidis - A City Walk (Greece)

Mermaid Award
Who I Am Not - Tünde Skovrán
Special Mention
Leon - Wojciech Gostomczyk (Poland)

Human Values Award of the Hellenic Parliament
Red Herring [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Kit Vincent (UK/Switzerland)

Greek Film Centre Award
In the Sky of Nothingness with the Least - Christos Andrianopoulos

Amnesty International Award
Ithaka: A Fight to Free Julian Assange - Ben Lawrence (Australia/UK)

FIPRESCI Award (International Competition)
I Like It Here - Ralph Arlyck (USA)

FIPRESCI Award (Best Greek Film)
Kristos, The Last Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Giulia Amati
film profile] - Giulia Amati (Italy/France/Greece)

Greek Association of Film Critics’ Award
Queen of the Deuce [+see also:
interview: Valerie Kontakos
film profile] - Valerie Kontakos (Greece/Canada)

WIFT (Women in Film & Television) Award
Who I Am Not - Tünde Skovrán

WWF Greece Award
Mighty Afrin: In the Time of Floods - Angelos Rallis (Greece/France/Germany)

Youth Jury Awards

Best Greek Film Award
Kristos, The Last Child - Giulia Amati

Special Jury Prize
In the Sky of Nothingness with the Least - Christos Andrianopoulos