Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Terence Davies, Walter Salles, Gustavo Santaolalla, Lita Stantic are among the top names set to be present at the upcoming Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Nov 14-23).

The principal tribute of the 49th edition of the Greekfestival, headed by Despina Mouzaki, will be dedicated to two-time Cannes Golden Palm winners Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The homage includes a Masterclass, the publication of a monograph on their work and the award of an honorary Golden Alexander.

The tribute is set to showcase all their films including their shorts Il Court .il Court le Monde (1987) and Dans l'Obscurite (2007) as well their two very rarely seen first features Falsch (1987) and Je Pense a Vous (1992) down to their Cannes Golden Palm awarded The Promise and Rosetta.

The up-and-coming Albanian native young actress Arta Dobroshi, who drew raves in Cannes for her part in the Dardennes' latest film, Lorna's Silence, will attend the premiere of the film in Thessaloniki.

The famed UK film director, actor and novelist Terence Davies - whose films have never been theatrically released in Greece - will also be the object of a year-long prepared complete retrospective including this year's Cannes highlight Of Time and City, his homage to his native town of Liverpool.

Presented by the TIFF official parallel section Independence Days, steered by Lefteris Adamidis, the retrospective will be introduced by Davies accompanied by his longtime collaborator and producer Olivia Stewart. They will conduct a Masterclass and Davies will be presented with an honorary Golden Alexander.

Independence Days will also present a retrospective of the work of Senegalese Ousmane Sembene, an icon of African cinema and literature who died in 2007 at the age of 84.

The retrospective, including his groundbreaking La Noire De (Black Girl, 1966), down to his latest Moolaade (2004) will be introduced by his son, film director Alain Sembene. He will discuss the legacy of his father's work and will present the plans for the Ousmane Sembene Museum/Foundation in Dakar, Senegal set to function as a Research Center in support of African cinema.

Argentinean composer Gustavo Santaolalla, a two-time Academy Award winner for the soundtracks of Brokeback Mountain and Babel, will offer a Masterclass on music for film and to be honoured with a Golden Alexander.

Santaolalla will be accompanied in Thessaloniki by Walter Salles. They will present the latter's new film Linha de Passe, co-directed with Daniela Thomas for which Santaolalla created the musical backdrop.

They will be joined in Thessaloniki by the legendary Argentinian producer Lita Stantic (Lucrecia Martel's La Cienaga and La Niña Santa, Diego Lerman's Tan de Repente, Pablo Trapero's Mundo Grúa) to present their joint co-producing effort, Cafe de los Maestros (2008). The feature length documentary by Miguel Kohan is about a group of legendary Argentinean tango musicians who perform in an once-in-a-lifetime reunion concert in Buenos Aires.

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