12/11/2024 - Leonardo Van Dijl's Julie Keeps Quiet, and Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman's Vittoria were also among the examples of compelling storytelling taking centre stage at the awards ceremony

The 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, held from 31 October-10 November, has concluded with its awards ceremony. The "Theo Angelopoulos" Golden Alexander for Best Feature Film was awarded to Happy Holidays [+see also:
film review
interview: Scandar Copti
film profile] by Scandar Copti. The international jury, comprising filmmaker and producer Sara Driver, filmmaker Denis Côté and producer Konstantinos Kontovrakis, presented the €10,000 cash prize. The jury praised the film for “intricately weaving different narratives and perspectives that fully expose the complexity of national, gender and class dynamics that can divide societies, and for seeing the future in the face of a young woman”.

Leonardo Van Dijl won the Silver Alexander for Best Direction, along with a €5,000 prize, for Julie Keeps Quiet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leonardo van Dijl
film profile]. The jury described it as “a powerful yet quiet psychological film – beautifully constructed, performed and shot”. The film also received the Hellenic Parliament’s “Human Values” Award for its masterful exploration of a teenage tennis player confronting personal trauma and breaking her silence following the suicide of a fellow athlete and the departure of their coach.

Mahmood Bakri received the Best Actor Award for his compelling performance in To a Land Unknown [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mahdi Fleifel
film profile], directed by Mahdi Fleifel. This film also resonated strongly with audiences, earning itself the Fischer Audience Award. In addition, the Best Actress Award was given to Joana Santos for her performance in On Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Carreira
film profile], directed by Laura Carreira.

In the Meet the Neighbours+ competition, Vittoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alessandro Cassigoli and Ca…
film profile] by Alessandro Cassigoli and Casey Kauffman was awarded the Golden Alexander – Michel Dimopoulos, along with a €10,000 prize. The jury praised the film for its “surprising, moving and innovative approach to the sensitive subject of adoption, which caught us completely off guard, and moved both the audience and us to tears”. The jury included actress Manal Awad, filmmaker Maryna Er Gorbach and distributor Vassilis Sourapas.

The Best Director Award “Silver Alexander”, along with a €5,000 cash prize, was awarded to Laila Abbas for Thank You for Banking with Us! [+see also:
film review
film profile]. The jury commended Abbas for skilfully narrating a female-driven story set against the backdrop of Palestine’s patriarchal and political landscape, blending an intriguing tone with unexpected humour that plays cleverly with audience expectations.

Volodymyr Kravchuk won the Best Actor gong for his role in U Are the Universe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavlo Ostrikov
film profile] by Pavlo Ostrikov, recognised for his remarkable solo performance that deeply immersed the audience in the human journey of love and experience. The Best Actress Award went to Antonia Zegers for her turn in The Exiles [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Belén Funes, praised for convincingly conveying a mother's tough choices with warmth and emotional depth. A Special Mention was given to Elvira Lara, also for her role in The Exiles, acknowledging her powerful depiction of a young girl striking a balance between innocence and resilience. Additionally, another Special Mention was awarded to the entire cast of Killerwood [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Christos Massalas, honouring their collective effort and vibrant, creative energy that brought the film to life.

In the >>Film Forward Competition section, Matthew Rankin's Universal Language was awarded the Golden Alexander for being “an exceptional film with a truly original idea that mixes times, spaces and cultures, with a unique cinematic language and sense of humour”. The Silver Alexander was bestowed upon Noaz Deshe's Xoftex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile] for “depicting the chaos and intense daily life of immigrants in the jungle of a refugee camp with a powerful cinematic language”. A Special Mention was given to Daniel Bolda's Maldives.

Here is the complete list of winners at the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival:

International Competition

Best Feature Film Award - “Theo Angelopoulos” Golden Alexander
Happy Holidays [+see also:
film review
interview: Scandar Copti
film profile] - Scandar Copti (Palestine/Germany/France/Italy/Qatar)

Best Direction Award - Silver Alexander
Julie Keeps Quiet [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Leonardo van Dijl
film profile] - Leonardo Van Dijl (Belgium/Sweden)

Best Actor Award
Mahmood Bakri - To a Land Unknown [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Mahdi Fleifel
film profile] (UK/Palestine/France/Greece/Netherlands/Germany/Qatar/Saudi Arabia)

Best Actress Award
Joana Santos - On Falling [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Laura Carreira
film profile] (UK/Portugal)

Meet the Neighbours+ Competition

Best Feature Film Award - “Michel Dimopoulos” Golden Alexander
Vittoria [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alessandro Cassigoli and Ca…
film profile] - Alessandro Cassigoli, Casey Kauffman (Italy)

Best Direction Award - Silver Alexander
Thank You for Banking with Us! [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Laila Abbas (Palestine/Germany/Saudi Arabia/Qatar/Egypt)

Best Actor Award
Volodymyr Kravchuk - U Are the Universe [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Pavlo Ostrikov
film profile] (Ukraine/Belgium)

Best Actress Award
Antonia Zegers - The Exiles [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Spain/Chile)
Special Mentions
Elvira Lara - The Exiles
Entire cast - Killerwood [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Greece)

>>Film Forward Competition

Best Feature Film Award - Golden Alexander
Universal Language - Matthew Rankin (Canada)

Silver Alexander
Xoftex [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Noaz Deshe
film profile] - Noaz Deshe (Germany/France)
Special Mention
Maldives - Daniel Bolda (Greece)

Immersive: All Around Cinema - Golden Alexander
Play Life - Žilvinas Naujokas, Vilius Petrauskas, Mantas Pronckus, Donatas Ulvydas (Lithuania)
Special Mention
Journey of Piraeus - Filippos Tsitos (Greece)

Podcast Competition

Podcast Award
Friends in Liminal Spaces - Anastasia Sotiropoulos (Greece)
Special Mention
A Story Told by the Mountains - MASH (Christos Kapenis & Katerina Anastasiou) (Greece)

Other awards

Mermaid Award
All Shall Be Well - Ray Yeung (Hong Kong)

Smart7 Award
It’s Not My Film - Maria Zbąska (Poland)

FIPRESCI awards

Best Film in the International Competition
Arcadia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Yorgos Zois
film profile] - Yorgos Zois (Greece/Bulgaria/USA)

Best Greek Film Premiered at Thessaloniki
Riviera [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Orfeas Peretzis (Greece/France)

Greek Association of Film Critics’ Award
Meat [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Dimitris Nakos
film profile] - Dimitris Nakos (Greece)

Human Values Award of the Hellenic Parliament
Julie Keeps Quiet - Leonardo Van Dijl

FOS Actor Award
Yannis Karampampas - Wishbone [+see also:
film review
film profile] (Greece/France/Germany/Cyprus)

FOS Actress Award (ex aequo)
Eva Samioti, Myrto Meitani-Kastrinaki - Riviera

Alpha Bank Accessibility Award (ex aequo)
Leonard Mink, Ben Kermer – Tremolo (Germany)

ERT Original Music Award
Yiannis Veslemes - Maldives

Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center – Creative Greece Award
Kostis Charamountanis - Kyuka - Before Summer's End [+see also:
film review
interview: Kostis Charamountanis
film profile] (Greece/North Macedonia)

Hellenic Film Commission Best Location Award
Marios Dimopoulos, Niki Saliagopoulou - Riviera

JF Costopoulos Foundation Award
Arcadia - Yorgos Zois

Finos Film Award
Kyuka - Before Summer's End - Kostis Charamountanis

WIFT GR Award
Sugar Island [+see also:
film review
interview: Johanné Gómez Terrero
film profile] - Johanné Gómez Terrero (Dominican Republic/Spain)

Crew United Award
Dimitris Nakos - Meat

Youth jury awards

Best Feature Film Award
Kyuka - Before Summer's End - Kostis Charamountanis

Special Youth Jury Award
Meat - Dimitris Nakos