Every year, the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) focuses on a different artistic theme, which then acts as the guide for making the selection. For its 59^th edition (1-11 November), the TIFF has picked up the theme of Caritas Romana (Roman Charity). Inspired by the story of Pero, a woman who secretly breastfeeds her father, Cimon, who has been sentenced to death by starvation, the scene has been reimagined in various art forms, predominantly in paintings from the 17^th and 18^th centuries.

The 15 films selected in the international competition are directed by up-and-coming debutant and sophomore filmmakers and will be setting their sights on the Golden Alexander. European co-productions have the lion’s share, with 11 titles in the line-up, while three of them are Greek.

The selected productions include two titles from Cannes’ Un Certain Regard – the Best Screenplay winner, Sofia [+lire aussi :
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interview : Meryem Benm'Barek
fiche film] by Meryem Benm' Barek (France/Belgium/Qatar), and The Harvesters [+lire aussi :
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interview : Etienne Kallos
fiche film] by Etienne Kallos (South Africa/France/Poland/Greece) – as well as North American successes such as the Tribeca winner Smuggling Hendrix [+lire aussi :
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interview : Marios Piperides
fiche film] by Marios Piperides (Cyprus/Germany/Greece), the Sundance hits Holiday [+lire aussi :
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interview : Victoria Carmen Sonne
fiche film] by Isabella Eklöf (Denmark/Netherlands/Sweden), The Guilty [+lire aussi :
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interview : Gustav Möller
fiche film] by Gustav Möller (Denmark) and We the Animals by Jeremiah Zagar (USA), and the Toronto-premiered Her Job [+lire aussi :
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interview : Nikos Labôt
fiche film] by Nikos Labôt (Greece/France/Serbia). Two Locarno winners will also be taking part: the Special Mention recipient Ray & Liz [+lire aussi :
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interview : Richard Billingham
fiche film] by Richard Billingham (UK) and Eva Trobisch’s All Good [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (Germany), the winner of the First Feature Award. Venice’s Orizzonti winner Manta Ray [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Phuttiphong Aroonpheng (Thailand/France/China) and Elsa Amiel’s debut, Pearl [+lire aussi :
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interview : Elsa Amiel
fiche film] (France/Switzerland), will also get an airing. The selection is topped off by the national premiere of The Waiter [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Steve Krikris (Greece), the international premiere of Meili by Zhou Zhou (Taiwan), the European premiere of Alex Moratto’s Socrates (Brazil) and Chained for Life by Aaron Schimberg (USA).

The 59^th TIFF will open with the Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-Eda (Japan) and will close with the Caméra d'Or-awarded Girl [+lire aussi :
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interview : Lukas Dhont
fiche film] by Lukas Dhont (Belgium/Netherlands). Four more titles will be screened out of competition: Touch Me Not [+lire aussi :
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interview : Adina Pintilie
fiche film] by Adina Pintilie (Romania/Germany/Czech Republic/Bulgaria/France), Too Late to Die Young [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Dominga Sotomayor (Chile/Brazil/Argentina/Netherlands/Qatar), Sauvage [+lire aussi :
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interview : Camille Vidal-Naquet
fiche film] by Camille Vidal-Naquet (France) and A Land Imagined [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Yeo Siew Hua (Singapore/France/Netherlands).

For the Greek Film Festival of the 59^th TIFF, 12 established and first-time filmmakers will compete in the First Run and Beyond Borders sections for the independent awards handed out by the festival. First Run comprises Free Subject [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Stella Theodorakis, Holy Boom [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Maria Lafi, Magic Skin [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Konstantinos Samaras, The Mountain Tears [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Stelios Charalampopoulos, Refuge II: The Ice Path by Christos Nikoleris, Scopophilia [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Natalia Lampropoulou and Ilektra Aggeletopoulou, Still River [+lire aussi :
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interview : Angelos Frantzis
fiche film] by Angelos Frantzis, The Night of Saint Anthony [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Thanassis Skroubelos and The Right Pocket of the Robe [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Yannis Lapatas. Beyond Borders includes Night Out [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Stratos Tzitzis, Pause [+lire aussi :
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interview : Tonia Mishiali
fiche film] by Tonia Mishiali and Sunrise in Kimmeria by Simon Farmakas.

One of the best-established sections of the TIFF, Balkan Survey, curated for the last 25 years by Dimitris Kerkinos, will present 15 films from the region that have been successful during the year at various international film festivals: Ága [+lire aussi :
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interview : Milko Lazarov
fiche film] by Milko Lazarov (Bulgaria/Germany/France), Alice T. [+lire aussi :
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interview : Radu Muntean
fiche film] by Radu Muntean (Romania/Sweden/France), Butterflies [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Tolga Karaçelik (Turkey), Cold November [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ismet Sijarina
fiche film] by Ismet Sijarina (Kosovo/Albania/Macedonia), "I Do Not Care If We Go Down in History as Barbarians" [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] by Radu Jude (Romania/Czech Republic/France/Bulgaria/Germany), Lemonade [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ioana Uricaru
fiche film] by Ioana Uricaru (Romania/Germany/Sweden/Canada), The Load [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ognjen Glavonić
fiche film] by Ognjen Glavonić (Serbia/France/Croatia/Iran/Qatar), Sibel [+lire aussi :
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interview : Çağla Zencirci and Guillau…
fiche film] by Çagla Zencirci and Guillaume Giovanetti (Turkey/France/Germany/Luxemburg), and You Have the Night [+lire aussi :
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interview : Ivan Salatić
fiche film] by Ivan Salatić (Montenegro/Serbia/Qatar). Also, the sequel to Stere Gulea’s 1980s classic,  Moromete Family: The Edge of Time [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], will enjoy its world premiere. At a tribute entitled “Before the Wave Breaks”, Balkan Survey will screen eight iconic Romanian films that date from before 2001, directed by the predecessors of New Romanian Cinema.

Finally, Spanish filmmaker Jaime Rosales, Dutch director Nanouk Leopold, and Chilean visual artists-filmmakers Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña will be honoured in the tributes of the 59^th TIFF, and a special tribute dedicated to Greek queer cinema is also being organised, including the screening of 38 rare feature-length and short films.