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Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival · 2025

Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival 2025

Open Horizons

Programme

19 films · 7 reviews

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Fatherhood (Tre Fedre, Three Dads And A Baby)

Review preview for Fatherhood

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

Jennie Kermode · 4 out of 5
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.

(Country: Norway, Iceland, Germany; Year: 2025; Director: August B Hanssen, Even G Benestad; Writer: August B Hanssen, Even G Benestad)

Full review

Khartoum

Review preview for Khartoum

Throughout you can see the ways in which the filmmakers are going the extra mile to empower their subjects.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
Forced to leave Sudan for East Africa following the outbreak of war, five citizens of Khartoum - a civil servant, a tea lady, a resistance committee volunteer, and two young bottle collectors - reenact their stories of survival and freedom through dreams, revolution, and civil war.

(Country: Germany, UK, Sudan, Qatar; Year: 2025; Director: Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed, Rawia Alhag, Phil Cox, Philip Cox, Anas Saeed; Writer: Phil Cox)

Full review See: Interview with Anas Saeed, Rawia Alhag, Ibrahim Snoopy Ahmad, Timeea Mohamed Ahmed and Phil Cox about Khartoum

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

In 1987, Marlee Matlin became the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award and was thrust into the spotlight at 21 years old. This documentary explores the complexities of what it means to be a trailblazer.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Shoshannah Stern; Stars: Marlee Matlin)

Monk In Pieces

Documentary about composer and performer Meredith Monk.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: David C Roberts, Billy Shebar; Writer: Billy Shebar, David C Roberts, Melissa Hacker, Trish Dalton; Stars: Björk, David Byrne, Meredith Monk)

Move Ya Body: The Birth Of House

Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side of Chicago, a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.

(Country: US; Year: 2025; Director: Elegance Bratton; Writer: Elegance Bratton)

My Sextortion Diary

A thriller documentary about how the filmmaker responded to a digital blackmail situation after her computer was stolen.

(Country: Spain; Year: 2024; Director: Patricia Franquesa; Writer: Patricia Franquesa; Stars: Patricia Franquesa)

Nasty

Documentary about tennis player Ilie Năstase.

(Country: Romania; Year: 2024; Director: Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu, Tudor D Popescu; Writer: Tudor Giurgiu, Cristian Pascariu; Stars: Ilie Nastase, Ion Tiriac, Jimmy Connors, Stan Smith, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Billie Jean King, Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker, Yannick Noah, Nadia Comaneci, Gheorghe Hagi, Marc Jenner, James Longshore, Cristian Tudor Popescu)

Only On Earth

A journey to southern Galicia where animals and humans are struggling to cope with the climate crisis.

(Country: Denmark, Spain; Year: 2025; Director: Robin Petré; Writer: Robin Petré)

Pavements

An hybrid examination of the iconic 1990s indie band.

(Country: US; Year: 2024; Director: Alex Ross Perry; Writer: Stephen Malkmus, Alex Ross Perry; Stars: Stephen Malkmus, Scott Kanberg, Joe Keery, Jason Schwartzman, Fred Hechinger, Zoe Lister-Jones, Nat Wolff, Tim Heidecker, Logan Miller, Griffin Newman, Michael Esper, Kathryn Gallagher, Violette Trotter, Keith Poulson, John El-Jor)

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.

Jennie Kermode · 4.5 out of 5
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.

(Country: France, Belgium; Year: 2024; Director: Marie Losier; Stars: Peaches, Suri Nisker, Marlene Saldana)

Full review

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 4 out of 5
An exploration of Leni Riefenstahl’s life and her attempts to rehabilitate her image.

(Country: Germany; Year: 2024; Director: Andres Veiel; Writer: Andres Veiel; Stars: Ulrich Noethen, Leni Riefenstahl, Heinrich Breloer, Joseph Goebbels, Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler, Horst Kettner, Ray Müller, Hansjürgen Rosenbauer, Albert Speer)

Full review See: Interview with Andres Veiel about Riefenstahl

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.

Jennie Kermode · 5 out of 5
Oxford professor Patricia Kingori uncovers Kenya's hidden essay mills where highly educated yet underemployed writers produce academic papers for wealthy Western students.

(Country: UK; Year: 2024; Director: Eloïse King; Stars: Patricia Kingori)

Full review See: Interview with Eloïse King about Shadow Scholars

Timestamp (Strichka Chasu)

Despite the war, school life continues in Ukraine, with pupils and teachers striving to carry on learning even under constant threat. The film is a mosaic of the everyday lives of teachers and students from different corners of Ukraine.

(Country: France, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ukraine; Year: 2025; Director: Kateryna Gornostai; Writer: Kateryna Gornostai; Stars: Olha Bryhynets, Borys Khovriak, Mykola Kolomiiets, Valeriia Hukova, Yelyzaveta Loza, Svitlana Popova, Mykola Shpak)

Trains

Archival documentary charting the cyclical nature of war.

(Country: Poland, Lithuania; Year: 2024; Director: Maciej J Drygas)

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.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
An intimate documentary diary, which sees the director return to Thailand and to the year 2012, when she underwent gender-affirming surgery.

(Country: Sweden, France; Year: 2024; Director: Victoria Verseau)

Full review

Twiggy

Portrait of the star.

(Country: UK; Director: Sadie Frost)

TWST - Things We Said Today

Archival film about a Beatles concert in New York's Shea Stadium.

(Country: France, Romania; Year: 2024; Director: Andrei Ujica; Writer: Andrei Ujica; Stars: Tommy McCabe, Shea Grant, Thérèse Azzara, Sarah McCluskey)

Wishing On A Star

Documentary. Luciana, a Neapolitan astrologer, has a method to make her clients’ wishes come true. All they need to do is take a trip on their birthday to a precise destination to be reborn under a new sky.

(Country: Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovakia, Czechia; Year: 2024; Director: Peter Kerekes; Writer: Erica Barbiani, Peter Kerekes; Stars: Luciana de Leoni D'Asparedo, Valentina Angeli, Alessandra Fornasier, Barbara Lutman, Giovanni Rugo, Adriana Vangone, Giuliana Vangone)

Yalla Parkour

Review preview for Yalla Parkour

A thoughtful consideration of not just physical prowess but the emotional agility and resilience demonstrated by those growing up in Gaza.

Amber Wilkinson · 3.5 out of 5
A documentarian revisits Gaza where she encounters a young athlete leading her to embark on a journey through Gaza's devastated landscape.

(Country: Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Palestine; Year: 2025; Director: Areeb Zuaiter; Writer: Areeb Zuaiter, Phil Jandaly, Johan Simonsson, Nino Kirtadze, Salwa Nakkara, Alex Szalat; Stars: Areeb Zuaiter, Ahmad Matar)

Full review