Thessaloniki Day 5

After my restaurant encounter last night I headed down to the Press Office early this morning to make sure I could get an interview with Sam Rockwell before I head home, and luck was on my side, as the lovely Lily gave me a slot in the afternoon. It did mean having to skip a screening but for a journalist, interviews are far more useful than reviews of films that won’t be seen outside of festivals or their home country. Lilly then offered me a slot with Mexican actor, and now director, Diego Luna, whose film on Mexican boxer JC Chavez is showing at the festival.

With some time to spare and the sun shining I headed off to explore the local market. Being a coastal town there was a huge abundance of fresh fish with its accompanying aroma that threw me back to my days of working as a sous chef. It was not only an olfactory overload but also an aural one as well with the stallholders trying to hawk their wares. In London we love Borough Market but this was the real deal filled with fresh fish, meats, cheeses, vegetables and masses of pastries and sweets that the Greeks love to eat.




Back to the Press Centre for the press conference with John Sayles, Chris Cooper and David Strathairn. Sayles was by far the most vocal and eloquent, giving sage and practical advice on independent filmmaking, such as adapt your script to your budget and what you have available in terms of actors and locations. He also said that budget has a big influence over the media you choose to shoot on. The bigger the budget the smaller the percentage of it film stock takes, but if the budget is really low then digital is a better solution but it is important to learn how to get the best out of the medium.



The interview with Diego Luna went well because he is a charming and enthusiastic young who is passionate about the subject of his movie. The video of the interview can be seen on the Film and Festivals website.


It’s funny how sometimes meeting people you admire can sometimes be a disappointment. As mentioned before, Sam Rockwell is one of my favourite actors who always gives great performances that always surprise in their diversity. He is not someone you would instantly recognise on the street as a movie star, he is very much the actor. Meeting him, he is a really affable guy, totally laid back with an almost stoner drawl to his voice, but he isn’t the most talkative of people which doesn’t make for a great interview – or maybe I just wasn’t asking the right questions. Or maybe he was just feeling a bit jet-lagged. It was definitely one of those interviews that will work better in print and will no doubt appear in a future issue of our esteemed publication.

The evening was a chance to catch a couple of movies I picked two English language ones as I wanted to watch them rather than read subtitles. The first one was a European co-production called Irina Palm, starring sixties icon Marianne Faithful, who must be in her sixties now. Set in a very conservative English village it is the story of how widow Maggie wants to get a large amount of money to send her grandson to Australia for a life-saving operation. Having already sold her house to pay for the treatments to date she goes to London to find a job but having been a housewife all her life she has no experience. When she sees an ad for a hostess in a Soho sex bar she naively applies, until she discovers what is involved. But club owner Mikky (Mikki Manojlovic) is impressed with the smoothness of her hands and offers her a job giving anonymous hand relief to customers of his bar, with the promise of £600 per week. She eventually accepts. The film has some wonderful comic moments and some equally touching ones (pun not intended). It is also a wonderful study of English morals and manners.


After the film I bumped into Alex Holdridge, director of In Search of a Midnight Kiss, who I met in Edinburgh. He had just arrived so I was able to show him around a bit with my four days’ knowledge of the festival. We then headed off to see an American indie film, Hannah Takes the Stairs by young director Joe Swanberg, who was also a friend of Alex’s.


Joe’s way of making films to get a bunch of his friends together, many of them also filmmakers with films showing at this festival, and devise and improvise the film as they shoot it. While this may sound a chaotic way of making a film it actually worked. The eventual story follows Hannah as she goes from one infatuation to another. She describes herself as chronically dissatisfied and this is at the core of her behaviour. It is not great acting in the usual sense, but it is very natural, closer to a documentary. It is all shot quickly on video and constructed in the editing. Some may find this type of filmmaking, with its quasi-Dogme ethic, a bit amateurish, but the director has done what a lot of wannabe filmmakers haven’t and that is make three features that have been shown at festivals around the world and now has a project lined up with some well-known Hollywood actors interested in working in. So a real lesson to all procrastinating directors.


After the film I had an invite to a party for the press, so took Alex and Joe with me for their first night of Greek hospitality. By three in the morning it was time for bed.

Thessaloniki Day 4

Although the main reason for attending a film festival is to watch films there are usually lots of other film and industry related events happening and Thessaloniki is no exception. Edinburgh, for example, has about a dozen other events happening at the same time as its film festival, which can give an often welcome break from watching projected images. That will all change next year with the new calendar slot that will mean a greater focus on film, and reportedly even more on British independent film, which can’t be a bad thing. Thessaloniki’s events range from the Industry Centre (which includes the Agora film market, Crossroads co-production forum, the Balkan Fund script development and Salonica Studio student workshops) to art exhibitions. There are also masterclasses and forums with the visiting guests.


This morning I attended the masterclass with Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron who spoke at length about his career, his association with the other two big names in Mexican cinema, Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Iñárritu and his views on the new generation of filmmakers, made all the more poignant as his son’s first feature was showing at this festival. It was a lively and entertaining talk that we will show excerpts from on Film & Festival website soon.


As there was nothing on the days film schedule that really grabbed my attention I decided to take a stroll around the city, visit the markets and look at some of the exhibitions. Between the rain, checking e-mail and doing the blog report I didn’t make to the market. But I did catch the end of the William Klein press conference, which showed him as quite an outspoken man (as artists should be), especially with regards to politics and the state of the world, so I decided to brave the weather and take a long, brisk walk to the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art to have a look at the exhibition of his work. Klein has worked in many visual media including photography (for which he is best known), filmmaking, graphic design and painting. Although his name was familiar it wasn’t until I was walking around the exhibition that I recognised so many of his images from my days as a photography student, many of which are classics of art form – if you care to call reportage and fashion photography art.


After hearing Cuaron’s talk in the morning I decided I would have a look at his son’s film, unfortunately it was sold out but I was advised to turn up at the cinema at screening time, flash my press pass for an unoccupied seat. With some time to spare and darkness already descending I headed back to The Pier to look at another photographic exhibition, which was being held at the Thesssaloniki Museum of Photography. This was a retrospective of French photographer Bernard Plossu. Like Klein’s, it featured mostly black and white images of what could be described as travel photographs because the were images from his travels that somehow defy what might be considered interesting shots. As also with the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson (a personal favourite) these images seemed to have captured the elusive “decisive moment” combined with the monochrome film to create intriguing pictures. I found myself wondering if the fact that they were shot on film had some bearing on the overall feeling of the pictures offering something far more organic than what is achieved with digital cameras.

After heading back to the press office for a final e-mail check for the day and to post the latest blog, I decided to skip the movie, have something quick to eat and get an early night for a change. The city guide we were given in our festival bag recommended a restaurant called Meat Me. I had actually tried to find it the previous night but took the wrong street. This time, armed with a map, I found it, overlooking the now closed market. It was eight o’clock and the restaurant was almost empty, I didn’t know if that meant people eat out early or later but I settled in for some simple, tasty Greek food. Then in walked John Malkovich, then five minutes later in came one of my favourite actors, the very underrated Sam Rockwell, then Alfonso Cuaron with his son. It seemed as if all the VIP guests were getting together for a dinner. Unfortunately it was the one time I went out without my camera and a big stack of magazines, but not to miss an opportunity I did give one to Sam and one to Alfonso. Then Georges Corraface came in, recognising me from our lock-in the previous evening and he stopped to say hello before joining the party. Although journalist part of me was slightly disappointed that I missed a photo op, the better part of me felt relieved that I didn’t have to stoop to behaving like a pap. After all, even if they are great actors and directors they are still just people who want to have a quiet meal with friends without being disturbed,

Thessaloniki Day 3

After the activity of the night before it is hardly surprising that the streets are almost empty as I head off for a couple of early-ish press screenings. It seems that only a small selection of films are being given press showings, but it does give more opportunity to see other films in the evenings. This morning I caught a Greek film (after all this is a Greek festival) and an Argentinean film. The festival is running a Spanish cinema thread so I guess Mexico and Latin America are part of that, in terms of language and culture.


Alter Ego is a very glossy film with Hollywood pretensions, which may or may not be a good thing depending on your point of view. From its opening shots it is obvious this is not going to be an art house film. It is the story of a hugely popular Greek rock group of the film’s title and their life of sex and drugs, at least initially. It could be seen as a Hellenic Almost Famous rather than Spinal Tap. Of course being a Greek film it is all about emotions, as the long time friends start to tire of the dream they have been living. When a strike stops the group from flying to the opening concert of their European tour (coincidentally in Thessaloniki) they have to take a bus, forcing the band members to face certain realities they had been avoiding, especially Stefano the group’s frontman. This is further compounded by a dramatic turn of events after the concert that splits the band and sends Stefano into a spiral of depression that only the bus driver can save him. The three acts almost play out like three separate films, from pop video to road movie to romance with Stefano at the core of the story. Beautifully shot and well-acted it is difficult to say how much appeal it will have outside Greece. It is unashamedly commercial in its approach and the music is very much Euro-rock/pop which may put off the foreign language art house snobs which is a shame because it is an engaging film. It was produced by Village Roadshow (who were involved with The Matrix amongst many other films) and written and directed by Greek-born Nikolas Dimitropoulos, who studied filmmaking in London, where he was bought up. So who knows? I’m sure all parties would like to see it get wider distribution.



The second film was called Encarnation and is about an actress in her fifties who realises her days as a glamorous star are over and even the cosmetic enhancements aren’t helping. It is a bit sad when such people won’t age with grace and she faces this attitude when she returns to her home in the country for her niece’s fifteenth birthday. While one feels a certain amount of empathy for the character there is no real drama in the film to maintain the interest.


After these two films I succumbed to the Mediterranean tradition of a siesta, just to keep my energy up for another late night of film.


The evening started with the Golden Alexander Award being presented to John Malkovich. Festival director Despina Mouzaki started the evening by complimenting the actor-director, describing him as a mythical figure who is as simple as he is mysterious and added that the award was for all the enjoyment he has given in the roles he has played over the years. George Corraface then ‘awarded’ Malkovich with the Greek word for actor, explaining that it is made of two parts. The second part of the word means poet and creator and the first part refers to morality and attitude, finishing by saying, “I believe that the artist we are honouring tonight expresses these two notions in the best of ways”.


As soon as the award was over I slipped out of a side door so as to not see Being John Malkovich again (not that there is anything wrong with the film). Mouzaki and Corraface did the same thing and we found ourselves temporarily locked in a vestibule together, so I tool the opportunity to give them copies of the magazine, which they were immediately impressed with.

With a bit of time to pass until my next screening grabbed a bite to eat before heading to the cinema for a midnight screening of a Greek fantasy film, Giagonan, showing as part of the DigitalWave programme. I was amazed to see so many people waiting to get in for what looked like a low budget version of Conan the Barbarian. Admittedly there was a lot of long hair, beards and piercings so assume they were mostly students (Thessaloniki is a student city).


After a spirited introduction from the filmmaker which had the audience laughing and shouting (although I don’t have a clue what was being said) the movie got underway, and yes, it was a low budget Conan meets Xena. I’m not even going to try and explain the story, sufficient to say there were big swords, scantily clad women, magic, evil rulers, pirates (including one called Jack Psarrow) and a quest to save the world. It was badly acted with cheap special effects and costumes, shot on grainy DV with some dreadful lines of dialogue (at least in the subtitles, which were obviously written by someone not fluent in English) – and the audience loved it. They laughed and cajoled the whole way through it, which is just the spirit in which the director expected to be received. To be fair it was no worse than Monkey, apart from the quality of the video, and given that the director did just about everything on the film, including playing the lead role, it was truly in the spirit of indie digital filmmaking. He even shot scenes, guerrilla style, on the Great Wall of China, which is pretty heroic in itself. It may not win any awards (except possibly an audience one) but who cares when it was that much fun.

Thessaloniki Day 2

As a member of the press attending a film festival there are certain obligations. It’s not all parties and schmoozing. There are films to watch, interviews to do and, of course, reports to write. For the print version of the magazine this is something that usually happens a long time after the event has finished. Thanks to the marvels of modern communication up-to-date reports can be posted online almost immediately, depending upon the inclination of the correspondent. The problem is the more films and events I attend the more I have to write, which then means not being able to attend other events. It’s the old razor’s edge that requires very careful balance.

Most of the morning was spent writing up the first day’s report while waiting for a DVD screener of a film I had to watch before interviewing the director. When the disc arrived, later than anticipated, it was plagued with technical problems. As we all know, the much-hyped infallibility of CDs and DVDs was just that – hype – and the writable versions are even more unstable. How anyone can trust their archives to this medium is beyond me, and the initial promises of 100 years are definitely unproven. But that is a whole other discussion. I got about half way through the film, a Spanish film called El Orfanato (The Orphanage) by Juan Antonio Bayona, when it stopped playing and, unfortunately it had no chapters to skip forward with and normal fast forwarding was not working well either. But I saw enough of it to get a feeling of the director’s work.


The film is a psychological thriller/ghost story, along similar lines to Alejandro Amenabar’s The Others. The film centres around Laura, who spent the happiest years of her childhood growing up in an orphanage. Thirty years later, she returns with her husband and Simon, their son, with a dream of restoring and reopening the long abandoned orphanage as a home for disabled children. As the opening day draws near, tension builds within the family. Laura slowly becomes convinced that something long-hidden and terrible is lurking in the old house, something waiting to emerge and inflict appalling damage on her family. The film manages to maintain an air of both mystery and suspense throughout, with the director citing Hitchcock as one of his major influences. It is shot in the dark, muted palette that are common in Alfonso Cuaron and Guillermo Del Toro’s films (in fact Del Toro is one of the film’s producers). The film showed at this year’s FrightFest in London and should be getting a UK release in the new year.


During the half hour interview with the director Bayona we discussed the film’s themes, its production and the state of Spanish cinema. A transcript of the interview will appear in a future edition of the magazine.


Although there are films showing from 10 in the morning at any of the seven cinemas the Festival is using, it wasn’t until 7 in the evening that I caught my first screening. Small Gods is a Belgian film written and directed by Dimitri Karakatsanis, a Belgian filmmaker of Greek extraction. It was an unusual film, with minimal dialogue for a complex story that was part mystery and part road movie (made all the more unusual given the small size of Belgium). The story jumped backwards and forwards through timelines, revealing more about the characters and their story but never fully revealing what had happened to them and how the three protagonists came together and whether what we saw was even a true account of events. Despite the fractured story and some unusual cinematography that utilised various focal planes and the flat colours of the Belgian winter, the movie does keep the viewer engrossed.


The opening of Digital Wave programme was with a 1989 Greek digital film called the Dream Factory. I wish I had paid more attention to the date before going to see it as it was very dated and although the story idea was interesting there was far too much talking (and therefore subtitles to read), combined with the pixelated images I found myself entering my own dream factory.

Feeling a bit bleary eyed after that experience I went back to my hotel for a supine snooze before my next film at 1 o’clock. I dragged myself from my slumber just in time for start of the movie, and was glad I made the effort.


Dainipponjin, as the title gives away, is a Japanese film, which can be a real gamble. Having seen more than my fair share of dodgy anime I always approach these films with trepidation. To be fair I have also seen some outstanding Japanese films and I will happily add this one to the list, not because of its artistic merits but simply because it is great fun. It is mockumentary, written, directed and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto. He plays Dai Sato aka Dai Nipponjin (Dai the Great Japanese), a sixth generation superhero who grows to enormous size when exposed to electricity and battles the monsters rampaging across Japan. He is also a typical working class schlub. There’s never quite enough money, there are few prospects for the future, his wife has left him and he hardly ever sees his daughter, and his grandfather suffers from dementia. And to top it off nobody cares about his superhero antics, despite the best efforts of his agent. It is a wonderful parody of modern Japanese culture, and although possibly not to everyone’s taste it is good entertainment.


I left the theatre at 3 in the morning to a torrential thunder storm, which luckily soon passed, but it didn’t seem to have dampened the enthusiasm of the locals to be out partying and generally moving about in the weather that was a lot better than that of Edinburgh in August.

Thessaloniki Day 1

I’m useless at mornings, but sometimes you have to make the effort as I trundled off to Gatwick on a cold and frosty morning to get my flight to Thessaloniki in north Greece/Macedonia for the 48th Thessaloniki International Film Festival. It’s programme is huge and covers everything you would expect from a long-running international festival. Big studio releases, retrospectives (William Klein and John Sayles this year), lots of indie films and, of course, a focus on local productions, which this year encompasses not only Greek films but productions from the whole of the Balkans region. Included in this is a new initiative called the Balkan Film Fund, which will help foster new talent in the region.

This is my first time as a guest at a foreign film festival, which means my flights and accommodation were paid by the festival This is also my first visit to Greece, which, given how extensively I have travelled throughout Europe, I found quite amazing. Being picked up from the airport in a top of the range Mercedes and driven to a hotel makes a nice change from public transport and sleeping on floors with friends. The first thing that struck me was how similar it is to Italy, except with a different language and alphabet. Driving while talking on the phone, café society, smoking everywhere (although even Italians aren’t allowed to do that now), newsstands on the streets and beautiful window displays in the shops. And of course the Mediterranean attitude that can appear as chaotic to the more ordered mind.

The festival itself is held, literally, on the shores of the Aegean, at a venue known as The Pier, which is old warehouses that have been converted into cinemas and galleries. Once registered and settled in I went through the bag with the programmes to start planning my week, looking for films that will appeal to me. Film festivals are always a lottery, and the programmes are written to make all the films sound interesting, and I’m sure they are to someone.

From my experiences of film festivals in the UK the opening night has just one film and is a gala event and the rest of the films kick off the following day, (apart from press screenings of course), but here there had already been a full programme of films before the official launch. Being a guest of the festival I got an invite to the opening night gala and it was an interesting affair.


Photocalls and press pens didn’t seem to exist as the photographers swarmed around the front of the stage while the guests and local dignitaries arrived and exchanged niceties, to a barrage of strobe lighting. Once everyone was seated and the lights dimmed for the 9.30 start, there came the sound of drumming from the back of the Olympion’s auditorium, and a troupe of drummers marched down the centre aisle. Then the speeches began, from the festival director followed a variety of local politicians. Introductions are all part of festival life and thankfully they didn’t go on for too long (well half an hour isn’t that bad) and the film finally got under way.


Despina Mouzaki, TIFF Director


Popular Greek actor and Festival President, Georges Corraface

My Blueberry Nights (which for some reason I got in my head was going to be about portable e-mail devices – wrong berry!) is Kai War Wong’s latest film and his first in English. Kai is best known for In the Mood for Love and 2046, both stunningly beautiful films. This one quite match the imagery of those two films but it is still beautifully shot. As with his previous films this is a slowly paced love story of failed relationships and chance meetings. In an interesting piece of casting the lead role is given to singer Norah Jones, who having just finished a relationship makes friends with café owner, played by Jude Law with a Mancunian accent. Not wanting to fall in love, she takes off across America working in bars and diners. Here she meets characters with their own relationship problems: the always excellent David Strathairn plays a drunk cop who can’t face the fact that his wife (Rachel Weisz); Natalie Portman as a hustling gambler who can’t talk to her father and, her own denial of her affections for the pieman.





Jones does a commendable job in her first acting role, Law is Law, Portman and Weisz do their best with the characters, but the main problem is you don’t really care about any of them, with maybe the exception of Strathairn’s, which is a shame for such a nice looking film.


But after the film it was party time. I left at 1.30 (the smoking was getting too much for me. After just a few months of the UK smoking ban it was really strange to see people smoking in public places) and it was just starting to warm up. On the short walk back to the hotel it was clear that Thessaloniki is a nocturnal city.