15/07/2016 - Debut and sophomore features will vie for accolades from the country’s top documentary gathering, which is now open for submissions

A new competition section will be inaugurated at the coming edition of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF), Greece’s top non-fiction gathering, where the main awards have so far been handed out by audiences and FIPRESCI juries, while other accolades include prizes given out by such organisations as the WWF and Amnesty International. 

On its first run under new chief programmer Dimitri Kerkinos, the TDF will aim to give out its awards to debuts and sophomore features of over 50 minutes in duration, which have been completed within the 12 months preceding the festival screening and have not previously been screened publicly in Greece. 

The TDF’s Official Competition section will comprise 12-14 features, up to three of which will be Greek. The call for entries for international documentary features is already open and is available through the festival’s official website, along with the gathering’s rules and regulations.

Kerkinos, who will oversee the selection process as chief programmer, has crossed over to the TDF from Thessaloniki’s fiction festival (where he is also in charge of the Balkan Survey section). His appointment followed the institution’s regrouping procedures triggered by the new Thessaloniki International Film Festival leadership, spearheaded by Elise Jalladeau as general director and Orestis Andreadakis as artistic director (see the news). 

Other shake-ups include long-time programmer Yorgos Krassakopoulos being appointed as TIFF chief programmer and Agora supervisor Yianna Sarri taking over as the organisation’s chief consultant on innovation and new media.