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Michel Demopoulos, the Thessaloniki fest director, has been removed from his post. Also filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos was dismissed as president of the festival. Both had established the Thessaloniki International Film Festival as one of the major European events. As the Greek Deputy Minister of Culture, Petros Tatoulis, announced, the producer Despina Mouzaki will take over the festival as director, while filmmaker Pandelis Voulgaris (Brides) will succeed Angelopoulos as president. Also the Greek Film Center is concerned by the changes decided by the Greek government: the institution's president Diagoras Chronopulos will be replaced by Thanasis Valtinos.

FIPRESCI declares:

"The dismissal by the Greek authorities of Theo Angelopoulos, Président, and Michel Demopoulos, Artistic Director from the Thessaloniki Film Festival is a severe blow to the image of Greek culture abroad. They had both for more than a decade established the festival as an international event by the quality of the programming and the presence of major figures of world cinema. They had thus attracted many important foreign experts and observers who could be in contact with the current Greek production. The brutal ending of this remarkable experience is not only unfair but detrimental to the best interests of Greek cinema."

Michel Ciment, President, Klaus Eder, General Secretary, FIPRESCI

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