Switch on to the virtual 61st Thessaloniki International Film Festival

The Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) which is running until November 15, is inviting movie lovers to watch a raft of exciting films as it celebrates its 61st anniversary.

The festival kicked off online on Thursday at the empty Olympion cinema to mark the unique circumstances of the current pandemic. The opening screening included the festival organizers’ show reel and a film, Philipp Yuryev’s ‘The Whale Hunter’.

The festival’s organisers said they wanted to bring life to the theatre without viewers, to show their love and devotion for the cinema industry, which has been dealt a blow by the pandemic’s restrictive measures.

“Ever since February 2020, our dystopian everyday life seems to be the work of a sci-fi screenwriter,” TIFF’s General Director Elise Jalladeau said.

The festival hosts 177 films from across the world, with 15 avant-premieres. It includes 18 Greek full-feature films as well as 21 Greek shorts.

“As we wheel out the festival’s online version, we don’t cease to seek new theoretical tools to interpret not just cinema and the arts, but also the very reality that surrounds us,” said TIFF’s Artistic Director, Orestis Andreadakis. “Our motto ‘Cinema, no matter what’ is a way for us to lay down some rules of our own, over the ones imposed by the new coronavirus,” he added.

Virtual attendees can buy tickets for 3 euros per film, while screening packages are also available. Film buffs can purchase tickets prior to the screening’s date to receive the viewing link via email, but the film itself is only available from 10:00 a.m. on the first day of its scheduled screening and for 24 hours after that time, for a limited number of viewings.

Tickets and more information can be found here- 61st Thessaloniki International Film Festival.

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