EXCLUSIVE: The Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival’s industry-focused AGORA section has selected 10 projects from 12 countries for this year’s Agora Docs in Progress sidebar alongside 4 projects from Greece for the Agora Boost program. Scroll down for the full list of projects.

The Agora Docs in Progress sidebar screens documentaries close to completion by filmmakers from Southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean regions for buyers, co-producers, festival representatives, VOD platforms, and sales agents. Recent titles from the program include Savanna and the Mountain, which premiered in Quinzaine at last year’s Cannes Film Festival; Diaries from Lebanon, which premiered in Berlin’s Panorama Dokumente sidebar; and IDFA 2022 title Notes on Displacement.

During the program, the filmmakers are mentored by In-Docs program director and Hot Docs programmer Gugi Gumilang, and Oscar-nominated filmmaker and editor Ema Ryan Yamazaki. Selected titles include Level co-directed by Dutch artist Anna Berkhof and Spanish filmmaker Carlos Mora Fuentes. There is also Six Letter From a River by Markos Holevas, who is also Head of the Greek Film Centre. 

The projects compete for the following awards: The Two Thirty-Five (2|35) Award for post-production image and sound and the Hellenic Film and Audiovisual Center’s Creative Greece Award, which comes with a 3,000 EUR cash prize and is handed to a Greek project. There is also the Neaniko Plano Subtitling Award and the 5,000 EUR Onassis Film Award for a Greek project participating in the Agora program. 

Elsewhere, Αgora Boost, the festival’s consultancy workshop, has selected four projects. Scroll down to see the projects. The program focuses on projects from Greece. Agora Boost bestows two prestigious awards upon chosen projects: The Guidance Award by Paradiddle Pictures (Denmark) and the Crew United Prize, which includes a 5-year premium membership to Crew United’s online networking platform for audiovisual professionals in Europe. This year’s counseling team features Ethnofest director Konstantinos Aivaliotis, producer Arkaitz Basterra, creative producer Ieva Ūbele, and Zeynep Güzel, Head of Doc Station at Berlinale Talents. 

The Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival will take place from March 6 – 16.

Agora Docs in Progress projects:

DEAR FUTURE

Director: Christiana Cheiranagnostaki, Production: Christiana Cheiranagnostaki – Tartaruga Films, Yorgos Tsourgiannis – Horsefly Films, Co-production: Aylin Gökmen – A Vol d’Oiseau, Greece, Switzerland

FUTURE TENSES

Director: Christos Karakepelis, Writer: Natasha Segou, Production: Maria Drandaki – Homemade Films, Co-production: Julie Paratian – SISTER Productions, Greece, France

HOME COURT

Directors: Elpida Nikou, Rodrigo Hernandez, Production: Yuri Averof, Rea Apostolides – Anemon Productions, Co-production: Maaike Neve, Esther Van Driesum – Bind Film, Victor Ede – Cinephage, Boris Despodov – Arthouse Blockbusters, Greece, Netherlands, France, Bulgaria

JANA

Director: Mohammad Reza Azadi, Production: Ali Haider – Filmkhaana, Maaria Sayed – Draw4Films, Mohammad Reza Azadi – Sarv Film, Pakistan, Italy, Iran

LEVEL

Directors: Anna Berkhof, Carlos Mora Fuentes, Production: Carlos Mora Fuentes, Spain

MAGMA

Director: Mia Bendrimia, Production: Kira Simon-Kennedy – Nazar Films, France, Algeria

SIX LETTERS FOR A RIVER

Director/Writer: Markos Holevas, Production: Leonidas Liambeys – Long Run Productions, Greece

A SONG WITHOUT HOME

Director: Rati Tsiteladze, Production: Olga Slusareva – ArtWay Film, Georgia

TOWER, SUN AND THE SEVEN OF WANDS

Director: Tanya Vikhreva, Writer: Aleksander Rodionov, Production: Maria Gavrilova – Marx Film GE, Georgia

YOU DON’T DIE TWO TIMES

Director: Ager Oueslati, Production: Raouf Oueslati, Ager Oueslati – Taswir Production Edition, Co-production: Thomas Kaske – Seera Films, Algeria, Germany

Agora Boost projects:

THE GROUNDSKEEPER

Direction: Io Chaviara & Michalis Kastanidis, Production: Alexis Anastasiadis – FRENEL, Co-production: Io Chaviara & Michalis Kastanidis – Fabula Productions, Greece

MAGIC WHISTLE

Direction: Avraam Goutzeloudis & Alexandros Katsis, Production: Photini Economopoulou – OhMyDog Productions, Greece

UNDERDOG

Direction: Dimitris Delinikolas, Production: Photini Economopoulou – OhMyDog Productions, Co-production: Dimitris Delinikolas – Emptyfilm, Greece

WHO KILLED ZACKIE OH?

Direction: Sofia Farantatou, Production: Maria Sidiropoulou – Thunderbird Production, Co-production: Nicolas Wadimoff, Annick Bouissou – AKKA films, Greece, Switzerland