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FESTIVALS Greece

Outbound triumphs at Thessaloniki

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Bogdan George Apetri’s Romanian/Austrian co-production Outbound [+see also:
trailer
interview: Ana Ularu
film profile
]
took home the Golden Alexander for Best Feature at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF, December 3-12) which gave out its awards on Saturday. The director’s feature debut, which follows a woman running away from her past, also won Best Actress and the Greek Film Critics’ Guild Award.

Marian Crisan’s Morgen [+see also:
trailer
film profile
]
, co-produced by Romania, France and Hungary, completed the Romanian invasion at the TIFF by winning Best Director, Best Actor and the FIPRESCI Prize. Crisan’s feature debut follows his Cannes prize-winning short Megatron. Stars Andraz Hathazi and Yilmaz Yalcin shared the acting award.

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Athina Rachel Tsaggari’s Greek-language debut Attenberg [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Athina Rachel Tsangari
film profile
]
continued its remarkable festival run by winning the Silver Alexander. “It was the toughest prize to win,” Tsaggari told Cineuropa shortly after, referring to the disadvantage of having president Michel Dimopoulos abstain from voting for Attenberg, due to his cameo appearance in the film.

Israel Cardenas and Laura Amelia Guzman’s Mexican/Dominican Republic/German co-production Jean Gentil won the Bronze Alexander for originality, Belma Bas’s Turkish drama Zephyr was awarded for its artistic achievement and Marek Lechki’s Polish film Erratum won Best Script.

Aris BafaloukasApnea, Hristos Nicoleris’s Nobody, Han Petter Moland’s A Somewhat Gentle Man [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans Petter Moland
film profile
]
and Danis Tanovic’s Cirkus Columbia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danis Tanovic
film profile
]
all took home the four audience awards, while Maxime Giroux’s Jo for Jonathan won the City of Thessaloniki Award and The Lips by Iván Fundwas and Santiago Loza was awarded the Greek Parliament Prize. Apnea also won the FIPRESCI award for a Greek film.

Meanwhile, at a meeting held between Minister of Culture Pavlos Yeroulanos and select media representatives, Yeroulanos told Cineuropa that the festival managed to survive its financial difficulties and that it’s now extremely important for it re-secure its footing among rival festivals in Sofia, Istanbul and Sarajevo.

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