Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2025 to explore AI and recent Greek history

The 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival (TiDF) is gearing up for an action-packed 10-day event, running from 6-16 March 2025. This year’s festival will screen 261 documentaries, featuring 72 world premieres.

“The Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival takes place this year in a critical moment for our broader neighbourhood, Europe, but also for the whole world,” the Festival’s team, including General Director Elise Jalladeau, said in a statement. According to the organisers, the films screened “portray and unveil what we experience in our precarious times” and, crucially, “urge us to take a good hard look at the raw reality and reappraise the preciousness of cinema, while reminding us that truth can never be relevant or dubious”.

Opening the festival on 6 March is About a Hero (2024) by Piotr Winiewicz, a fascinating film based on a script written by an AI trained on the works of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog. This unique film will surely set the tone for a festival that promises to challenge perceptions and push creative boundaries.

Closing the event will be Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (2025), a documentary directed by Shoshannah Stern about the first deaf recipient of an Academy Award for acting, Marlee Matlin.

A highlight of the festival will be the tribute to Artificial Intelligence, titled AI: An Inevitable Intelligence – delving into the shifting boundaries between the man-made and the digital world, inviting viewers to reflect on AI’s growing presence in our daily lives.

This exciting exploration includes a selection of thought-provoking documentaries and an intriguing visual installation called 'LAUREN: Anyone Home?' by artist Lauren Lee McCarthy. Additionally, there will be a special AI-themed masterclass for filmmakers and – in the spirit of experimentation – the Festival’s magazine, First Shot, will be co-created this year with the help of AI. 

The festival will also feature a special tribute titled "Geography of the Gaze: Off-Plan Greece (1950-2000)”. This collection of 19 documentary films offers a unique exploration of Greece’s social, political, and cultural life in the latter half of the 20th century.

Highlighting rare and lesser-known works, the tribute includes the recently rediscovered Kastoria (1969) by Takis Kanellopoulos, along with Gazaros Serron (1974) and Prespes (1966) by Takis Hatzopoulos.

Previous tributes include LGBTQI+ documentary cinema and films focusing on Thessaloniki's Jewish community.

This year’s festival will also shine a spotlight on two prominent filmmakers, Nicolas Philibert and Lauren Greenfield. Philibert, known for his usually moving documentaries, will also host a masterclass, while Greenfield will present her impactful films, which critique the toxic side of hyperconsumerism.

In addition to the tributes, the festival will feature a range of competition sections, including the International Competition, Newcomers Competition, and Film Forward, which showcases experimental works. The festival will also highlight Greek documentaries, with 71 films on offer overall. A particularly anticipated screening will be premiere of Mysterious Deaths in Ancient Greece: Olympias. Thirst for Power (2025), a chilling investigation into the deaths of ancient Greek figures.

If you’re unable to attend in person, make some popcorn and stream some cinematic gems on the festival’s digital platform.

The 27th Thessaloniki International Documentary Film Festival runs from 6-16 March 2025.