The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century began in March 1999, at the dawn of the new millennium and in the middle of profound changes taking place in the information community as well as the international social arena. The rapid development of digital technology, with all this entails for artistic expression and communication, and influential multidimensional phenomena such as globalization, which marked the beginning of the 21st century, gave documentaries a creative push. New perspectives and possibilities brought the genre to the international cinematic forefront, and correspondingly established the creation of this international event uniquely suited to the genre. Something which has proven itself in practical terms by a great and immediate audience response of the (an average of 40,000 viewers annually) and the massive participation of important personalities and industry professionals from Greece and abroad.

One of the basic aims of Dimitri Eipides, the founder and artistic director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century, was to organize an institution with international prestige and scope which could function as a platform for the productive interaction of artists in the field. He also wanted the Festival to be a point of contact for Greek directors with new developments in the audiovisual sector, and to inform them on ways to exploit the opportunities offered by modern technology. The Pitching Forum organized every year in collaboration with the European Documentary Network (EDN) and the Market section are two festival activities active in this direction, decisively contributing to the enrichment of the institution and establishing it as a draw for film production professionals.

However, the greatest challenge that the festival has faced from the very moment of its inception is the object itself: the representation of reality. In an age where all the citizens of the world have - at least in theory - easy access to the means of image production and transmission of messages, the role of the documentary in education, information and entertainment appears to be catalytic. The images of social, historical, political, and more importantly human reality in the 21st century which is at the core of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, are moving, disturbing, shocking and sometimes entertaining, but they are always the starting point for adventurous explorations. These images meet every March in Thessaloniki, with an enthusiastic audience seeking to explore the human landscape in depth, and to wander through the art of the documentary.

CONTACTS

THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL - IMAGES OF THE 21st CENTURY
Address: 9 Αlexandras Avenue, GR-11473 Athens, Greece

Tel: (+30 210) 87 06 000
Fax: (+30 210) 64 48 143
email: documentary@filmfestival.gr