15/02/2024 - Five Greek projects at various stages of development will find a home in the Agora Lab, while the Meet the Future segment turns its attention to five up-and-coming Czech directors

The Stuff We Are Made Of by Siamak Etemadi, one of the Agora Lab projects

Agora, the industry segment of the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival, takes place this year from 8-16 March. It continues its dedication to empowering the local and regional documentary filmmaking community through two new initiatives. These consist of the Agora Lab, a specialised workshop designed for Greek filmmakers, and Meet the Future, a platform highlighting emerging talents from the wider region.

Agora Lab is a tailored consultancy workshop dedicated to empowering filmmakers at all stages of development, providing expert guidance and advice. Focused on projects from Greece, selected through the application process of the Thessaloniki Pitching Forum and Docs in Progress, Agora Lab explores themes of international significance. Evolving continuously, Agora Lab rewards selected projects with the Guidance Award by Paradiddle Pictures (Denmark) and the newly introduced Crew United Prize, which includes a complimentary five-year premium membership to Crew United, the online networking platform for audiovisual professionals in Europe. Additionally, in collaboration with Pitch the Doc, an online hub nurturing the documentary film industry, Agora Lab offers an exclusive digital showroom and dedicated space for participating projects. Through these initiatives, Agora Lab aims to foster innovation and collaboration within the filmmaking community. The counselling team comprises: Konstantinos Aivaliotis, producer and festival director at Ethnofest; Arkaitz Basterra, member of the investor’s committee at Moby Dick Film Capital; Ieva Ūbele, creative producer at Baltic Balkan Productions; and guest speaker Selin Murat, markets manager at IDFA.

Here is the full line-up of Agora Lab projects:

Exile(s) - Giorgos Iliopoulos
Producer: Giorgos Iliopoulos
Co-producer: Sofia Exarchou

Little Paradise Street - Christos Adrianopoulos
Producers: Antigoni Kapaka, Vassiliki Patrouba (Alipnoos)

My Daughter - Smaro Papaevangelou
Producers: Mina Dreki, Iro Aidoni (Marni Films)

The Stuff We Are Made Of - Siamak Etemadi
Producer: Siamak Etemadi (Aegos Films)

Voices - Persefoni Miliou
Producer: Eleni Kossyfidou (Blackbird Productions)

Anticipating the future, Agora broadens its scope to discover and showcase emerging documentary talents from a wider geographical area through the Meet the Future initiative. Last year's spotlight on up-and-coming filmmakers from Moldova received significant acclaim and enthusiasm from industry professionals and audiences alike. This year, the attention shifts to emerging talents from the Czech Republic, supported by the Czech Film Fund and in collaboration with East Doc Platform. The preparation process for the presentation is led by Nadja Tennstedt, an expert in the field and the director of DOK Industry at DOK Leipzig, Germany.

The directors and their upcoming projects taking part in this year’s Meet the Future are as follows:

Jana Andert - Shadows of the Mountains
Marie-Magdalena Kochová - The Other One
Anna Kryvenko - This House Is Undamaged
Pepa Lubojacki - If Pigeons Turned to Gold
Viktor Portel - Between Us