A decade of stories: What Our Guests say about us for the 10th Edition of Beyond Borders
Ten years of powerful stories, bold ideas, and unforgettable moments on Kastellorizo.
This year, we proudly mark a decade of Beyond Borders, a festival born from a love of storytelling, and grown into one of the world’s most respected platforms for documentary cinema.
Over the past ten years, Beyond Borders has captured the hearts of filmmakers, critics, and audiences alike. From our breathtaking setting on the island of Kastellorizo, we’ve welcomed an incredible community of creators, thinkers, and visionaries.
With the continued support of FIPRESCI and a deeply rooted curatorial vision, the festival has become a beacon for authentic stories. Distinguished critics and jury members such as Jean-Christoph Caron, Klaus Eder, and Peter Kremski have praised the festival’s strong curatorial vision, inclusive ethos, and striking setting on the island of Kastellorizo.
For filmmakers from around the world, Beyond Borders offers more than just screenings: it creates a space for collaboration, reflection, and inspiration. Directors such as Jordan Paterson, Nicholas Torrens, and Shuibo Wang recount how their experiences on Kastellorizo have sparked new ideas, meaningful conversations, and even future projects.
Many leading voices in the documentary filmmaking industry have found Beyond Borders to be a uniquely rewarding professional experience. Figures like Margje de Koning, Markus Nikel, and Claudia Schreiner speak to the festival’s ability to foster genuine connections, generate bold conversations, and cultivate regional and international networks.
FIPRESCI
“One says that the quality of film festivals depends on the movies they show. This is undoubtedly true, and “Beyond Borders” has won a considerable profile as an attractive showcase of international documentaries that have a social, political, historical curiosity and sensivity. But the attractiveness of festivals depends also on the person running them. “Beyond Borders” is Irini Sarioglu. She is the festival. Her wisdom and experience, her social and esthetical intuition, her familiarity with both the Greek and Turkish culture shape the festival. Not to talk about her charm and her engagement, her passion, her enthusiasm. It’s a pleasure to be her guest and to enjoy her great selection of films (and music) and her exceptional hospitality. To be reminded: “Beyond Borders” on the Island of Kastellorizo.”
Klaus Eder – General Secretary of FIPRESCI (1987–2024)
“Last year, I was honoured of being invited by the festival as a member of the FIPRESCI jury, and I was incredibly happy to be there. It was the third time that a critics jury awarded a prize at this charming and passionately run boutique festival, now in its tenth year. What makes this documentary festival in Kastellorizo so special is that it takes place entirely in the open air. Personally, I don’t know of any other festival that compares.
The picturesque little island of Kastellorizo in the eastern Aegean Sea provides a magnificent setting for this dedicated festival with its courageous Beyond Borders philosophy. For me and our entire jury, it was truly a dream island and an oasis of calm, and we are still grateful for all the generosity we experienced at the festival.
For me personally, Venice and Locarno are among the most beautiful festival venues I know, but Kastellorizo, with its exceptional beauty, is also one of them. So I can say that I now have three favourite festivals. I love the island and the festival very much.”
Peter Kremski – FIPRESCI representative of the German Film Critics Association
Filmmakers
“Participating in the Beyond Borders Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival was an utterly unique experience for me, ultimately leading to our next documentary film and new relationships. Participating gave me a chance to discuss and seriously rethink what kind of social change is possible in our art form as we face an increasingly complex world. Congratulations to the Beyond Borders team and alumni on this 10th anniversary. Chronia Polla!”
Jordan Paterson – Writer/Filmmaker
“Beyond Borders is a wonderful documentary film festival- first because it is ‘ boutique’ – a small festival. This makes it so easy to meet other visiting national and international filmmakers, watch their fllms, then comment and compare notes…
The festival selects and presents a large number of fascinating and important documentaries from around the world, as well as conferences, panel discussions and Q&A sessions with prominent filmmakers.
At the 2019 festival we held a powerful International Panel discussion on the topic of Civil Disobedience. At that festival also I gave a documentary masterclass called ‘A Thirty Year Documentary Journey through Hong Kong and China 1984 to 2014’) illustrated by my films.
The Australian Embassy strongly supported the Festival and wants to continue this association.
Nicholas Samolski Torrens – Director
“I’m Shuibo Wang, a Canadian filmmaker and professor. Last summer, my wife and I left our Paris home to an unknown Greek island called Kastellorizo, and we were absolutely stunned by the beauty of this colorful island in the blue Aegean Sea when we first landed.
As a jury member, I had opportunity to watch a great selection of feature documentary films from all over the world and was honored and pleased to work with accomplished filmmaker and historian Mitzi, Berry and Valerie during the festival. It’s not easy to finalize all the prizes simply because there’re just too many good films produced by some amazing and talented filmmakers.
Thanks Michel Noll and the festival organizers along with many young volunteers for their extraordinary works to make this festival special. For me, the week long Beyond Borders was like a wonderful Mediterranean Dream.”Shuibo Wang – Filmmaker and Cinema Professor
Industry People
“On this incredible beautiful island Kastellorizo a magic week of creative explosion is happening. I had the honour the give a masterclass, be in the jury and moderate pitches from talented Greek filmmakers. The value of heritage, the value of archive material and film emerged together, created important films, debats and conversations. The years I attended the festival were magical, important and very inspiring. Celebrating the power of film in all it’s aspects! Wishing you a wonderful 10th anniversary!”
Margje de Koning – Artistic Director Movies That Matter
“Being a part of Beyond Borders has been a fantastic professional experience for me, truelly “beyond borders”, and definitely worth the long travel from Rome. It also meant meeting fellow documentary professionals in a extraordinary beautiful and focused setting, to have many fruitful discussions and gain new insights about the problems and solutions in documentary filmmaking, especially the particular challenges we face in mediterranean countries. Thanks to it’s intimate atmosphere. Kastellorizo offers a possibility of networking which you later can rely on more easily. I believe it’s crucially important to connect the documentary communities in mediterranean countries, to grow together and to connect the Mediterranean network to the rest of the world. I think that Beyond Borders has done a incredible job to achieve that, well done and all the best for the future!”
Markus Nikel – International Advisor RAI Documentari and RAI Cultura, Italy
“As the name of it indicates – Beyond Borders – the International Documentary Film Festival for ten years now takes place on the remote island of Kastellorizo – a geographical spot that for centuries was at the mercy of emperors and foreign nations which eventually formed a society of different identities and cultures. And this makes it the perfect place for this outstanding and wonderful Boutique Festival. Over the years, the Festival became a hot spot for Documentaries focusing on social issues, political transformations, border conflicts and above all on people’s stories. A place to be …
Some 500 people are living on the island and each year almost the same amount of filmmakers from all over the world come to it, being welcome and hosted by the inhabitants. The whole island is present at the open air screenings which are all scheduled in the evenings – because of the declining sun – and more than once, I did not find a seat, but happily sat on the ground with a glass of wine nearby, enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and the films, that are carefully selected by the festival team. For many productions it is the starting point for future traveling.
It is a true community feeling that evolves quickly after having set foot on the island: all happens around the small harbor – screenings, award ceremonies, shopping, eating, drinking and meeting celebrities, filmmakers, colleagues and new friends from all over the world.
It is fun and very inspiring to be part of this colorful and diverse community – and I don’t want to miss it anymore.”
Claudia Schreiner – Producer – Film Industry Expert
“In my role as jury member and co-initiator of an award for doc talents on three editions of Beyond Borders I am very grateful to the documentary film festival for having put me in touch with passionate young storytellers from across Europe & the globe. Especially the strong presence of filmmakers from Southeastern Europe and from countries around the Mediterranean Sea is a great contribution of this documentary film festival for more diversity in the doc film business and for a stronger visibility for established and emerging filmmakers from those regions alike.
Thanks so much for this enriching cross-border experience,
congratulations to the whole festival team & the inspiring master minds Irini & Michel!
Happy 10th Birthday to the Beyond Borders documentary film festival, and to many years more!”
Jean-Christoph Caron – Head of Documentaries ZDF/ARTE “Current Affairs”