The sense of relief that suffused the 62nd Thessaloniki International Film Festival could be felt throughout the city’s repurposed old port, not just in the festival locations but in the favorite bars, restaurants and hangouts of the cinema crowd who palpably relished their return to a beloved city. Let’s be honest: San Sebastián and Thessaloniki vie for the prize of favorite European fest locale, with both events sitting on the cusp of seasonal changes that add a special carpe diem factor to the general pleasure of re-connecting with colleagues and friends (it’s too much of a truism to also note the culinary delights of both cities, since conversations at both festivals famously give equal weight to food and movies). Seen in light of the disturbing rise in new COVID infections not just in Greece but in particular around the Thessaloniki’s area, the return of a live edition was something of a miracle, one which few took for granted.
As with most pandemic-era festivals, tickets were required for each screening on top of the badge and a wristband proving vaccination status, though unlike many other events these days, seats were not assigned. The theaters needed to be disinfected following every screening, which required more time between shows. In consequence, fewer films than usual were shown on the big screen and fest-goers generally had only one opportunity to catch them. Online viewing took up the slack, with a wide-ranging program that enabled accredited guests to catch most of what they wanted to see. As in past years, the festival’s commendable attention to its local audience meant a strong line-up of films that premiered earlier and not in Thessaloniki, but this is hardly a criticism, and only the most churlish would begrudge the opportunity to catch titles missed elsewhere. The industry was well-catered to with the Agora Projects and Talks.
Under general director Elise Jalladeau and director Orestis Andreadakis, the festival continues to strengthen its position as a crucible of current cinema trends and their relationship to the general cultural zeitgeist, while also connecting past and present. That was especially notable in one of this year’s beautifully produced publications, Non Catalog, in which Andreadakis introduces ten artists commissioned by the festival to reflect on Jean Renoir’s 1939 masterpiece Rules of the Game. It remains deeply questionable whether comparisons between the late 1930s and now are truly valid – every era rushes into a manure mound of its own making. But there’s something undeniably thought-provoking about his line, “The people of 2021, like those of 1939, spin around unstable axes, seek eschatological solutions, are seduced by dangerous prophecies. Trapped in their fantasies, seemingly unconcerned and deeply desperate, they find themselves at a dead end and refuse to see that randomness will soon collide with a truth that is nothing more than delusion.” I know what he means: so many delusions, so little time. But that’s what film festivals are for, no?
Andreadakis also edited a handsome large-format publication, In the Cut: Editing and its Secrets, in which major contemporary editors write about their favorite films, from Claire Atherton on Tarkovsky’s The Mirror to Panos Voutsaras on Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch. There’s also an excellent introduction to film editing by Anastasia Melia Eleftheriou and discussions of editing in key films by critics and filmmakers such as Christos Mitsis and Stella Theodorakis. The decision to print these two volumes and not a catalog (which is online) testify to Thessaloniki’s approach to festivals, foregrounding a long-lasting cinephilia through publications that won’t be left for hotel maids to throw away following check-out. Think of it as a contribution to the greening of cinema.
