Doc Fest 13
.. is the name of the newsletter of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival that also carries the name: Images of the 21st Century. A clip from the newsletter text:
The 13th Thessaloniki Documentary – Images of the 21st Century ended on Saturday, March 19, 2011. The closing ceremony was held in the packed Olympion theatre, flagship venue of the TDF. Festival Director Dimitris Eipides welcomed the audience by saying that “the Documentary Festival’s goal is always geared towards the audience. We want to see our theatres filling up, because today documentaries are more than ever a necessity. Current events are shaking us up and the Festival aims to address our worries; it constitutes a hopeful effort to move and motivate people. We believe that these goals were achieved, as attendance this year showed a 20% increase. For us, this is the biggest and most meaningful reward”.
Mr Eipides noted that during the 13th TDF, 233 films were screened, coming from 52 different countries. He took stock of the event’s most powerful moments and themes, such as the Panel Discussion of the How I Am: Challenging Perceptions tribute (on developmental and intellectual disabilities); the compelling presence of this year’s Greek documentary production; the 2 scholarships going out to immigrant children towards studying; the live streaming project that connected Thessaloniki with Corfu, Patras, Rethymno and Nicosia, where audiences were able to simultaneously enjoy films screened during the TDF, as well as the directors’ post-screening Q&As.
An award ceremony followed – check the website – a prize had already been given to the festival director himself: “The EDN Award is presented annually during Docs in Thessaloniki to an institution, group or private person for outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture. The EDN Award 2011 goes to Dimitri Eipides, Director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. He receives the award for his enthusiastic and energetic work with establishing and continuously developing the documentary film festival in Thessaloniki.” Photo: The prizewinner and Hanne Skjødt from EDN.
