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Thessaloniki Head on Festival Opener ‘Maria,’ ‘Hope’ for New Generation of Greek Filmmakers and the Need to Showcase ‘Movies That Matter’
The Greek fest's 65th edition showcases films that speak about how we live now amid the threats of political violence, climate change and uncertainty.
Despite blue skies over Greece’s second city ahead of the opening ceremony, the 65th Thessaloniki Film Festival kicks off Oct. 31 under clouds of uncertainty, with the war in Ukraine raging toward its three-year anniversary and the year-old Israel-Hamas conflict spilling into neighboring countries and threatening to engulf the entire Middle East. Citing the Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis, who once observed that “when you get accustomed to the monster, you start to look alike,” Andreadakis insists that an active citizenry must be as vigilant against its own fears and biases as the threat of the perceived “other” — something in which he says cinema can play a vital role. Andreadakis, citing the Thessaloniki festival’s mission to support and promote domestic cinema, notes that this year’s participants “show the strength of our small industry” and its emergence on the global stage in the wake of the country’s crippling economic crisis.
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