Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Latest reviews

• 
  Baby

  Review preview for Baby

  It is the things taken for granted, as much as the things that stand out, which shape the tale.

  After being released from a juvenile detention center, Wellington finds himself alone and adrift on the streets of São Paulo. During a visit to a porn theater, he encounters Ronaldo, a mature man, who teaches him new ways of surviving.
• Happyend

  Review preview for Happyend

  A thoughtful, shrewd examination of the impact of rapidly developing technologies.

  Best friends Yuta and Kou are on the brink of graduating from high school in a near-future Tokyo where the threat of a catastrophic earthquake casts a shadow over daily life.
• 
  The Balconettes

  Review preview for The Balconettes

  The film is a brash, vulgar, joyously realistic portrait of a three-way friendship with roots that run deep.

  Three women get stuck in a Marseille apartment during a heatwave.
• 
  Dog On Trial

  Review preview for Dog On Trial

  Dosch uses the true story to make wider observations about the often fraught relationships between humans and animals.

  A young lawyer tries to save a dog from capital punishment.
• 
  The Ballad Of Suzanne Césaire

  Review preview for The Ballad Of Suzanne Césaire

  The word ballad is a good choice in the title because Hunt-Ehrlich’s film is a rhythms and muse affair.

  Hybrid biopic about the Martinican writer and activist.
• 
  Spermageddon

  Review preview for Spermageddon

  Nothing short of an instant cult.

  Two awkward teens are having sex for the first time, while Simon the Semen and his friends are on a quest to reach the golden goal, the Egg.
• 
  Swimming Home

  Review preview for Swimming Home

  A highly mannered approach, a staccato script and deliberate emotional distance mean that the drama never really comes alive, but the whole thing looks and sounds divine.

  The presence of a mysterious houseguest exposes subtle fractures in the marriage between a poet and a war correspondent.
• 
  She Loved Blossoms More

  Review preview for She Loved Blossoms More

  The spectacular visual effects are less a product of slick new technology than of pure imagination, and they really are unforgettable.

  Hoping to bring their dead mother back to life, three brothers build a time machine.
• 
  On Falling

  Review preview for On Falling

  Carreira shows how quiet desperation can be eroding

  Trapped between the confines of her workplace and the solitude of her flat-share, a Portuguese warehouse picker in Scotland seeks to resist the loneliness, alienation and ensuing small talk which begin to threaten her sense of self.
• 
  Sebastian

  Review preview for Sebastian

  Having set up all the elements of a thriller, the film proceeds to untangle them in a refreshingly different and mature way.

  Max, a 25-year-old aspiring writer living in London, begins a double life as a sex worker in order to research his debut novel.

A–Z of Thessaloniki International Film Festival 2024 reviews →

Features

• Imagine a world...
  Noémie Merlant and Sanda Codreanu on female friendships, bodies and The Balconettes
• Taking the plunge as 'angel and devil'
  French actor Félix Kysyl on his first lead role in Misericordia
• 'There is a bit of me in lots of the characters I create'
  Misericordia director Guiraudie on his tale of the unexpected
• 'There's a certain pleasure to cinematic artifice'
  Matthew Rankin on world-building and catharsis in Universal Language
• Beautiful and difficult
  Sandhya Suri on semi-urban outposts, moral ambiguity and Santosh
• 'I think there is a wisdom to children that adults lose sight of'
  Matthew Rankin on liminal spaces and child's play in Universal Language
• Hunt for truth
  Director Christos Pitharas on building fiction on fact in his latest feature
• 'I’m still enjoying the process of talking about Julie and advocating for her silence'
  Leonardo van Dijl on Belgian Oscar nominee Julie Keeps Quiet
• 'I wanted it to be meditative and poetic'
  Thea Hvistendahl on her very different approach to zombies in Handling The Undead
• Life lessons
  Shuchi Talati on rebellion and relationships in school-set drama Girls Will Be Girls
• Marriage of creativity
  Husband and wife Deepak Rauniyar and Asha Magrati on their latest collaboration Pooja, Sir
• Growing pains and gains
  Saulė Bliuvaitė on developing and shooting Golden Leopard winner Toxic
• 'I think a country without movies is a country without memory'
  César Díaz on bringing Mexico 86 to the screen
• 'I was imagining my mother in a similar situation'
  Bérénice Bejo on why Mexico 86 reminded her of her own family
• Movie metamorphoses
  Ramon and Silvan Zürcher on change in The Sparrow In The Chimney and their filmmaking evolution
• Running with the wolves
  Annick Blanc on asking people to open their eyes with Hunting Daze
• Collaboration and fighting dictatorship
  Director Emin Alper and producer Yorgos Tsourgiannis on their working relationship
• The joy of research
  Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala on Maria Hofstätter, the Brothers Grimm and The Devil's Bath
• Breaking the mould
  Memoir Of A Snail director Adam Elliot on creating textured underdogs and emotional conflict
• Bigfoot challenge
  David and Nathan Zellner on turning a myth into a reality for Sasquatch Sunset
• Tuning into grief
  Composer on collaboration and framing in Handling The Undead