Christopher Vourlias For the second time in its past three editions, the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has faced a sudden disruption in the face of an unprecedented global crisis.
Two years ago, the festival was among the first to be forced online as the coronavirus pandemic swept across Europe. This year, the Russian military launched an invasion of Ukraine just two weeks before opening night.Yianna Sarri, the head of the festival’s industry arm, Agora, who oversees the selection of projects for Thessaloniki’s Pitching Forum and Docs in Progress events, notes that it was “a different world” when that selection process took place just one month ago. “When we did the selection, everything was different,” Sarri tells Variety. “We just woke up one day and there was war in Europe.
It’s totally insane.” While the war and its widening impact didn’t affect the decision-making process for the Agora’s Pitching Forum or Docs in Progress sections, Sarri notes that humanitarian issues have always had a strong influence on the festival’s selections.
The refugee crisis, the #MeToo movement, the growing tide of nationalism, and the changing face of gender and family dynamics are all on display in this year’s crop of projects.The recent tide of events also illustrates how the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has managed to adapt to uncertainty.
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