16/03/2026 - At No Cost and Dear Future have received the other Golden Alexanders in their respective sections at the biggest documentary festival in Greece

The 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (TiDF) has concluded with the announcement of its award recipients, following its run from 5-15 March. The jury for the International Competition Feature Length section, consisting of film editor Dana Bunescu, curator and producer Caroline Libresco, and producer Yorgos Papalios, picked Closure [+see also:
film review
film profile] by Michał Marczak as the winner of the Golden Alexander Award for Best Documentary. This accolade includes a cash prize of €12,000 and positions the movie as a contender for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. It was described by the jury as “a film that mobilises cinema to the fullest degree, giving us the experience of being one with the interior life of a father in an impossible state, and making something radically present out of absence”.

The €5,000 Silver Alexander was awarded to Birds of War by Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak, a picture about “the crucial role that everyday citizens play in protecting our humanity, defending democracy, and insisting on love in the face of intractable violence, hate and war”. The documentary also received the FIPRESCI Award of the International Competition, the WIFT GR Award and the Human Rights in Motion Award. Additionally, The Beauty of Errors by Jukka Kärkkäinen and Around Paradise [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Yulia Lokshina received Special Mentions.

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 At No Cost by Mary Bouli. The jury members – documentary filmmaker Melody Gilbert, filmmaker and editor Farahnaz Sharifi, and filmmaker Chryssa Tzelepi – highlighted that the film is “an intimate, cinematic exploration of a young woman who tries to take control of her body”, following her journey “from innocence to understanding how to protect and care for her body, despite the medical system’s indifference”. The Silver Alexander, accompanied by a cash prize of €4,000, went to Replica by Chouwa Liang, which, according to the jury, explores loneliness, societal expectations for women and the rise of virtual relationships through an empathic and non-judgemental lens.

In the »Film Forward International Competition, which showcases the work of new and daring directors, the jury – visual artist Aikaterini Gegisian, architect and cultural programmer Sandra Pires, and programmer Alberto Valverde – gave the Golden Alexander, which comes with €6,000 in cash, to Dear Future by Christiana Cheiranagnostaki, praising its “systematic exploration of archives as Western colonial structures and its formal connection of fragments in the current moment of hypervisuality”. The Silver Alexander, accompanied by a €3,000 cash prize, was granted to Level by Carlos Mora Fuentes and Anna Berkhof, recognised for its visual poetry and its tender connection to nature.

Furthermore, in the Immersive: All Around Cinema competition section, the Immersive Golden Alexander went to Another Place by Domenico Singha Pedroli, which the jury praised for fully exploiting the immersive medium through its sound, visuals and carefully crafted interactions. Finally, the Podcast Award was bestowed upon The Last Projectionist by Nikos Theodosiou, a work dedicated to the fading profession of cinema projectionists and the unseen labour behind film screenings.

Here is the full list of award winners at the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival:

International Competition

Golden Alexander
Closure [+see also:
film review
film profile] - Michał Marczak (Poland)

Silver Alexander
Birds of War - Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak (UK/Syria/Lebanon)

Special Mentions
The Beauty of Errors - Jukka Kärkkäinen (Finland/Norway/Sweden)
Around Paradise [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Yulia Lokshina (Germany)

Newcomers International Competition

Golden Alexander - Dimitri Eipides
At No Cost - Mary Bouli (Greece)

Silver Alexander
Replica - Chouwa Liang (Australia/France/China)

»Film Forward International Competition

Golden Alexander
Dear Future - Christiana Cheiranagnostaki (Greece/Switzerland)

Silver Alexander
Level - Carlos Mora Fuentes, Anna Berkhof (Spain)

Immersive Golden Alexander
Another Place - Domenico Singha Pedroli (France)

Podcast Award
The Last Projectionist - Nikos Theodosiou (Greece)
Special Mention
Lightly My Beautiful Mermaid - Yorgia Karidi, Miss BwO (Greece)

ENS Louis Lumière – French Institute of Greece Award for an Up-and-coming Audio Documentary Creator
Panagiota Vagiou - December Headlines (Greece)

Mermaid Award
Barbara Forever - Brydie O'Connor (USA)
Special Mention
A Song Without Home - Rati Tsiteladze (Georgia/USA/Denmark)

Alpha Bank Accessibility Award
Echoes of Beneath - Vasilis Barachanos (Greece)

EKKOMED Award
Stories of a Lie - Olia Verriopoulou (Greece)

ERT Award
EXILE(S), Tales From an Island - Yorgos Iliopoulos (Greece)

Human Rights in Motion Award
Birds of War - Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak

Special Mentions
EXILE(S), Tales From an Island - Yorgos Iliopoulos
Around Paradise - Yulia Lokshina

Human Values Award of the Hellenic Parliament
La Pietà - Rafa Molés, Pepe Andreu (Spain/Iceland/Lithuania)

Amnesty International Award
American Doctor - Poh Si Teng (USA/Palestine/Montserrat/Denmark)
Honourable Mention
Scarlet Girls [+see also:
trailer
film profile] - Paula Cury (Dominican Republic/Germany/Mexico)

“City Stories” Municipality of Thessaloniki Award
Bugboy - Lucas Paleocrassas (Greece)

FIPRESCI Award (International Competition)
Birds of War - Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak

FIPRESCI Award (Best Greek Film)
EXILE(S), Tales From an Island - Yorgos Iliopoulos

Greek Association of Film Critics’ Award
Bugboy - Lucas Paleocrassas

WIFT (Women in Film & Television) Award
Birds of War - Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak

WWF Greece Award
Time and Water - Sara Dosa (USA/Iceland)

Youth Jury awards

Best Greek Film Award
Where Shadows Rest - Marianna Economou (Greece)

Special Jury Prize
Born Twice - Stelios Kouloglou (Greece)

Fischer Audience Awards

“Peter Wintonick” Audience Award for an International Film Over 50 Minutes
American Doctor - Poh Si Teng

Audience Award for a Film Under 50 Minutes
Square of the Unseen - Theodore Selekos (Greece)

Audience Award for a Greek Film Over 50 Minutes
Echoes of Beneath - Vasilis Barachanos

Audience Award for a Film in a Competitive Section
Sentient - Tony Jones (Australia)

Fischer Platform+ Audience Award for a Greek Film
Single Headlocks - Panagiotis Papoutsis (Greece)