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Cotton Queen, by Suzannah Mirghani, is the big winner of the 2025 Thessaloniki Film Festival

The 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, held from October 30 to November 9, concluded with an emotional awards ceremony at Warehouse C, celebrating the most daring and original voices in contemporary cinema.
The festival’s top honor, the Golden Alexander Theo Angelopoulos Award for Best Film, went to Cotton Queen by Sudanese director Suzannah Mirghani.
The international jury — composed of Elegance Bratton, Thania Dimitrakopoulou, and Frederick Elmes — praised the film for “deeply moving us. In a world plagued by war and genocide, this film reminds us of what truly matters: our families and communities.”
Featuring displaced actors from Egypt and Sudan, the film blends political sensitivity with human emotion, and the award includes a €10,000 cash prize. Composer Amine Bouhafa also received the new Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra Award for his score.

The Silver Alexander for Best Director, sponsored by COSMOTE Telekom with €5,000, went to Aristotelis Maragkos for Beachcomber, described by its creator as “a film about failure, but also about the right to dream.”
The work also received the Best Artistic Achievement Award for Giorgos Karvelas’ cinematography, praised for its emotional depth and visual beauty.
Harry Melling was named Best Actor for Pillion by Harry Lighton, while Sabrina Amali received Best Actress for Maysoon by Nancy Biniadaki.
The Best Screenplay Award went to Yvonne Görlach for Karla, directed by Christina Tournatzès.

In the Meet the Neighbors+ section, the Golden Alexander Michel Dimopoulos Award, also worth €10,000, was presented to The Last One for the Road by Italian filmmaker Francesco Sossai.
The jury praised its “poetic precision in depicting a sentimental journey through the small towns of northern Italy, filled with nostalgia for a world that no longer exists.”
Actors Pierpaolo Capovilla and Sergio Romano shared the Best Actor Award.
The Silver Alexander – City of Thessaloniki Award for Best Director went to Yanis Koussim for Roqia, lauded for its reflection on a painful chapter in Algerian history and its innovative use of horror language in an Islamic context.
Manuela Martelli was named Best Actress for God Will Not Help by Hana Jušić, which also received the Best Artistic Achievement Award for its enigmatic and restrained cinematic universe.

In the >>Film Forward competition, the Golden Alexander, accompanied by €8,000, was awarded to 1001 Frames by Mehrnoush Alia for its fusion of thematic urgency and cinematic precision.
The Silver Alexander for Best Director, worth €4,000, went to Manoël Dupont for Before / After, praised for its existential journey infused with humor and tenderness.
Jeremy Lamblot and Baptiste Leclère received a Special Mention for their performances in the same film.
Finally, The Chronology of Water by Kristen Stewart won the Best Artistic Achievement Award for its bold formal structure and harrowing exploration of trauma.

Todos los ganadores: 

Competencia Internacional

  • Mejor Película – “Theo Angelopoulos” Alejandro de Oro: Cotton Queen – Suzannah Mirghani (Alemania/Francia/Palestina/Egipto/Catar/Arabia Saudita/Sudán)

  • Mejor Dirección – Alejandro de Plata: Beachcomber – Aristotelis Maragkos (Grecia)

  • Mejor Actor: Harry Melling – Pillion (Reino Unido/Irlanda)

  • Mejor Actriz: Sabrina Amali – Maysoon (Alemania/Grecia)

  • Mejor Guion: Yvonne Görlach – Karla (Alemania)

  • Mejor Logro Artístico (Cinematografía): Giorgos Karvelas – Beachcomber

Competencia Meet the Neighbors+

  • Mejor Película – “Michel Dimopoulos” Alejandro de Oro: The Last One for the Road – Francesco Sossai (Italia/Alemania)

  • Mejor Dirección – “Alejandro de Plata – Premio Ciudad de Tesalónica”: Roqia – Yanis Koussim (Argelia/Francia)

  • Mejor Actor (ex aequo): Pierpaolo Capovilla, Sergio Romano – The Last One for the Road

  • Mejor Actriz: Manuela Martelli – God Will Not Help (Croacia/Italia/Rumanía/Grecia/Francia/Eslovenia)

  • Mejor Logro Artístico: God Will Not Help – Hana Jušić

Competencia >>Film Forward

  • Mejor Película – Alejandro de Oro: 1001 Frames – Mehrnoush Alia (EE.UU./Irán)

  • Mejor Dirección – Alejandro de Plata: Before / After – Manoël Dupont (Bélgica)

  • Mejor Logro Artístico: The Chronology of Water – Kristen Stewart (EE.UU./Reino Unido/Francia/Letonia)

  • Mención Especial: Jeremy Lamblot, Baptiste Leclère – Before / After

Competencia Inmersiva: All Around Cinema

  • Alejandro de Oro: A Long Goodbye – Kate Voet, Victor Maesbe (Bélgica)

Competencia de Podcasts

  • Mejor Podcast: A Guy from Tyrnavos – Evangelos Makris, Panos Apokoritis (Grecia)

  • Mención Especial: Warfetti – Nalia Ziku (Grecia)

Otros premios

  • Premio Mermaid: Plainclothes – Carmen Emmi (EE.UU./Reino Unido)

  • Menciones Especiales: Fantasy – Kukla (Eslovenia/Macedonia del Norte); Bearcave – Krysianna B. Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos (Grecia)

  • Premio Smart7: Hanami – Denise Fernandes (Suiza/Portugal/Cabo Verde)

Premios FIPRESCI

  • Mejor Película de la Competencia Internacional: Karla – Christina Tournatzès

  • Mejor Película Griega Estrenada en Tesalónica: Bearcave – Krysianna B. Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos

Premio de la Asociación Griega de Críticos de Cine: Patty Is Such a Girly Name – Giorgos Georgopoulos (Grecia)
Premio de Valores Humanos del Parlamento Helénico: Milk Teeth – Mihai Mincan (Rumanía/Francia/Dinamarca/Grecia/Bulgaria)
Premio FOS al Mejor Actor: Alexandros Ntavris – Endless Land (Grecia)
Premio FOS a la Mejor Actriz: Chara Kyriazi – Bearcave
Premio Alpha Bank a la Accesibilidad: Everybody Loves Touda – Nabil Ayouch (Marruecos/Francia/Bélgica/Dinamarca/Países Bajos/Noruega)
Premio de la Orquesta Estatal Sinfónica de Tesalónica: Amine Bouhafa – Cotton Queen
Mención Especial: Felix Rösch – On the Sea (Reino Unido)
Premio ERT a la Música Original: Marilena Orfanou, Stavros Mitropoulos – Patty Is Such a Girly Name
Premio del Centro Helénico de Cine – Creative Greece: Bearcave – Krysianna B. Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos
Premio de la Film Commission Helénica a la Mejor Localización: Petros Chytiris – Gorgonà (Grecia/Francia)
Premio Fundación J.F. Costopoulos: Patty Is Such a Girly Name – Giorgos Georgopoulos
Premio Finos Film: Patty Is Such a Girly Name – Giorgos Georgopoulos
Premio WIFT GR: Bearcave – Krysianna B. Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos
Premio Crew United: Life in a Beat – Amerissa Basta (Grecia)

Premios del Jurado Juvenil

  • Mejor Película: Patty Is Such a Girly Name – Giorgos Georgopoulos

  • Premio Especial del Jurado Juvenil: Bearcave – Krysianna B. Papadakis, Stergios Dinopoulos

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