Thessaloniki’s Industry Head on ‘Embracing’ Change, Providing a Safe Harbor for Documentary Filmmakers in Turbulent Times

variety.com:

Christopher Vourlias The Thessaloniki Intl. Documentary Festival’s industry arm, Agora, which runs parallel to the fest’s 27th edition from March 7 – 15, returns with a renewed sense of purpose for filmmakers devoted to a medium that feels more vital than ever.

Taking place at a time when the very notion of truth is under threat, the event will gather documentary filmmakers, commissioners, funding bodies and other industry representatives to reckon not only with the existential crises facing the doc community, but the practical concerns for filmmakers faced with ongoing financing and distribution challenges.

In such turbulent times, industry events like Agora are all the more essential to the health of the documentary ecosystem, according to Thessaloniki industry head Angeliki Vergou. “Markets are the core of the audiovisual industry.

People attend them because they want to meet each other, they want to exchange [ideas],” Vergou tells Variety. “This is the main purpose why we exist: so we can bring good projects together with good professionals, in order to create and promote good content.” Amid belt-tightening at public and private broadcasters, corporate retrenchment at major streaming platforms and shifting audience habits, documentary filmmakers must walk a tightrope to bring that content to the screen.