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| Thessaloniki awards winners Photo: Courtesy of Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival |
The jury - film editor Dana Bunescu, curator and programmer Caroline Libresco and producer Yorgos Papalios said it was “a film that mobilises cinema to the fullest degree, giving us the experience of being one with the interior life of a father in an impossible state, and making something radically present out of absence”.
The Silver Alexander went to Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak for their own love story unfolding against conflict in Birds Of War. The UK co-production also took home the Human Rights in Motion Award, WIFT And FIPRESCI awarfds. Special mentions in the main competition went to Finnish film The Beauty Of Errors and German doc Around Paradise.
In the Newcomers International Competition, Mary Bouli's consideration of egg donation, At No Cost, took the top prize, including €10,000. The Silver Alexander went to Chouwa Liang for her interrogation of AI dating in modern China, Replica.
The full list of film awards are below:
International Competition
• Golden Alexander - Closure, Dir: Michał Marczak (Poland)
• Silver Alexander - Birds Of War, Dir: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak (UK/Syria/Lebanon)
• Special Mentions -The Beauty Of Errors, Dir: Jukka Kärkkäinen (Finland/Norway/Sweden); Around Paradise, Dir: Yulia Lokshina (Germany)
Newcomers International Competition
• Golden Alexander - Dimitri Eipides - At No Cost, Dir: Mary Bouli (Greece)
• Silver Alexander - Replica, Dir: Chouwa Liang (Australia/France/China)
»Film Forward International Competition
• Golden Alexander - Dear Future, Dir: Christiana Cheiranagnostaki (Greece/Switzerland)
• Silver Alexander - Level, Dir: Carlos Mora Fuentes, Anna Berkhof (Spain)
• Immersive Golden Alexander - Another Place, Domenico Singha Pedroli (France)
• Mermaid Award - Barbara Forever, Dir: Brydie O'Connor (USA); Special Mention - A Song Without Home, Dir: Rati Tsiteladze (Georgia/USA/Denmark)
• Alpha Bank Accessibility Award - Echoes of Beneath, Dir: Vasilis Barachanos (Greece)
• EKKOMED Award - Stories of a Lie, Dir: Olia Verriopoulou (Greece)
• ERT Award - EXILE(S), Tales From an Island, Dir: Yorgos Iliopoulos (Greece)
• Human Rights in Motion Award - Birds of War - Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak; Special Mentions - EXILE(S), Tales From an Island, Dir: Yorgos Iliopoulos and Around Paradise, Dir: Yulia Lokshina
• Human Values Award of the Hellenic Parliament - La Pietà, Dir: Rafa Molés, Pepe Andreu (Spain/Iceland/Lithuania)
• Amnesty International Award - American Doctor, Dir: Poh Si Teng (US/Palestine/Montserrat/Denmark); Honourable Mention - Scarlet Girls, Dir: Paula Cury (Dominican Republic/Germany/Mexico)
• “City Stories” Municipality of Thessaloniki Award - Bugboy, Dir: Lucas Paleocrassas (Greece)
• FIPRESCI Award (International Competition) - Birds of War, Dir: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
• FIPRESCI Award (Best Greek Film) - EXILE(S), Tales From an Island, Dir: Yorgos Iliopoulos
• Greek Association of Film Critics’ Award - Bugboy, Dir: Lucas Paleocrassas
• WIFT (Women in Film & Television) Award - Birds Of War, Dir: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
• WWF Greece Award - Time and Water, Dir: Sara Dosa (US/Iceland)
Youth Jury awards
• Best Greek Film Award - Where Shadows Rest, Dir: Marianna Economou (Greece)
• Special Jury Prize - Born Twice, Dir: Stelios Kouloglou (Greece)
Fischer Audience Awards
• “Peter Wintonick” Audience Award for an International Film Over 50 Minutes - American Doctor, Dir: Poh Si Teng
• Audience Award for a Film Under 50 Minutes - Square of the Unseen, Dir: Theodore Selekos (Greece)
• Audience Award for a Greek Film Over 50 Minutes - Echoes of Beneath, Dir: Vasilis Barachanos
• Audience Award for a Film in a Competitive Section - Sentient, Dir: Tony Jones (Australia)
• Fischer Platform+ Audience Award for a Greek Film - Single Headlocks, Dir: Panagiotis Papoutsis (Greece)
