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Amidst a warm and touching ambiance, with the filmmakers and the heroes of their films taking center stage, the awards of the 65th Thessaloniki International Film Festival were bestowed on Sunday November 10th, 2024. The audience was welcomed by the artistic director of the Festival, Orestis Andreadakis, paying homage to Yannis Boutaris, who passed away recently.
The honorary Golden Alexander award was bestowed to Panos H. Koutras for his overall contribution to cinema, with the ceremony taking place at the Olympion theater, on Friday, November 8th. The award ceremony was followed by the screening of the film, The Attack of the Giant Moussaka, which marked Panos H. Koutras’ directorial debut.
On Saturday, November 9th, Vangelis Serdaris' emblematic crime film Robbery in Athens (1969) was screened at Olympion theatre in terms of universal accessibility, in collaboration with the Greek Directors Guild, on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. The screening was attended by the Director of Photography of the film, Nikos Kavoukidis, and the Head of the Greek Directors Guild, Haris Papadopoulos.
At the packed Pavlos Zannas theater, on Friday morning, November 8th, the audience of the Thessaloniki Film Festival had the opportunity to attend a unique masterclass about the art of casting delivered by the renowned American casting director Ellen Lewis. Being amongst the most acclaimed professionals in her field, the experienced Ellen Lewis has some impressive collaborations under her belt, with some of the most iconic filmmakers in the history of cinema, such as Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Jim Jarmusch.
On Friday, November 8th, Panos H. Koutras delivered a masterclass titled “Queer Before It Was Cool,” which explored queer identity in his cinema, within the framework of the “Iconic Talks powered by Mastercard” initiative. The acclaimed Greek filmmaker had a discussion with the journalist, Alexandros Diakosavvas, and the audience on the unknown aspects of his work, his valuable experiences from his 25 years of work in Greek cinema, the queer representations in his films, as well as the influences and references that have shaped his directorial gaze.
The discussion titled “The Invasion of Panos H. Koutras in Greek Cinema” took place on Thursday morning, November 7th, at the Pavlos Zannas theater, kicking off the all-day event dedicated to Panos H. Koutras, titled “The Attack of the Giant Cinema of Panos H. Koutras” and curated by Eva Stefani.
