Thessaloniki 2003

Three films were prized by our jury in this renowned festival held in the Northern Greek port. Russian director Alexei German Jr.'s The Last Train (Posledniy Poezd) received the Critics' Prize for best film in competition, and Oxygen (Oxigono) by Michalis Reppas & Thanassis Papathanasiou the Prize for a film in the Greek Films section. A Special Mention for a film in the New Horizons section went to The Return (Vozvraschenie) by Andrey Zvyagintsev (Russia).

Details of the prize

The Last Train. Peter Keough reviews Alexei German Jr.'s, winner of the International Critics' Prize
Why The Return. Safaa El-Laisy Haggag explains why The Return, already winner of the Venice Golden Lion, deserved to be prized by FIPRESCI
Back to the Roots. Mariola Wiktor comments how the Greek filmmakers delt with the problems of immigrants and ethnic minorities
And Then the Phone Rang. Goran Bjelkendal analyses how the use of cell phones affected storytelling
The Real Fiction. Einar Guldvog Staalesen on the documental aspect of minimalist fiction films
The Balkan Script Fund. Marina Kostova describes how the Balkan Script Fund encourages cooperation between filmmakers from the region