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EXCLUSIVE: Twelve new works including a feature-length pic from Palestinian filmmaker Laila Abbas will screen as part of the Meet The Neighbors+ competition sidebar at this year’s Thessaloniki Film Festival.
The jury for this year’s Meet The Neighbors+ comp will feature Ukrainian filmmaker Maryna Er Gorbach, actress Manal Awad, and distributor Vassilis Sourrapas.
The top prize in the Meet The Neighbors+ comp is the Golden Alexander “Michel Demopoulos” for Best Full-length Feature Film. The gong comes with a 10,000-euro cash prize, which is shared equally between the producer and film director. The Silver Alexander – Best Director Award comes with a 5,000-euro cash prize.
Abbas’ Thank You for Banking With Us is a Palestine-Germany-Saudi Arabia-Qatar-Egypt co-production. The film will arrive in Greece after screening at the London Film Festival. Abbas, a filmmaker and academic, first gained international attention in 2013 with the doc feature Ice & Dust. The Thank You for Banking With Us synopsis reads: When their father passes away leaving a large sum of money in the bank, two sisters put their differences aside and join forces against Sharia law, according to which their brother has the right to take double what they are entitled to.
There are four projects in Meet The Neighbors with Greek producers. The winner of the 2023 Meet the Neighbors Competition was Murderess by Eva Nathena.
Check out the full 2024 lineup below.
Hunt, Christos Pitharas, Greece, 73΄
Yannis, a lonely man, finds comfort in hunting and working on handmade jewelry. His next-door neighbor, Elias, mistreats his dog constantly. While Elias works night shifts, the dog is kept on the balcony barking, keeping Yannis awake. When Yannis’s estranged mother dies, he falls apart. The collision with Elias will be inevitable.
Killerwood, Christos Massalas, Greece, 84΄
Titos, a young director, is preparing his new film – a thriller investigating a series of unsolved murders in modern-day Athens. Could these killings be the work of a serial killer? Is it only fiction?
Riviera, Orfeas Peretzis, Greece-France, 84΄
A dying palm tree, a doomed summer romance, and a mother who wants to move on. This will be Alkistis’ last summer on the Athenian Riviera.
The Exiles, Belén Funes, Spain-Chile, 108΄
Anabel and her mother, Delia, grieve for Julián, Anabel’s father. An eviction notice forces them out of their Barcelona home and back to the olive groves of Jaén which they once left looking for a better future. Together, they will look for a way to rebuild their future by going back to their abandoned roots.
Holy Electricity, Tato Kotetishvili, Georgia-The Netherlands, 95΄
When young Gonga and his cousin Bart find a suitcase full of rusty crosses in a scrap yard, Bart gets the idea to turn them into neon crucifixes and sell them door-to-door to the gullible inhabitants of Tbilisi. Their crusade through the suburbs of the city becomes a quest for love and friendship.
Ink Wash, Sarra Tsorakidis, Romania-Greece-Denmark, 89΄
Between the mountains, lakes and trees, far away from her real life, she fell in love with the one she least expected – herself. When her work partner can’t join her on the job, Lena is forced to take on the biggest hotel she ever had to paint and, in doing so, opens herself up and discovers her inner strength and moral values.
The Mohican, Frédéric Farrucci, France, 87΄
In the Corsica of overtourism and the contractor mafia, a shepherd who maintains his herd in a privileged spot, on the sea, receives multiple threats by the mafia – yet he opposes them. When he commits a murder defending himself during a skirmish with a henchman, both the mafia and the police launch a manhunt across the island. But the fugitive will find allies in the most unexpected of people; his activist niece, as well as the community of humble islanders who take him under their wing, dubbing him “the Mohican” – the only one standing his ground in the face of the degradation of the region. It’s not just that The Mohican is an impressively well-crafted chase film, made with the bare necessities, and breathing new life into the archetypal myth of the “simple man against a corrupt system”; what renders the film a must-see are the chilling similarities with all that occurs across the entire Mediterranean coastline, and primarily, its clear – yet never cheaply accusatory – political stance, as well as the call for solidarity and moral integrity.
New Dawn Fades, Gürcan Keltek, Türkiye-Germany-Italy-The Netherlands-Norway, 130΄
Akin is an up-and-coming actor who is hospitalized into a psychiatric facility with diagnosis of severe bipolar disorder after his graduation. After fleeing away from hospital but being unable to memorize lines, he gets fired from his work as minor roles at TV series and then at a municipality theater. Hiding his illness, he works as a guardian for children in a shopping mall’s indoor playground. His body, initially responding well to lithium, develops tolerance. As Akın loses touch with his true self, his mind shifts into another reality. He sees a dead girl whom he saw from a missing girl poster and she promises him ‘to take him to the other side’. While he’s controlled with heavy chemicals, we stroll outside, in the dark streets of the city, on the squares, among the crowds. The streets of heaped districts, where evil became banal and mercy perished, now is home to ‘devils’ and ‘demons’. They are among us now and they do exist. In the industrial districts and uncanny domiciles of Istanbul, evil gradually starts to appear.
Red Path, Lotfi Achour, Tunisia-France-Belgium-Poland-Saudi Arabia-Qatar, 100’
Mghila Mountain, Tunisia, November 2015. When a jihadist group attacks two very young shepherds, 14-year-old Ashraf is forced to take a macabre message back to his family. Traumatized and trying not to lose his mind, Ashraf finds himself confronted with the powerlessness of his elders, abandoned by the authorities. Inspired by true events, Red Path is a dreamlike plunge into the wounded psyche of a child and his incredible ability to overcome trauma.
Thank You for Banking With Us, Laila Abbas, Palestine-Germany-Saudi Arabia- Qatar-Egypt, 92΄
When their father passes away leaving a large sum of money in the bank, two sisters put their differences aside and join forces against Sharia law, according to which their brother has the right to take double what they are entitled to.
Vittoria, Alessandro Cassigoli, Casey Kauffman, Italy, 80΄
Jasmine is 40 and has everything she ever wanted: a devoted husband, three loving sons, and a thriving hair salon just south of Naples. But after her father’s death, she experiences a recurring dream in which a young girl runs into her arms, offering Jasmine a new sense of fulfillment and completeness she can’t ignore. She decides to follow her dream of a daughter and dives headfirst into the challenging world of international adoption – risking her marriage, her sons’ well-being, and her own moral compass along the way. The entire family is in crisis, until they finally realize that the only way out is together. Based on true events and featuring non-professional actors portraying their own lives, Vittoria delves deep into the complexities of family dynamics and the seemingly irrational desires of the human psyche.
U Are the Universe, Pavlo Ostrikov, Ukraine-Belgium, 102’
The near future. A Ukrainian space trucker, Andriy Melnyk, transports nuclear waste on the cargo ship to the abandoned Jupiter’s moon Callisto. During his routine flight, the Earth explodes, but Andriy manages to survive. Andriy becomes the last person in the universe until French woman Catherine calls him from the faraway space station. Andriy decides to see her despite all the obstacles.
The jury is comprised by filmmaker Maryna Er Gorbach, actress Manal Awad, and distributor Vassilis Sourrapas
The Awards
· Golden Alexander “Michel Demopoulos” – Best Full-length Feature Film Award, accompanied by a 10,000-euro cash prize; the amount is shared equally between the producer and the director of the film
· Silver Alexander – Best Director Award, accompanied by a 5,000-euro cash prize; the amount is offered to the director of the film.
· Best Actor Award
· Best Actress Award
· The Jury may also award a Best Screenplay Award or a Best Artistic Achievement Award
· The Jury may moreover award a maximum of two mentions.
