Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival

Latest reviews

• 
  Mr. Nobody Against Putin

  Review preview for Mr. Nobody Against Putin

  Despite the depressing nature of what’s happening at the school, Talankin’s affection for his students and his resilient sense of humour ensure that the film is always engaging.

  As Russia launches its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, primary schools across Russia’s hinterlands are transformed into recruitment stages for the war. Facing the ethical dilemma of working in a system defined by propaganda and violence, a brave teacher goes undercover to film what’s really happening in his own school.
• 
  Endless Cookie

  Review preview for Endless Cookie

  Endless Cookie is not like anything else and yet it is very much like life.

  Exploring the complex bond between two half brothers - one Indigenous, one white - traveling from the present in isolated Shamattawa to bustling 1980s Toronto.
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  The Shadow Scholars

  Review preview for The Shadow Scholars

  At each point when one might think that the key to this fascinating subject has been found, another door is opened, leading to yet more unexplored angles.

  Oxford professor Patricia Kingori uncovers Kenya's hidden essay mills where highly educated yet underemployed writers produce academic papers for wealthy Western students.
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  Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story

  Review preview for Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story

  If you don’t have a clear sense of who she is when you go in, you may come out feeling none the wiser.

  A documentary about Liza Minelli and the key individuals who influenced her career.
• 
  Riefenstahl

  Review preview for Riefenstahl

  Selective memory was something Riefenstahl excelled at and, as a director, she was also adept at staying on message in the face of counter evidence, something which Veiel scrutinises throughout.

  An exploration of Leni Riefenstahl’s life and her attempts to rehabilitate her image.
• 
  Coexistence, My Ass!

  Review preview for Coexistence, My Ass!

  Successfully finds insight and social commentary

  Comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi creates a personal and political one-woman show about the struggle for equality in Israel/Palestine. When the elusive coexistence she’s spent her life working toward starts sounding like a bad joke, she challenges her audiences with hard truths that are no laughing matter.
• 
  Peaches Goes Bananas

  Review preview for Peaches Goes Bananas

  Shot over 17 years, it mingles intimate personal moments with visceral concert footage, its musical sequences knitted together with some of the best editing you’re likely to see this year.

  From sold-out concerts to family moments with her parents and sister, the passage of time brings loss but also provides liberation for an artist whose body is a canvas for artistic expression.
• 
  Fatherhood

  Review preview for Fatherhood

  Despite the anger at the unfairness of what has gone before, this is ultimately a warm-hearted, life-affirming film.

  Between 1979 and 2016, trans people in Norway were forced to undergo sterilisation, depriving them of their right to bear children. Kris has dreamed of becoming a father since kindergarten. Together with his partners Sindre and David, he becomes a part of the resistance forging change.
• 
  Trans Memoria

  Review preview for Trans Memoria

  While Verseau talks about how crucial the surgery was to her mental health, the complexity of the emotions experienced afterwards is also made clear.

  An intimate documentary diary, which sees the director return to Thailand and to the year 2012, when she underwent gender-affirming surgery.
• 
  Paul

  Review preview for Paul

  In what is probably Côté's most straightforwardly observational film to date, the fictions come baked in.

  Subject to depression and social anxiety, Paul has found refuge in serving women who invite him to clean their homes. By sharing his gently eccentric routines on social media, he combats loneliness and takes it one day at a time.

A–Z of Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival 2025 reviews →

Features

• Galaxy of ideas
  Elisabeth Rasmussen on mixing science, myth and art in We Are Stardust
• 'It’s one of those films where you can’t be impartial'
  Weronika Mliczewska on navigating relationships and a pandemic to make Child Of Dust
• Clean content
  Director Denis Côté on entering the world of a 'simp' and his dominatrices for Paul
• ‘It became totally collaborative’
  Khartoum directors talk about the shifting shape of their documentary in the face of war
• Life in New Lodge
  Alessandra Celesia on capturing the stories of The Flats