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28-534: The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival focuses on independent documentary film and emerging documentarists from around the world. TDF is one of the leading documentary festivals globally, with an audience measuring up to 85.000 yearly. TDF is held at the historical “Olympion” theater at the central Thessaloniki Aristotelous Square , at four theaters housed at two restored warehouses at the Thessaloniki Port, and at cinemas across Thessaloniki. The festival hub

56-659: A Virtual Reality films competition section. In 2018 TDF became one of the 28 festivals included in the American Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Sciences Documentary Feature Qualifying Festival List; the film that wins TDF's “Golden Alexander” award for the Best Documentary in the International Competition section is automatically eligible to submit for Oscar consideration (Documentary Feature category). In 2020, TDF's 22nd edition

84-722: A Christmas tree, the municipality of Thessaloniki also decorates a giant Christmas ship , which is a Greek variant of the custom of decorating a Christmas tree. Both the Christmas tree and the Christmas boat are over 20 meters tall and are considered a tourist attraction for visitors to the city at the time they are up. Since its creation, the square has been used for a number of important party rallies. Many former Prime Ministers of Greece have given their main address from Aristotelous Square, including Andreas Papandreou , Costas Karamanlis and George Papandreou . Apart from partisan action, there have also been numerous demonstrations in

112-512: A marina or a similar extension of the square onto waterfront, as well as a wheel similar to the London Eye in London . Up to date, no official redevelopment scheme has been made official. The former mayor of Thessaloniki , Yannis Boutaris , had mentioned in his electoral campaign that Thessaloniki would undergo a major redevelopment to bring it into the 21st century. Due to its location in

140-592: Is Warehouse C, located at the city port. The Thessaloniki Documentary Festival was founded in 1999, an initiative of Dimitri Eipides , who served as TDF's director until 2016. TDF's initial edition was organized with the contribution of an honorary international committee, consisting of prominent film auteurs as Chantal Ackerman , Judith Elek , Marceline Loridan-Ivens , Johan van der Keuken , Robert Kramer , Alexandr Sokurov , Frederick Wiseman , D.A. Pennebaker and others. Since its 19th edition in 2017, TDF features competition sections, while from 2018 on, TDF hosts

168-457: Is also a member of: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , European Film Academy , and Academie Francaise du Cinema . He has taught as a visiting professor/tutor at Harvard , Yale , UCLA , Columbia University , University of Colorado , Universidad de Caracas , Universidad de la Havana , FEMIS (French film school), Moscow International Film School , Istanbul University , and Southern Mediterranean Cinema School . Sauper born in

196-461: Is the main city square of Thessaloniki , Greece and is located on Nikis avenue (on the city's waterfront), in the city center. It was designed by French architect Ernest Hébrard in 1918, but most of the square was built in the 1950s. Many buildings surrounding the central square have since been renovated and its northern parts were largely restored in the 2000s. The twelve buildings that make up Aristotelous Square have been listed buildings of

224-582: The Greek people 's disapproval of the NATO bombing and to show their support for the Serbian people . Many other demonstrations have been held in the square in recent years on a variety of subjects ranging from religious affairs, education reforms and the economic crisis . When the first buildings in the square were constructed in the late 1950s, the square was served by Thessaloniki's extensive tram network but

252-654: The Hellenic Republic since 1950. The history of Aristotelous Square begins with the Great Fire of 1917 that destroyed two thirds of the city of Thessaloniki . Before the Great Fire of 1917, the city lacked much of what was considered to be 'essential' in European architecture. Until 1912, Thessaloniki had been part of Ottoman Turkey for almost 500 years. Under Ottoman rule, the city grew without

280-687: The Tyrolean Alps, Austria in 1966 as son of inn keepers, musicians. His father, Anton Hubertus Sauper is a writer and painter. Maria, his mother, is a passionate singer and works occasionally on humanitarian missions in the Balkans. Sauper has spent his adult life in Italy, Southern California - USA, Great Britain, Tanzania, Zaire (now DR Congo) Sudan, South Sudan. His permanent home is since 1995 in Paris and Burgundy, France. Sauper studied photography in

308-729: The US, then film directing at the University of Fine Arts in Vienna , and the Universite de Paris . He was also a guest student at the FEMIS after receiving an ERASMUS grant. His Cinema thesis, published in Vienna, was entitled: "Film as testament", and focused on the three last films of the directors Cyril Collard , Andrey Tarkovsky , and Joris Ivens ("Die Verdichtung"). Sauper graduated with

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336-843: The USA. Sauper is famed for his political documentary films, shot in cinema verite style. He earned worldwide recognition for his film's expression, content, and aesthetics. His films are usually controversial for their explicit political, social, and poetic expression. Sauper's film Darwin's Nightmare was nominated for best documentary at the Oscars, and he has been awarded for his work with more than 50 international film prizes. His two latest documentaries have received twelve International Film Prizes. He acted in several short films and two feature-length films: In The Circle Of The Iris , directed by Peter Patzak , (with Philippe Léotard ), and Blue Distance , directed by Peter Schreiner . Hubert Sauper

364-543: The ancient Roman agora at the same spot were the Civic Square was planned. Since the first concept designs by Hébrard in 1918, his designs for Aristotelous Square were simplified considerably. Instead of the original elaborate designs, the façades that were built in the 1950s were much more modest, due to the financial situation of the country at the time and the decision of the Venizelos government in 1918 to fund

392-612: The city's connection with the Byzantine Empire . This style is most evident at Aristotelous Square, with a few building facades implementing some of Hébrard's original ideas. Additionally, a statue of Alexander the Great was to be placed in the middle of the square. Hébrard designed the monumental axis so that looking uphill from the square one could see the city's Byzantine walls and the Upper Town. Also visible from

420-1048: The following tributes: 22nd TDF – 2020 Animated documentaries Anthropocene Memes 21st TDF – 2019 Wang Bing Gustav Deutsch Spotlight: Eduardo Williams Carte Blanche: Louie Psichoyos Why Look at Animals? 20th TDF – 2018 Agnès Varda Verena Paravel & Lucien Castaing-Taylor ’68 beyond ‘68 Carte Blanche: Sara Driver 19th TDF – 2017 Vitaly Mansky John Berger Angela Ricci Lucchi & Yervant Gianikian Short Doc Experiments Oberhausen Carte Blanche: Dimitri Eipides 18th TDF – 2016 Jong Bang Carlsen Mark Cousins 17th TDF – 2015 Hubert Sauper Alexandru Solomon 16th TDF – 2014 Peter Wintonick Nicolas Philibert 15th TDF – 2013 Patricio Guzman 15 Years TDF: A Fascinating Journey 14th TDF – 2012 Eyal Sivan Angelos Abazoglou Spotlight: with Remarkable People Docville Aristotelous Square Aristotelous Square ( Greek : Πλατεία Αριστοτέλους , IPA: [plaˈtia aristoˈtelus] ),

448-482: The guidance of a general plan for expansion and had narrow streets. The absence of squares in pre-1917 Thessaloniki was addressed by Ernest Hébrard , who proposed a number of large squares in the city, including Megalou Alexandrou Square ("Alexander the Great Square"), now Aristotelous Square. Ernest Hébrard envisioned a monumental axis for Thessaloniki that stretched from what is now Aristotelous Square on

476-773: The heart of the city, the square is used for almost all major celebrations, including that of the lighting of the official Christmas tree of Thessaloniki and the New Year countdown. Every year the municipality organizes the Celebration of the Angels ( Greek : Γιορτή των Αγγέλων), which is the official lighting ceremony for the Christmas tree and is accompanied by other festive activities, including bands , choirs , popular Greek singers and fireworks displays . Similar celebrations are organized annually on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day . Following Greek traditions, apart from

504-537: The left is Electra Palace Hotel, which is one of the best five-star hotels in Thessaloniki and on the right is one of the city's most famous movie theaters, the Olympion Theatre cinema, site of the annual Thessaloniki International Film Festival . It also houses a very popular bar of the same name. There is no redevelopment currently under consideration, but numerous proposals have been submitted over

532-415: The past twenty years. When Thessaloniki became the European capital of culture during 1997, the city council put together an organizing committee for the redevelopment of the waterfront of the city, including the redevelopment of Aristotelous Square. Of the many designs that were presented to the committee, some of them were very radical and others less so. In almost all proposals, there were provisions for

560-486: The project from private sources and not the government. Today, Aristotelous Square is one of the most famous places in all of Greece and almost synonymous with the city of Thessaloniki itself. The square plays an important role in the sociopolitical life not only of the city, but of the wider country as well. Numerous large rallies and political speeches have been organized in Aristotelous Square, such as

588-423: The rally for Macedonia in 1992 (see further below ). Additionally the square is used for many cultural events, such as festivals and the annual Christmas and carnival celebrations. It is an important tourist attraction for the city, and the numerous cafes and bars that line up the square make it popular with the younger generations. The two quarter-circle sides of the square are occupied by important buildings. On

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616-509: The seafront to Dikastirion Square and the Roman Forum. The axis began at Aristotelous Square, which was intended to be named after Alexander the Great. Throughout his plan for Thessaloniki, Hébrard implemented an element that was missing from the pre-1917 architecture of the city: imposing façades . For the monumental axis, the architect used elements from Byzantine and Western architecture rather than Ottoman architecture , to stress

644-566: The service was discontinued in 1957. Since then, the only means of public transportation to and from Aristotle Square is by the buses of the Thessaloniki Urban Transport Organization (OASTH). The city's horse shoe shape and the square's location within the city center make it easily reachable by OASTH, with many lines passing either through Aristotelous or by Venizelou Square . Additionally, there are taxi stands on Mitropoleos Street (a street which "cuts"

672-444: The square in half), in front of the Olympion Theatre. The under-construction Thessaloniki Metro will have one station near Aristotelous Square, at Venizelou Street, a short walk away from Aristotelous on Egnatia Avenue . Other means of transportation that have been proposed are ferry services to the other pivotal points of coastal Thessaloniki. Because of its resemblance to a bottle when viewed from above, an aerial photograph of

700-677: The square that were not backed by any particular party. Under the nationalist rush against the Republic of Macedonia in the early 1990s over the Macedonia naming dispute , a huge demonstration was organized in the square in February 1992 "to show support for the Greekness of Macedonia ". During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia , a large demonstration also took place in the square that reaffirmed

728-703: The square was recently used in an advertisement for Absolut Vodka . Hubert Sauper Hubert Sauper (born 27 July 1966) is an Austrian documentary filmmaker , director, writer, producer, and actor best known for Darwin's Nightmare (2004) which was nominated for an Academy Award . Sauper has lived in the UK, Italy, and the United States and now lives in France. He studied film directing in universities in Vienna and France. He teaches film classes in Europe and

756-530: The square would be what Hébrard called the Place Civique or Civic Square, which would be the city's administrative heart along European lines: it would feature the City Hall on the left, the court houses on the right and a grand triumphant arch leading uphill from the Civic Square. This part of the design was never realized due to a lack of funds, although following archeological excavations unearthed

784-982: Was held online from May 19 to May 28, for the first time in the festival's history, due to the global coronavirus pandemic . The 25th edition was held in March 2023. In mourning of the Tempi train crash , all ceremonies and festive events were cancelled. The 26th edition is scheduled to take place from 7 to 17 March 2024. It will present 36 films across three competition sections, with 35 of them having their world, international or European premieres. Leading documentarists that have attended TDF include Barbara Kopple , Kim Longinotto , Pirjo Honkasalo , Louie Psichoyos , Joe Berlinger , Bruce Sinofsky , Jennifer Fox , Claire Simon , Helena Třeštíková , Albert & David Maysles , Heddy Honigmann , Talal Derki and others. Each year, TDF presents tributes and retrospectives to acclaimed auteurs and documentary movements. TDF has so far held

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