The 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (March 7th to 17th), complete with 250 international documentaries, has announced its award winners.
There were 12 documentaries in the international section, competing for three awards. The prestigious Golden Alexander went to My Stolen Planet by director Farahnaz Sharifi and the Silver Alexander to Lidia Duda’s Forest. The jury gave Elina Psykou’s documentary Stray Bodies a Special Mention. This Greek, Swiss, Italian and Bulgarian co-production focuses on Europeans who have had to go abroad to access fundamental rights. In particular the film follows a young female student who goes from Malta to Italy for a voluntary termination of pregnancy.
Another of the Festival’s principal competitions, “Film Forward”, presented films by young directors challenging genre conventions. Among the 11 documentaries in that category, the Golden Alexander went to Reas by Lola Arias, the Silver Alexander to Jules Rosskam’s Desire Lines and a Special Mention to Avant-drag! by Fil Ieropoulos.
During the Agora professional meetings the best projects in development also won awards, with Best Documentary going to If These Stones Could Talk by Palestinian director Hana Elias.
Sources: Cineuropa, Thessaloniki Film Festival
