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 [+lee también:
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The Silver Alexander, worth €5,000, went to Tünde Skovrán’s Who I Am Not [+lee también:
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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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] 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 [+lee también:
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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 [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - Heba Khaled, Talal Derki, Ali Wajeeh (Denmark/Germany/USA/Syria)

Silver Alexander
Who I Am Not [+lee también:
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ficha de la película] - 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 [+lee también:
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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 [+lee también:
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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 [+lee también:
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entrevista: Giulia Amati
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Greek Association of Film Critics’ Award
Queen of the Deuce [+lee también:
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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