Faithful to its established annual appointment, the 55th Thessaloniki International Film Festival will take place October 31 to November 9, 2014. With renewed vision and a strong dedication to independent cinema, the Festival will once more invite both film makers and the audience to a special celebration of film.

Films from all over the world, cinematic surprises, distinguished guests, tributes, Master Classes, round table discussions and parallel events will comprise the ten day event, transforming the city of Thessaloniki into a place of discovery and productive dialogue on the Seventh Art.

Three exceptional contemporary directors and one of cinema’s most distinguished actresses will be honored during this year’s festival: German actress and singer Hanna Schygulla will attend the festival and will be given an award for her contribution to film, while tributes will be presented to the work of Swedish director Roy Andersson, Hungarian Kornél Mundruczó and American Ramin Bahrani. It should be noted that the latter two will also attend the event.

HANNA SCHYGULLA

“I am who I am” – The Marriage of Maria Brown

Iconic actress and singer Hanna Schygulla is honored this year by TIFF, in co-operation with the Goethe Institute- Thessaloniki. Schygulla first rose to fame during her collaboration with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, becoming one of the most groundbreaking European actresses and the muse of the New German Cinema. She then carved a singular path of her own, working with auteurs like Volker Schlöndorff, Jean Luc Godard, Ettore Scola, Andrzej Wajda and Margarethe von Trotta, eventually adding to her cinematic work that of singing. Three Fassbinder films (The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant, Lili Marleen and The Marriage of Maria Brown) will be screened as part of the tribute, as well as a collection of short films curated by Schygulla herself.
Ms Schygulla will receive on Friday, November 7, at Olympion theatre an award for her contribution to the art of film and will present a short concert performing some of her chansons. The performance will be followed by Anne Imbert’s documentary on the life of Schygulla called Whatever the Dream.

ROY ANDERSSON

At the crossroads of tragedy and comedy lies the work of Swedish director Roy Andersson, whose cinematic universe is one of surrealism, sarcasm, absurdity and charm. With a career that spans over more than forty years, he has directed five feature films, all of which will be screened as part of the tribute to his work. His multi-award winning debut film A Swedish Lover Story (1970), influenced by the Czech New Wave, depicts the love story of two teenagers and their relatives’ reactions to it. Giliap (1975), a hybrid of different film genres, narrates the interactions and relationships among the employees of a hotel. After an absence of twenty-five years, Andersson returned triumphantly with Songs from the Second Floor (2000), a dark comedy that ridicules contemporary society’s paranoia. You, the Living (2007) is an exploration of the mystery of life that oscillates between pessimism and hope. His most recent film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014) touches upon themes like mortality, old age and love and concludes the director’s “trilogy about being a human being”.

RAMIN BAHRANI

39-year old Ramin Bahrani, one of the most notable new independent directors and writers, was born in the USA by Iranian parents. His is a humane cinema, natural and unpretentious, that observes and comments on contemporary American society via his every-day main characters and their stories on the fringes of life.
The collapse of the American dream and the moral crisis are at the heart of Bahrani’s concerns. His most recent film, 99 Homes (2014), starring Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon, is a comment on the capitalist system’s fierce disregard of human life and value. In At Any Price (2012) Bahrani uses one family’s story to criticize American ethical decadence, in the tradition of The Death of a Salesman and the Grapes of Wrath. Set in South Carolina, Bahrani’s birth place, Goodbye Solo (2008) traces the changes in behaviour, mores and traditions of a society in flux. The harsh reality of two teenage immigrants becomes a film about the power of solidarity and humanism in the documentary-like Chop Shop (2007), while another immigrant, an adult this time, becomes a modern-day Sisyphus living in the streets of New York in Bahrani’s debut feature film Man Push Cart (2005). Bahrani will be a guest of the Festival, and will present a masterclass.

KORNÉL MUNDRUCZÓ

Also 39 years old, Hungarian director, actor and screenwriter Kornél Mundruczó almost defies characterization. Influenced by Béla Tarr and Miklós Jancsó, Mundruczó’s work appears freed from predefined rules and narrative constraints. At once tough and lyrical, his daring contemporary dramas stand as critiques of a society on fire.
A statement of solidarity for marginal and oppressed people, as Mundruczó himself notes, White God (2014) follows the revolt of a 13-year-old’s dog against humans, whereas Tender Son – The Frankenstein Project (2010) takes inspiration from the Frankenstein myth to narrate the story of a 17-year-old’s violent outburst against his unloving family. A love story among two half-siblings is the beautifully shot Delta (2008), a modern version of Joan of Arc’s story is the musical Johanna (2005) with a young drug addict as the protagonist, and a prime representative of tough realism is Mundruczó’s debut film Pleasant Days (2002) that follows a group of young people in their financial and moral decline. Mundruczó will also attend the Festival.

The Films:

Hanna Schygulla Tribute:
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant / Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany, 1972, 124’
Lili Marleen, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany, 1981, 120’
The Marriage of Maria Brown / Die Ehe der Maria Brown, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, West Germany, 1979, 120’

Roy Andersson Tribute:
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence / En Duva Satt Pa En Gren Och Funderade Pa Tillvaron, Sweden, Germany, Norway, France, 2014, 101’
A Swedish Love Story / En Karlekshistoria, Sweden, 1970, 114’
Giliap, Sweden, 1975, 130’
Songs from the Second Floor / Sanger Fran Andra Vaningen, Sweden, 2000, 94’
You, the Living / Du Levande, Sweden, 2007, 94’

Ramin Bahrani Tribute:
99 Homes, USA, 2014, 112’
Chop Shop, USA, 2007, 84’
Dogs, USA, 2005, 5’
Goodbye Solo, USA, 2008, 91’
Lemonade War, USA, 2014, 7’
Lift You Up, USA, 2014, 8’
Man Push Cart, USA, 2005, 87’
Plastic Bag, USA, 2009, 18’
Sigur Ros: Eg Anda, USA, 2012, 7’

Kornél Mundruczó Tribute:
Delta, Hungary, Germany, 2008, 92’
Johanna, Hungary, 2005, 86’
Pleasant Days / Szep Napok, Hungary, 2002, 100’
Tender Son: The Frankenstein Project / Szeli’d Teremte’s – A Frankenstein-Terv, Hungary, Germany, Austria, 2010, 105’
White God / Feher Isten, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, 2014, 119’