Balkan Film at the 2021 Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Abstract

The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF), which took place between November 4 and 14, this year, is a resourceful hub for cinephiles and film professionals around the world to learn about recent output from the film industries of the Balkans, as well as about its cinematic traditions. To provide a panorama of Balkan cinema, TIFF has several tools at its disposal. The Balkan Survey showcases ten relevant recent feature films from the region and a selection of shorts. In addition, it features a special tribute for a director from the region, this year for Binka Zhelyazkova. Greek films are presented in a dedicated national section, while the Meet the Neighbours competition selects from an area that includes the Balkans, the Mediterranean region, and Eastern Europe. TIFF is a well-established event, with several competitive sections, the most important ones offering Golden Alexanders. This year, the Golden Alexander for the main competition went to Softies (Samuel Teis, France, 2021), while the Golden Alexander for Meet the Neighbours to Small Body (Laura Samani, Italy-France-Slovenia, 2021). The films from the Balkans that gained prestigious awards this year were Magnetic Fields (Yorgos Goussis, Greece, 2021), which won several awards including Film Forward for ‘young and daring directors who question our ties with reality.’ Vera Dreams of the Sea (Kaltrina Krasniqi, Kosovo-North Macedonia-Albania, 2021) was awarded the Silver Alexander of Meet the Neighbours, and Celts (Milica Tomović, Serbia, 2021) won the Mermaid Award for the best LGBTQI+-themed movie. The Balkan Survey is not competitive; however, in the words of its curator Dimitris Kerkinos, it is ‘one of the salient features of TIFF’s international identity, offering a strong motive to Greek audiences, but also to foreign film professionals to catch up on the latest cinematic developments in the Balkans’. The Survey was inaugurated in 1994, shortly after TIFF became an international festival. The Survey was aimed to build bridges of dialogue between national film cultures in the Balkans and stimulate coproductions. From its launch, it assertively used the term ‘Balkan’ to mark its pool of selection and did not shy away from introducing itself as promoting not only the talent but also the traditions of the area. This year’s line-up included titles from Bulgaria, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. Kerkinos describes it as showcasing ‘films with a great stylistic and thematic diversity that bring to light major regional concerns, such as issues of women’s liberation, the refugee crisis, immigration, religion, the family, and social dynamics’.