These are the films we will see in the International Competition, the Newcomers section, with directors signing their first or second film, and Film Forward with films “that articulate a new and daring cinematic language”. Among them are 9 Greek films that claim the Golden Alexander.
In the International Competition section we meet Elina Psykou’s “Stray Bodies”, a film that follows four women, who seek bodily autonomy in a Europe where “you are allowed to travel, work, consume freely but not necessarily live or die as you wish”.
Marianna Economou signs “Unwanted”, a dark story of hundreds of tuberculosis patients who died without anyone looking for them and comes to light after 80 years, through their belongings and the search for their relatives. Also, Babis Makridis presents “Uncklickable” which introduces us to the world of digital advertising fraud through testimonials, while at the same time exploring the role of large technology companies.
The International Competition section of the Festival also includes “Forest” by Lydia Duda, which presents the daily life of a family living in the heart of the oldest forest in Europe, on the border of Poland and Belarus, which changes radically when refugees, expelled from their countries, they find shelter a breath away from home.
Also in the same category is Enrique Sanchez Lance’s “Pol Pot Dancing,” about a top dancer in Cambodia’s royal court who lovingly raises her husband’s little brother as her own son. Years later she discovers that her stepson is none other than the bloodthirsty dictator Pol Pot. In “Two Strangers Trying Not To Kill Each Other” by Jacob Perlmacher and Mano Ouimet we follow the quarrel of an elderly couple of artists, Maggie and Joel, after an accident by Maggie that upsets the balance in their relationship and in “Nocturnes” by Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan follow conservationist Mansi on an expedition to one of the most spectacular places on the planet, the Himalayan forests. The International Competition section includes twelve films.
Finally, in the “Film Forward” section, the Golden Alexander is claimed by “Avant-Drag!” by Phil Ieropoulos, who puts ten drag performers in the spotlight who deconstruct gender, ethnicity, and identity politics, while at the same time confronting police brutality, transphobia, and racism in Greek society.
The prize is also claimed by “Protogala” by Panagiotis Papafrangos, which records the cycle of life: birth-death-rebirth, focusing its lens on the rearing of newborn amnoeriphia at the foot of Mount Pateras. In “When I meet my friends” by Yiannis Karydas, we meet Makis, a man faced with a seemingly unbearable number of personal problems that gradually lead him to a mental breakdown.
In “From Abdul to Leila” by Leila Albayati we will see the fascinating personal story of the director, who reconnects with her family after an accident that caused her to lose her memory, while “Only Godard” by Arnaud Lambert and Vincent Sorel attempts to discover the real Godard, who, hidden behind his media persona, worked tirelessly to reinvent cinema. And this section includes twelve films.
It is noted that the film that will win the Golden Alexander in the International Competition section will automatically be on the shortlist for the next season’s Oscar for Best Documentary.
New directors
In the “Newcomers” section, Tzeli Hadjidimitriou, in the documentary “Lesvia”, travels to a village on Lesvos in the 70s and tells a story about love and what it means to be accepted, while in “Panellinion” by Kostas Ataracha and Spyros Mantzavinou, we are talking about a chess cafe out of place and time in the center of Athens, a refuge for people who are suffocating in their everyday life.
Also, in “Tack” by Vania Turner, we will follow the story of Olympian Sofia Bekatorou who sparked the MeToo movement in Greece and empowered a younger athlete to break her own silence. The “Newcomers” section includes twelve films.
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