Sofia Exarchou’s Animal has won the €10,000 Golden Alexander-Theo Angelopoulos prize for best film at the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF, November 2-12), the first time in 30 years a Greek production has won the top prize.
The film’s lead actress Dimitra Vlagopoulou also won the best actress award ex aequo with Joanna Arnow for US production The Feeling That The Time For Doing Something Has Passed, which she also directed.
Vlagopoulou had previously won best actress at Locarno where the film had its world premiere.
The Greek, Austrian, Romanian, Cypriot, Bulgarian co-production follows a group of women entertainers spending a wild and violent summer working at a Greek island resort. World sales are handled by Shellac.
Arnow also won the €5,000 best director award for The Feeling… a US production which follows a single young New Yorker in her gloomy job, daily life and dealing with her Jewish family. The film premiered at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and is sold by French outlet Loco Film.
The jury of the international competition, reserved to first and second films, comprised former Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick, Belgian producer Diana Elbaum and Greek film director Elina Psykou.
Best screenplay award went to Zero Graton for French, Belgian project The Lost Boys, which follows a teenager to be released from a youth detention centre. It is sold by Indie Sales.
Greece’s Kostas Koronaios won best actor for his part as a frustrated middle-age taxi driver in Sergios Pascho’s The Last Taxi Driver.
A controversial change this year was the decision to not unveil the awards during the traditional closing gala ceremony - instead they were handed out at a smaller event.
Two separate juries picked the winners for the Meet the Neighbours + and the Film Forward sections.
The Meet the Neighbours + prize for best film worth €10,000, which was renamed in memory of the late former festival director Michel Demopoulos this year, was awarded to Ama Gloria by Marie Amachoukeli. The Silver Alexander for best director (worth €5,000) went to Notes On A Summer by Spain’s Diego Llorente.
The Film Forward Golden Alexander (€8,000) went to Lois Patiño’s Samsara, while All Dirt Roads Taste Of Salt by Raven Jackson received the Silver Alexander (€4,000).
The Fipresci awards went to Naqqash Khalid’s UK title In Camera in the international competition and Murderess by Eva Nathena in the Greek section.
Monica Bellucci, Alexander Payne, Volker Schlondorff, Jeremy Podeswa and local director Nikos Perakis were among those presents receiving tributes and homages.
Industry winners
Thessaloniki’s industry section once again received a boost thanks to the Agora TV Series strand, which was introduced last year.
Oscar-nominated Bosnian filmmaker Jasmila Zbanic’s crime drama series I Know Your Soul, which was presented at the strand, has been acquired by HBO Max for Central and Eastern Europe.
Greek directors Maria Hatzakou and Alexandra Matheou’s Stringa won the Crossroads Co-Production Forum award. Produced by Maria Hatzakou of Merricat, the film will receive full post-production image and sound services from Greek company 2/35.
Another Greek project, Friends, Birthdays, Murder etc by Lida Vartzioti and Dimitris Tsakaleas received the CNC-backed €8,000 award for script development.
The ArteKino International Award worth €6,000 went to I Matter by Romania’s Alina Șerban, while the Greener Consultancy Award worth €7,000 was awarded to Kesmat Elsayed’s Egyptian, German co-production And Me Too.
The Cannes Producer’s Network award was given to Anna Szijártó of Kinomoto Kft, producer of Hungarian project Lady Sunshine by Anna Korom. The Onassis foundation Film Award worth €10,000 was granted to the Greek project Maldives by Daniel Bolda.
The Work in Progress winners included Maldives, which collected the ERT (Greek Public TV) award worth €2,000.
The Agora awards in total were worth €200,000 in cash and in services.
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