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39-397: The Thessaloniki International Film Festival focuses on independent cinema and emerging filmmakers from around the world. The festival serves as an essential platform for film professionals from Greece and Southeast Europe. The event attracts an audience of more than 80.000. Hundreds of Greek and foreign guests, including major figures of the international film scene, have attended TIFF. TIFF

78-722: 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

117-646: A Kraszna-Krausz Book Award for best book of the year on the moving image. In 1988, Ondaatje was made an Officer of the Order of Canada which was later upgraded to grade of Companion in 2016, the highest level of the order and two years later a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters . In 2005, he received Sri Lanka Ratna , the highest honour given by the Government of Sri Lanka for foreign nationals. In 2008, he received

156-530: A documentary on poet B.P. Nichol , Sons of Captain Poetry , and The Clinton Special: A Film About The Farm Show , which chronicles a collaborative theatre experience led in 1971 by Paul Thompson of Theatre Passe Muraille . In 2002, Ondaatje published a non-fiction book, The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film , which won special recognition at the 2003 American Cinema Editors Awards, as well as

195-512: 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

234-712: A novelist and academic, co-edit Brick, A Literary Journal , with Michael Redhill , Michael Helm , and Esta Spalding . Ondaatje served as a founding member of the board of trustees of the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry from 2000 to 2018. He established the Gratiaen Trust in Sri Lanka that annually awards the Gratiaen Prize . Ondaatje has two children with his first wife, Canadian artist Kim Ondaatje . His brother Sir Christopher Ondaatje

273-714: Is held at the historical “Olympion” theater at the central Thessaloniki Aristotelous Square and, since 1999, at the Thessaloniki port , in four theaters housed at two newly-restored warehouses. The festival hub is Warehouse C, located at the city port; several sidebar events take place at the Thessaloniki Cinema Museum, also part of the Thessaloniki Film Festival Cultural Institution. TIFF comprises three competition sections: International Competition for

312-461: 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

351-767: The Booker Prize , the Canada Australia Prize , and the Governor General's Award . It was adapted as a motion picture, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and multiple other awards. In the Skin of a Lion (1987), a novel about early immigrants in Toronto, was the winner of the 1988 City of Toronto Book Award , finalist for the 1987 Ritz Paris Hemingway Award for best novel of

390-609: The Governor General's Award for The Collected Works of Billy the Kid (1970) and There's a Trick With a Knife I'm Learning to Do: Poems 1973–1978 (1979). Anil's Ghost (2000) was the winner of the 2000 Giller Prize , the Prix Médicis , the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, the 2001 Irish Times International Fiction Prize and Canada's Governor General's Award . The English Patient (1992) won

429-582: 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

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468-654: 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

507-482: The University of Toronto receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1965, followed by a Master of Arts from Queen's University at Kingston . The poet D. G. Jones noted his poetic ability. Ondaatje began teaching English at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario . In 1971, he taught English literature at Glendon College , York University . Ondaatje has published 13 books of poetry, and won

546-572: The shooting attack on the magazine's Paris offices in January 2015. Ondaatje, along with 60 other writers, signed a letter to PEN expressing concern that the award valorized "selectively offensive material: material that intensifies the anti-Islamic, anti-Maghreb, anti-Arab sentiments already prevalent in the Western world." Since the 1960s, Ondaatje has been a poetry editor for Toronto's Coach House Books . Ondaatje and his wife, Linda Spalding ,

585-458: The 2007 Governor General's Award . In 2011 Ondaatje worked with Daniel Brooks to create a play based on this novel. In 2018, his novel Warlight was longlisted for the Booker Prize . The Collected Works of Billy the Kid , Coming Through Slaughter and Divisadero have been adapted for the stage and produced in theatrical productions across North America and Europe. In addition to The English Patient adaptation, Ondaatje's films include

624-532: The Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement . In 2016, a new species of spider, Brignolia ondaatjei , discovered in Sri Lanka, was named after him. In April 2015, Ondaatje was one of several members of PEN American Center who withdrew as literary host when the organization gave its annual Freedom of Expression Courage award to Charlie Hebdo . The award came in the wake of

663-1012: The Kid . His novel The English Patient (1992), adapted into a film in 1996 won the 2018 Golden Man Booker Prize . Ondaatje has been "fostering new Canadian writing" with two decades commitment to Coach House Press (ca. 1970–1990), and his editorial credits include the journal Brick , and the Long Poem Anthology (1979), among others. Ondaatje was born in Colombo , Sri Lanka , in 1943, to Major Mervyn Ondaatje and Doris Gratiaen of Tamil and Burgher descent ( Dutch and Sinhalese ). In 1954, he re-joined his mother in England . where he attended Dulwich College . He emigrated to Montreal , Quebec , in 1962, studying at Bishop's College School and Bishop's University in Lennoxville , Quebec , for three years. He attended

702-1127: The Wave Breaks: the Road to New Romanian Cinema 58th Festival – 2017 Ruben Östlund Ildikó Enyedi Armand Gatti Ida Lupino From Words to Images: Balkan Literature and Cinema 57th Festival – 2016 Philippe Grandrieux Leonardo Favio Zeki Demirkubuz 56th Festival – 2015 Arnaud Desplechin Focus on New Austrian films Mircea Daneliuc 55th Festival – 2014 Ramin Bahrani Roy Andersson Kornél Mundruczó Želimir Žilnik 54th Festival – 2013 Contemporary Argentine Cinema Claire Simon Alain Guiraudie Balkan Survey 1994-2013 53rd Festival – 2012 Aki Kaurismäki Andreas Dresen Aristotelous Square Aristotelous Square ( Greek : Πλατεία Αριστοτέλους , IPA: [plaˈtia aristoˈtelus] ),

741-543: 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

780-612: 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

819-760: The domestic film production, the festival presents independent films, premieres and tributes to major Greek and international filmmakers while hosting a large number of sidebar events. Leading filmmakers that have attended TIFF include Abbas Kiarostami , Nagisa Oshima , Nanni Moretti , Bernardo Bertolucci , Manoel de Oliveira , Ken Loach , Agnès Varda , Béla Tarr , Todd Solondz , Nuri Bilge Ceylan , Francis Ford Coppola , Wim Wenders , Alfonso Cuarón , Oliver Stone , Emir Kusturica , Fatih Akin , Werner Herzog , Takeshi Kitano , Michael Winterbottom , Aki Kaurismäki , Jim Jarmusch , Alexander Payne , Louie Psihoyos and John Waters . Acclaimed actors, actresses and artists who visited TIFF either as guests or as member of

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858-578: The festival juries include Catherine Deneuve , Harvey Keitel , Faye Dunaway , Isabelle Huppert , John Malkovich , Willem Dafoe , Sam Rockwell , Michael Ondaatje and Jean Marc Barr . TIFF has held the following tributes to acclaimed auteurs, national cinemas and movements: 60th Festival – 2019 Gregory Markopoulos and Robert Beavers Albert Serra Joanna Hogg Dušan Makavejev 59th Festival – 2018 Jaime Rosales yyyoungcut Nanouk Leopold Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña Greek Queer Cinema Iordanis Ananiadis Before

897-671: The first or second feature film by emerging directors; “Meet the Neighbors” International Competition, for films from the region spanning from Southeast Europe to the Near East ; and Virtual Reality (VR) Competition. Agora is the developmental section of the Thessaloniki Film Festival, reaching out to international film professionals. Agora is one of the most dynamic and constantly growing film markets globally. The Thessaloniki Film Festival

936-482: 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

975-773: 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

1014-537: 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

1053-415: 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

1092-486: 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

1131-423: 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

1170-509: 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

1209-566: 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"

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1248-444: 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

1287-677: 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

1326-447: The square was recently used in an advertisement for Absolut Vodka . Michael Ondaatje Philip Michael Ondaatje CC FRSL ( / ɒ n ˈ d ɑː tʃ iː / ; born 12 September 1943) is a Sri Lankan -born Canadian poet, fiction writer and essayist. Ondaatje's literary career began with his poetry in 1967, publishing The Dainty Monsters , and then in 1970 the critically acclaimed The Collected Works of Billy

1365-530: 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

1404-558: The work of world cinema auteurs. After the political changeover that followed the 7-year Greek military regime (1967-1974), the festival was intensely politicized, reflecting the political climate of the day, yet keeping its focus on art-house cinema. The event was subject to the Ministry of Trade by 1981 when it came under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture. Following a new national law on cinema, an artistic director

1443-670: The year in English, and winner of the first Canada Reads competition in 2002. Coming Through Slaughter (1976), is a novel set in New Orleans, Louisiana , circa 1900, loosely based on the lives of jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden and photographer E. J. Bellocq . It was the winner of the 1976 Books in Canada First Novel Award . Running in the Family (1982) is a childhood memoir. Ondaatje's novel Divisadero won

1482-462: Was appointed in 1986. In 1992, during its 33rd edition, TIFF became an international festival under the artistic direction of film critic Michalis Demopoulos . Film director Theo Angelopoulos was appointed president. Since then, the festival has been committed to international independent cinema and the discovery of promising voices from around the world and from the Balkans . Further to showcasing

1521-435: Was launched as a national film festival in 1960 under the name “Greek Film Week” with the contribution of “Techni” Macedonian Art Society. The event was renamed “Thessaloniki Greek Film Festival” in 1966 and continued as a national film festival until 1991. During these years, the festival closely followed the trends of the national film production, its program highlighting the emergence of the “New Greek Cinema”, while showcasing

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