Venue
Thessaloniki, Greece
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Thessaloniki International Film Festival guide
New directors in Thessaloniki's port warehouses.
In short
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival usually runs for eleven days in early to mid-November, though the 2025 edition began on 30 October, so check the festival site before booking. Screenings fill port warehouses and a historic cinema, with first features, Balkan discoveries and Greek premieres. It suits film lovers who enjoy talking with directors.
The Thessaloniki International Film Festival is Greece's leading platform for new cinema and one of the oldest film events in southeast Europe. Each autumn it fills the city's port warehouses and a historic cinema on the main square with first features, Balkan discoveries and Greek premieres, and audiences get to question the filmmakers face to face.
This is a festival for finding new directors. It keeps a close eye on Greece's own neighbours, it gives young audiences their own strand, and an industry programme brings producers and buyers to town alongside the public.
It is also a city festival in the best sense. Thessaloniki treats the screenings as a public event, and between films the conversation spills out onto the seafront and into the tavernas of the old port.
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Key Facts & Stats:
Where: Thessaloniki, Greece
Venue: Port of Thessaloniki and Aristotelous Square
Held: Every year
Type of event: Arts Festivals, Film Festivals
Currency: Euro (€ EUR)
Time zone: UTC+2, UTC+3 from late March to late October
Language: Greek
Map
Close to the venue
- Makedonia Palace Hotel · 2.5 km
Getting around
Hotels near the venue fill up around the event dates.
Checking subtitles and details before booking
Each film page tells you more than the running time. Check it for three things before booking:
- Subtitles
- foreign films usually carry both English and Greek subtitles. Greek productions are less consistent, so look for the language note.
- Guests
- a listing that mentions the director or cast in attendance means a Q&A, which adds time and sells faster.
- Venue
- note whether it plays on the port or on Aristotelous Square, and leave enough time to walk between the two.
Reduced prices for students, the unemployed and over-65s need proof at the door: an academic ID, an unemployment certificate issued within the last 30 days, or an ID card or passport. Paid tickets cannot be switched to a different screening.
Etiquette inside a festival screening
Festival audiences in Thessaloniki are serious about the films, and many screenings are full. A few habits keep you on good terms with the row behind.
- Arrive before the lights go down. Seats near the aisle disappear, and climbing over people once the film has started is unpopular.
- Phones off, not on silent with the screen glowing.
- Stay for the Q&A if you can. Walking out while a director is speaking is noticed, and if you must leave, do it quietly from the end of the row.
- Keep questions short and in English or Greek, and ask about the film.
Weather in November along the waterfront
November in Thessaloniki is cool and often rainy, and the route between the port warehouses and the main square runs along an open seafront where the wind off the bay makes a wet evening feel colder. Pack a compact umbrella and a waterproof jacket, because the halls are warm and you will be taking layers off and on several times a day.
Comfortable, waterproof shoes matter more than smart ones. If you have a gala ticket, carry the smarter outfit in a bag and change at the hotel.
What happens on the day
- Daytime
Screenings begin
Films run from day into night across the two venue clusters, a short seafront walk apart.
- After each film
Q&As
Directors often stay to take questions, so leave a margin before your next booking.
- Evening
Galas and popular strands
Open Horizons and the Special Screenings hold the most popular non-competition titles.
- Late night
'Round Midnight
The late strand keeps the last slots busy.
Planning screenings and buying tickets early
Everything starts at filmfestival.gr. The organisers publish the full line-up there a few weeks before opening night, and sales begin at the same moment, so have your shortlist ready. Each screening is ticketed on its own, online through filmfestival.gr or more.com, or in person at the box offices in the Olympion building on Aristotelous Square and in Warehouse 1 on the port. Opening and closing galas, and any screening where the director is due on stage, are the first to go.
Plan around a few fixed points. Choose two or three titles you would hate to miss, then fill the gaps with whatever fits the timetable and the walk between halls. Bookings cannot be moved to another date or time once paid, although a ticket can be handed back at the cash desk up to an hour before the film starts.
Search carefully when booking a room or a ticket. The same team runs the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival every March, and the two sites look alike. For the rest of your trip, our Greece guide is a good place to start.
The festival's history and its awards
The festival grew out of Greek Film Week, which the Macedonian arts society Techni launched in 1960. For more than thirty years it showed home-grown work only. Then came the turn of 1992: the 33rd edition admitted international films, with Michalis Demopoulos as artistic director and Theo Angelopoulos as president, and the event became the meeting point for Balkan and Greek cinema it is today. More than 80,000 people now attend.
Four competitions run in 2026. First and second features compete in the International Competition for the Golden Alexander, named after Angelopoulos, judged by a five-member international jury. Meet the Neighbors+ looks at the Balkans and nearby regions and has its own Golden Alexander. Film Forward picks up more experimental work, and Immersive: All Around Cinema judges virtual reality projects. Parallel juries hand out the FIPRESCI prize, a youth award and the Mermaid Award for LGBTQI+ themed cinema.
This year's edition announces 26 Greek features and 27 Greek shorts, an Honorary Golden Alexander for the director Nikos Grammatikos, a tribute to Balkan horror and a visit from Oliver Laxe, director of Sirāt.
Getting there
Flying in
Makedonia International Airport lies in Thermi, south-east of the city.
Airport to the centre
OASTH bus 01X/01N links the terminal with the KTEL coach station 24 hours a day; shuttle 02X runs to Nea Elvetia, the eastern end of metro Line 1. Ride the metro west to Venizelou or Agias Sofias for the centre. Taxis queue at arrivals.
From Athens by train
Hellenic Train's fastest services took about 3 hours 55 minutes on its 2023 timetable, arriving on Monastiriou Street, which has its own metro stop.
Between venues
No need for wheels: the Olympion and the port warehouses are a short walk apart, and there are taxi ranks in front of the Olympion on a wet night.
Where to stay during the festival
Stay around Aristotelous Square or in Ladadika, the old warehouse district by the port, and you can walk to every venue.
Rooms close to the port go early in festival week, so book once you have your screening plan.
Thessaloniki
Makedonia Palace5-star hotel
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from$200.00/ night
- Free WiFi
- Swimming pool
- Parking
4 Rooms available
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Weather and what to pack
November in Thessaloniki is mild but changeable. The 1991 to 2020 normals for Thessaloniki Airport give an average high of 15.6°C and a low of 8.2°C, with about 60 mm of rain on 12 days; the university station in the city is a little warmer, at 16.6°C and 9.0°C.
Expect cool evenings on the seafront walk between venues and at least one wet day.
Worth packing
- A waterproof jacket or umbrella
- A warm layer for evenings by the sea
- Comfortable shoes for the walk between venues
- Student or senior ID if you qualify for reduced tickets
- A phone with your e-tickets saved offline
Car hire in Thessaloniki
Airport transfer to Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Met at arrivals at Thessaloniki Makedonia Airport (SKG) and driven door to door to Port of Thessaloniki and Aristotelous Square.
- Thessaloniki Makedonia Airport (SKG) → Port of Thessaloniki and Aristotelous Square
- 18 km · 25 min
Restaurants and food in Greece
Places to eat in Greece before or after the celebrations.
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Need help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Booking
Yes. Sales run through the official site, filmfestival.gr, and through the ticketing platform more.com, so you can book from abroad before you travel.
The organisers have announced 26 full-length Greek films and 27 Greek shorts for the 67th edition, alongside the international titles in competition and the sidebar strands.
Cancellations & changes
You can return a ticket at a festival cash desk until one hour before the screening. After that it cannot be refunded, and no ticket can be exchanged for another day or time.
Prices & payment
Yes, with a valid academic ID shown at the door. Unemployed visitors and people over 65 also qualify for a reduced ticket with the right documents.
General
No. They share an organiser and a website, but the documentary festival is a separate event held every March, so double-check the dates on any ticket you buy.
Email info@filmfestival.gr or phone the Thessaloniki office on 2310 378 400. For ticket problems on the day, the box offices at the Olympion and Warehouse 1 can help in person.
The Greek director Nikos Grammatikos. He is honoured during the 67th edition, alongside a tribute to Balkan horror cinema in the same programme.
Yes. VR projects compete in their own section, Immersive: All Around Cinema, with a dedicated prize for the best VR film.
Most of the programme is aimed at adults, but NextGen is curated specifically for children and teenagers, so look there for family screenings.
An independent prize given at the festival to a film with an LGBTQI+ theme, chosen separately from the official competition juries.
At 10 Aristotelous Square, in the Olympion building on the main square. The festival also keeps an Athens office, at 7 Dionysiou Areopagitou Street.