Thessaloniki reveals Neighbors and Film Forward line-ups for November
Festival winners from Cannes, Sundance and Zurich are heading to northern Greece next month.
The 67th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which runs Nov. 5 to 15, has revealed the line-ups for its Meet the Neighbors+ and Film Forward competition sections, according to Variety.
Meet the Neighbors+, a competition for films from the surrounding region, brings together several titles already tested on the circuit. Blerta Basholli’s “Dua” is listed as a Kosovo-Switzerland-France production. It won the SACD Award at Critics’ Week, the Cannes sidebar devoted to first and second features.
Myrsini Aristidou’s “Hold Onto Me” is listed as a Cyprus-Greece-Denmark production. It won the Audience Award in the World Cinema – Dramatic section at Sundance. Pierre Le Gall’s “Flesh and Fuel” is also competing. It won best film at Zurich.
“Dua” is a 2026 feature set in Prishtina, Kosovo in the late 1990s, according to Critics’ Week. The story centres on 13-year-old Dua struggling to find her place among her peers.
Greek titles also appear in the Meet the Neighbors+ selection. “The Lion at My Back” by Tonia Mishiali was named as a competition title in an Agora TIFF post. Background listings also name “Elena’s Decision” by Stefanos Tsivopoulos and “Crucified Again” by Thodoris Papadoulakis as Greek entries, according to elculture.
Films in Meet the Neighbors+ compete for the Golden Alexander – Michel Dimopoulos Award. It carries a 10,000 euro cash prize. The jury is composed of Cristina Cassano, Sofia Exarchou and Anne Østerud.
The Film Forward competition hosts 10 films. They compete for the Golden Alexander Film Forward – Best Feature Film Award, also worth 10,000 euros. The jury is composed of Carlos Rodríguez Ríos, Ana Vujanović and Yorgos Zois.
Oliver Laxe, the Galician director, screenwriter and actor behind “Sirāt”, will attend the festival in Thessaloniki, according to the festival site.
What makes this stand out for viewers is the shortcut it offers. Three prize winners arrive in one programme, with juries and cash awards still to decide who leaves Thessaloniki with more.
