The final day of the 17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival has arrived, and the names of the winners have been announced.

Although the festival is a non-competitive event, there are Audience Awards sponsored by Fischer, as well as the Amnesty International and the WWF.

Moreover, the International Federation of Film Critics awards the FIPRESCI prize for Best Greek and Best Foreign Documentary to one Greek and one foreign film.

 FISCHER AUDIENCE AWARDS 2015

 – The Peter Wintonick Audience Award for a film over 45’ in the International Selection goes to:

VIRUNGA by Orlando von Εinsiedel, UK, 2014

– The Audience Award for a film under 45’ in the International Selection goes to:

FLAME by Dress Code – Dan Covert, Andre Andreev, USA-Bulgaria, 2014

– The Audience Award for a Greek film over 45’ goes to:

PARADOXICAL FATHERLAND by Nikos Aslanidis, Greece, 2014

– The Audience Award for a Greek film under 45’ goes to:

OLYMPIA by Stavros Psillakis, Greece, 2015

 FIPRESCI AWARDS

The FIPRESCI (International Federation of Film Critics) Jury consisting of:

Massimo Lechi (Italy), president

Mo Abdi (UK)

Gia Giovani (Greece)

Yoana Pavlova (Bulgaria)

Kirsten Kieninger (Germany)

Bestows the FIPRESCI award for a Greek film to:

HAIL ARCADIA by Filippos Koutsaftis, Greece, 2015

And the FIPRESCI award for an international film to:

EVERY FACE HAS A NAME by Magnus Gertten, Sweden, 2015

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL AWARD

The Amnesty International Jury consisting of:

The representatives of the Greek Section of Amnesty International:

Katerina Kalogera (President of the Greek Section of Amnesty International)

Marianna Leondaridou (Member of the Amnesty International – Thessaloniki Team, in charge of the annual film tribute to Human Rights)

Zoi Mavroudi (Filmmaker, director of the film Ruins)

Yorgos Roussos (Journalist, film columnist at the website www.tvxs.gr)

Panayotis Dendramis (Amnesty International member, filmmaker)

Awards the best film dealing with human rights issues to:

SILVERED WATER, SYRIA SELF-PORTRAIT by Ossama Mohammed & Wiam Simav Bedirxan, France-Syria, 2014

WWF AWARD

The WWF Jury consisting of:

Yorgos Vellidis (Marketing Director WWF Greece)

Iason Kantas (Press Officer WWF Greece)

Alexandros Kandarakis (Communications collaborator WWF Greece)

Awards the best film in the HABITAT section to:

VIRUNGA by Orlando von Εinsiedel, UK, 2014

DOCS IN PROGRESS AWARD 2015

The Docs in Progress international jury, consisting of:

Peter Ηamilton (www.documentarytelevision.com, USA)

Μadeleine Avramoussis (Arte, France)

Alexandros Christoyiannis (ΟTE TV, Greece)

Awards the best documentary in the Docs in Progress session of the Doc Market to:

THE LONGEST RUN Production Company: Stefi & Lynx Director: Marianna Economou Producer: Daphne Panopoulou Co-producer: Taavi Vartia (Taavia Productions) Key Partner: NERIT Greece/ Finland

Jury rationale: “The jurors unanimously award the Docs in Progress prize to The Longest Run by Marianna Economou. The central characters, two young men, touched us with their individual plight, revealing the director’s talent for opening our hearts. The material we saw gives a human face to current tragedies of war, immigration and the crisis in European society, dealing fairly with these issues.”

The award is accompanied by a 15.000 euro award equivalent to services by the post-production company 2|35 Inc (Greece).

EDN AWARD 2014

The EDN Award is presented annually during Docs in Thessaloniki to an institution, group or person for outstanding contribution to the development of documentary culture.

The 11th EDN Award is presented to Caspar Sonnen, new media coordinator and curator of IDFA’s (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam) DocLab. He receives the award for his pioneering commitment to interactive documentary work and through this creating an outstanding contribution to the development of the European documentary culture.