Introduction: In this insightful interview, Yorgos Krassakopoulos, the head of programming for the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, shares his experiences and thoughts on the evolving landscape of film festivals. With decades of experience in the industry, Krassakopoulos provides a unique perspective on the importance of regional festivals, the challenges of programming, and the impact of political and social movements on the art of cinema.
Amir Ganjavie, UniversalCinema Magazine (UM): Could you please introduce yourself and tell us about your role in your organization?
Yorgos Krassakopoulos (YK): My name is Yorgos Krassakopoulos, and I am the head of programming for both the Thessaloniki International Film Festival and the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival. It’s the same organization, but we have two festivals—one dedicated to fiction films and the other to documentaries. One takes place in November and the other one takes place in March. The documentary one is much younger. It will have its 26th edition this coming March. The fiction festival will be on its 65th edition this November. It’s by far the biggest festival in Greece and one of the largest in Southeastern Europe and the Balkans. Together with the rest of the programming team and the artistic director, I am responsible for selecting films and shaping the program for each edition.
(UM): What is the importance of regional festivals, like Transylvania Film Festival for you?
(YK): You know there are a few huge festivals around the world, the ones that we all know, like Cannes and Venice and Berlinale, which get most of the attention. But I believe that in many cases, the smaller festivals can be much more important for certain kinds of films. They are easier and more useful to attend. They might be smaller in size and publicity, but not smaller in the role that they play for filmmakers, local audiences, and the local industry as well. Especially if we’re talking about filmmakers that are not making huge commercial films but are up and coming, in the early stages of their career. It’s much easier to get recognized, to build a track record, to forge connections with colleagues and the industry in smaller festivals. It’s obviously amazing to be selected for Cannes, but playing in a more intimate festival is wonderful in terms of artistry, discovering new talent, and making meaningful connections. For example, smaller regional festivals give me the opportunity as a programmer to get to know the local filmmaking community more intimately, to create bonds, and to discover things that might get lost in a larger festival.
(UM): I know that might not be easy or might even sound like a stupid question, but what kind of movies do you call “good movies”? A movie that you would want to pick for your festival?
(YK): Well, I’ve been lucky enough to be working in this field for the best part of my life. I came from a completely different path in my original studies, but I very quickly realized that this was what I wanted to do. I have always been a film enthusiast ever since I was growing up, becoming a film critic for Cinema Magazine in Athens, Greece at a young age. Through this magazine, the Athens Film Festival was founded, which I was also programming before moving on to Thessaloniki years later. So back to your question of what makes a good film? There are, of course, some objective factors that you cannot ignore while watching a movie, like, let’s say, the technical aspects, or the acting, if we’re talking about a fiction film, the script, the production means, or the way a filmmaker chooses to tell a story. But what really makes a difference for me is something that is much harder to define. There is always a subjective factor to it, of course. But a good film is one that, when you start to watch it, you get invested in it. And when you finish watching it, somehow it just doesn’t end there. You carry it with you, you keep thinking about it, it leaves a trail in you. A good film makes you think differently and see other points of view. It has an effect on you. And I know that I probably don’t answer your question concretely, but basically, when you know, you know. It’s a bit like falling in love, I suppose. You can’t really define why, and you might not fall in love with the most beautiful person in the world, but still, there is something that makes it completely meaningful to you. And, for me, every film that I like is sort of a small love story.
(UM): And in terms of movie selection, who is making the final decision? Is it up to the artistic director? Is it a collective decision process? How is it happening in your festival?
(YK): Well, we get submissions for every section, and we have a team of programmers who do the preselection. I mean, there are always films that we are tracking, and we know that they are being made or we know that they will be premiered at a certain festival. These are already on our radar. However, there are always blind submissions, films that come to us out of nowhere, more or less. Everything gets watched by the programming team (in many cases more than one set of eyes watches the same film), and what is considered interesting or worthwhile is passed along to me and the Artistic Director. The good thing is that most of the programming team is able to work for the festival more or less full time so there is a good relationship and a very well-organized way of working together. So there is trust in everyone’s ability and ethos, and trust between the team of a festival is always very important. When we come to programming the competition sections, this is more of a collective decision because, in most cases, we initially invite films without specific sections in mind. And then, when we have a pool of films, we decide what goes to each competition section. When it comes to final or difficult decisions to be made, it’s Orestis Andreadakis, our artistic director, and I who decide together but always in consultation with the team. As for other parts of the program, like tributes and regional programming or the Greek selection, these have their own head programmers, but as in the International program’s case, discussion and dialogue are always present.
(UM): I have observed in recent years that cinema and art are becoming increasingly politicized. This shift wasn’t as evident a decade ago. With the rise of various movements, the politicization of these fields has become more pronounced. I’m curious to know how you feel about this trend and whether it impacts your festival selection.
(YK): Well, I believe that even since the beginning of cinema, every film was political in a way. Even when it was subtle, even if it was just a love story, there was always something political in it. For instance, think of Marlene Dietrich wearing a man’s suit—that, in a way, was also a political act. There are many different ways to create art and there are many different kinds of films. There are many objectives in making a film as well, from pure entertainment to making a statement. Programming a festival, you need to think of many factors: the filmmakers, your audience, the kind of cinema you want to showcase, the state of the world. You want to have a selection that addresses many subjects and themes, cinematic styles, and genres. But I think that somehow this should be done organically. None of us is living in a bubble, so the world at large informs our decisions and our points of view, whether we are filmmakers, programmers, or viewers. And cinema always reflects the world at large. It’s not about enforcing quotas or trying to tick boxes, but you have to be attuned to what’s happening around you, to the social, cultural, and political landscape. I don’t think it’s a problem. I think it’s an interesting challenge, and it’s something that makes this job so interesting. Curating a festival is a responsibility that has to be taken seriously as you give a platform for different voices to be heard and the opportunity for filmmakers to be discovered and to reach an audience.
(UM): I have spoken to people is some festivals and have realized that one of the challenges is the fragility of the working environment. There are people who just work for a few months for the festival, and the rest of the time they need to work at another festival, or they need to find another job. And this is creating a cause of concern or even health issues for them. So I’m just curious how is the situation in your festival?
(YK): This is a huge problem, and you’re absolutely right to address it. We are, in a way, incredibly lucky that we have two festivals taking place at different points in the year. And, since Thessaloniki is the biggest festival in the country, (and there is a system of supporting the arts in Greece), a big part of our budget comes from the Greek state. This offers stability and some security. We also apply and get funds from the EU, every year. We have a very good connection with our sponsors who come back every year as well. In the city of Thessaloniki, we have offices and spaces that the festival owns including two cinemas that we operate all year round. We have a cinematheque that we operate yearly as well and a cinema museum that also belongs to the organization. So it’s like a big umbrella organization that luckily has the ability to employ people offering financial stability. I understand that this is not the case for most festivals and this can be very problematic. And I guess we all know it very well when you enter this field of work, either it is film criticism, or programming that a certain insecurity is unfortunately always part of the deal. But in the case of our team, most of the people who work for us full time -as we have also people who work only during the festivals or for certain periods of time- they can be employed year round.
(UM): I imagine that due to this infrastructure, you don’t face significant challenges in securing a venue. Securing a venue can be a major issue for festivals.
(YK): The festival was not always international, in the beginning, it was a Greek focused film festival. It became international in 1991. And a few years later, the minister of culture (it was Melina Merkouri back then), decided that our main venue, where most of our screenings were taking place, would be owned by the organization. So we own a wonderful building in the heart of Thessaloniki that houses our offices and two theaters. We also own a big warehouse at the port where the festival hub is set up in every edition of the festival, and we have a deal with the Thessaloniki Port Authority who owns four more theaters in the port, that allows us to use these screens during the festivals as well. We also rent another theater for each edition but we have established a good relationship with the owner so it’s never a problem securing it as well. Sometimes it’s hard to compete with commercial releases for cinema space, but the festival is also bringing in very big crowds to cinemas -we have amazing attendance numbers- so even if we weren’t lucky enough to have secured cinema venues, I believe it wouldn’t be extremely hard to secure it. .
(UM): Given your relationship with the government, can the government decide who the artistic director should be, and replace or remove them? This has happened at the Berlinale, for example.
(YK): It’s true that the festival is supervised by the Greek Ministry of Culture. The minister appoints the board of directors but when it comes to the General Director, they are appointed by the Board of Directors through an open call. And then the general director, together with the board of directors, appoints the artistic director also through an open call. And the rule is that the members of the board of directors have to have a connection to the arts or cinema specifically. One of the members is appointed by the city of Thessaloniki and another by the national broadcaster, which is one of our biggest sponsors. But the role of the Board of Directors and the Ministry is to mostly oversee operational and financial practices and make sure that things are running smoothly on that front. The artistic choices are left to the team so that’s a good relationship and a symbiotic one. To give you an example, the current team of the festival was appointed almost 8 years ago while there was a different government in place. Through these years, ministers and the members of our board changed, but the festival team remained in place as the importance and the impact of our work was recognised as significant and worth to be continued.
(UM): Some of the owners or directors of the festivals I have talked to told me that they are not only a festival but they are also a production or distribution company. Especially in the Eastern Europe. So, I’m curious if this is the same for you.
(YK): It’s true. There are quite a few festivals that have a distribution arm or an online platform. But, the Thessaloniki Film Festival is a nonprofit entity, so all our profits need to be invested back into our operation. We do operate four of our screens all year round, screening farthouse films from local distributors, but only as a means to support the festival. So for instance now we are using any profits from that to replace the seats in our main venues. But apart from being exhibitors, we don’t get films to distribute ourselves. We do not invest in commercial production. We do not have a commercial online platform outside of the festival or anything like that.
(UM): Do you also allocate funds for films?
(YK): We do. We don’t do it in the production stage, but in other ways. For instance we support Greek filmmakers with traveling to the festivals. We have an amount that we give to filmmakers when they are selected to one of our festivals, to travel, or to cover some expenses. We also have an industry aspect during the festivals where we have works in progress and films in development, and there are some monetary awards for those. So we do not directly invest in production expecting a return, but we do offer support in any way we can.
(UM): How has your situation evolved, especially after COVID, regarding streamers, distributing indie films, or festivals in general?
(YK): Well, that’s an interesting paradox. As I explained we organize two festivals every year, the documentary and fiction, but we do have four screens that we also screen films in throughout the year. And in many cases, it’s the same kind of films that we screen at the festival. So, sometimes we play the same film in the festival, and the day the presales open for the screening, it will be sold out in like, 10 minutes. Then, maybe a few weeks later, the film will come out with regular distribution, in the same theater that it played during the festival. And you will see that there will be no queues. So, I think that what the festivals -and I’m not just talking about ours- are doing is creating an event around the films. Which is super important. And for many films, I feel that screening in festivals around the world is the best outlet that they can have. It can sometimes work as a viable alternative to regular distribution, helping them reach bigger audiences by traveling to festivals worldwide than what it would if it was relying on the regular distribution model. Going back to your original question, the situation in Greece has become a bit better now. After COVID it was really bad, especially for art house films, but slowly and steadily, it’s becoming better without, of course, reaching the levels that it had before the COVID, yet. Also, there is a problem with the number of films getting distributed. In Greece, even though it’s a very small country, we have a number of films distributed that would rival the films being distributed in much bigger countries. So, we have this paradox that every week there would be 8 or 10 films being released in theaters, and in many cases, half of them would be smaller art house titles. And simply, there are not enough viewers for all these films. But the distribution situation for art house films is not horrible, but it’s not great either. I think that it could be more balanced and it could be better, but it’s not bad, and it’s definitely better than what it was two years right after the pandemic, of course.
(UM): One of the recent challenges in the festivals is the way they address the political issues that are happening in the world. I see that there has been a conversation between some festivals, especially documentary ones about, for example, how to handle the conflict in Gaza or the other things happening out there. So how do you deal with it?
(YK): This is something that always comes up, either it’s Ukraine or it’s Gaza now. And, especially last March when we had the documentary festival, this was one of the biggest talking points among all the filmmakers and the audience there. I believe the best way to handle these issues is by creating a safe space for everyone so they would feel open to talk about it and give access for voices to be heard. A festival is a space for dialogue and debate, so it’s the right place to have it.
There are of course cases when the situation can become so polarized and as a festival you find yourself in the middle of it, because you provide a platform that people want to use. So, what you can basically do is to let voices be heard, but in a civilized and safe way. And this is what we try to achieve: we want everyone at the festival to feel safe and accepted. It would be great if a festival could offer solutions to the world’s biggest problems but unfortunately this is not the case. But by definition, the people who work in the arts, even when they disagree, usually are eager to consider the opinions of others. Cinema can be a great means of dialogue and dialogue is something that we always want to advance, whether it be through films that we screen or through discussions or activities. It’s something that we encourage and we want to happen. So we want to be open, safe, and democratic.
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