Get to know the 10th Beyond Borders!

10th BEYOND BORDERS
KASTELLORIZO INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL
24 – 31 AUGUST 2025

Memory Weaves the Future: The 10th Anniversary Edition of the Festival is Dedicated to Greek Documentary Cinema

Beyond Borders – Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival (24–31 August 2025) turns ten this year and celebrates with a landmark edition dedicated to Greece and its creative forces.

This year’s edition focuses on the trajectory of Greek documentary cinema—an art form that confronts reality, records it, comments on it, and reimagines it in the most imaginative and direct ways. In Kastellorizo—a symbolic place of historical memory and cultural convergence—the art of storytelling tirelessly continues its journey. In a world that seems to be contracting, Beyond Borders insists on expanding horizons. Through its films, it takes on the simplest yet most demanding task of all: the discovery of humanity, wherever it resides and wherever it originates from.

Strategic Partner of Beyond Borders is PPC, the leading energy company in Southeastern Europe, which actively supports the arts and culture. As an integral part of Greece’s social and economic fabric, PPC strengthens the dialogue with culture and the arts, supporting all those who lead us into the future—a better future for all, where culture takes center stage.

The festival’s visual identity, designed by the creative agency Polkadot Design, draws inspiration from the art of weaving—an art that symbolizes memory, storytelling, and continuity. Just like the women-weavers of 1905, protagonists of the first cinematographic recording ever made in the Balkans, wove their present through art, today’s documentary filmmakers weave with image and sound a multilayered tapestry of our contemporary reality. Greek documentary becomes a cinematic loom, where past and present are tightly interlaced, shaping a narrative canvas that reaches far into the future.

As stated by Irini Sarioglou, the festival’s Artistic Director:
“This year, Beyond Borders celebrates a decade of bridging past and present, tradition and innovation, the local and the universal. It honors Greece—a place where History and Culture are constantly interwoven like threads on a primeval loom. It also honors truth, justice, freedom of speech and expression, offering space for dozens of films and their creators to be heard, and to shake the foundations of our certainties.”

During the Beyond Borders Press Conference, the festival presented the main axes of this year’s program, its thematic focuses, tributes, and planned activities.

This year, the festival received a record-breaking 907 film submissions from 92 countries (600 medium- and feature-length films and 307 short documentaries). From these, 42 films were selected to compete, 35 of which will be presented as Greek, international or world premieres. Many have already screened at the most prestigious film festivals in the world, including Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Locarno, Karlovy Vary, Amsterdam (IDFA), Copenhagen (CPH:DOX), and more.
The festival is organized by the Hellenic History Foundation (IDISME) in collaboration with Ecrans des Mondes (Paris), with valuable support from globally respected institutions such as ZDF, ARTE, BBC, RAI TV, Movies that Matter, IDF Prague, PHOENIX, FIPRESCI, and others.

This year, Beyond Borders will once again host three parallel screening strands:

  • The Main Competition Section, featuring 18 medium- and feature-length documentaries, including 4 Greek productions;
  • The micro Competition Section, showcasing 24 short documentaries, including 3 Greek entries;
  • The Panorama Section, the festival’s non-competitive program, which will present daily screenings of thematic tributes and standout films.

This year’s Panorama focuses on a Tribute to Greek Documentary, featuring eight selected works—including films and television episodes by both acclaimed directors and emerging voices. A polyphonic mosaic of Greek documentary production, capturing the genre’s evolution, audacity, and creative renewal.

A total of 10 awards will be presented across the two competitive sections:

The Golden (Grand Prix), Silver and Bronze Wreath of Megisti Awards (€7,500, €3,000 and €2,000 respectively), sponsored partially by ERT, will be given to the best documentaries that explore historical events and figures, current sociopolitical issues, and the promotion of human rights in any form or expression.

The Creative Greece Award, sponsored by HFAC – Creative Greece, will be presented to the best Greek-directed documentary.

The “Odysseus” Award, under the initiative and support of the General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy, will honor the best documentary directed by a Greek filmmaker of the diaspora.

The #ThisisEU Award (sponsored by ERT), presented by the European Commission Representation in Greece, will go to the documentary that best promotes contemporary European values.

The FIPRESCI Award (sponsored by ERT) will be given to the best film selected by the International Federation of Film Critics.

The Golden, Silver, and Bronze Phoenix Awards (€1,250, €1,000, and €750 respectively), supported by ZDF/Phoenix TV, will honor the best short documentaries by emerging directors. Award-winning films in the “micro” section will be broadcast on Phoenix—one of Europe’s leading documentary TV networks.

The Wreath of Megisti, awarded annually to the best films of the Main Competition of Beyond Borders | Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival, is a faithful, handcrafted replica of an ancient gold wreath found in a burial case in 1913 and dating back to the mid-4th century BCE.

The Main Competition Jury is composed of renowned professionals from the fields of cinema and audiovisual arts. Jury President is Tassos Boulmetis, acclaimed director, screenwriter, and producer with a longstanding presence in Greek and international cinema. Jury members include:

  • Claudia Bucher, commissioning editor at ARTE G.E.I.E and board member of the EBU Documentary Experts Group;
  • Eugenia Giannouri, Associate Professor at Sorbonne Nouvelle University’s Department of Film and Audiovisual Studies;
  • Jobst Knigge, internationally acclaimed director;
  • Maria Louka, documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, and journalist, currently President of Women in Film & Television Greece (WIFT GR).

The micro Competition Jury features prominent figures from journalism, literature, and film. Jury President is Michaela Kolster, journalist and Program Director of ZDF/PHOENIX. The jury also includes:

  • Bruce Clark, author and long-time contributor to the international press;
  • Alex Sakalis, author and journalist;
  • Gilles Perrin, professor of French literature and cinema;
  • Vasilis Loules, award-winning director in both documentary and fiction.

The FIPRESCI Jury includes film critics Jan Storø, Elli Mastorou, and Nikolaos Alettras.

The festival’s Opening Ceremony will feature the acclaimed documentary Johatsu – Into Thin Air by Andreas Hartmann and Arata Mori (Germany, Japan 2024), which explores the phenomenon of people in Japan who disappear without a trace, aided by so-called “night-moving companies” that help them escape their current lives. Known as “Johatsu,” or “those who evaporate,” these individuals abandon everything to begin anew elsewhere.

The evening will conclude with a musical anthology titled From Memory to the Present, featuring Tasos Yannousis, Chrysi Papagiannouli, and Nikos Plios, performing timeless works by Greece’s greatest composers, including Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Manos Loizos, Stavros Kougioumtzis, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Markos Vamvakaris, and more.

As part of its commitment to international cooperation and cultural exchange, the 10th edition of the Festival will welcome representatives from this year’s honored country (Greece), honored media outlets (Kathimerini newspaper and Italy’s RAI), an honored film festival (GrecDoc – Greek Documentary Festival in Paris), and an honored academic institution, the École Alsacienne (Paris).

For the second consecutive year, the successful Co-Production Forum “Meet Your Co-Producer in Kastellorizo” returns. Fifteen senior-level film professionals—directors, screenwriters, producers, and executive producers—will present their work, share case studies of completed films, and mentor at least one documentary project through in-person and online meetings aimed at co-production.

With its geographical focus on the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, and Asia Minor (up to Iran), the Forum encourages stories from this underrepresented region.

During the festival, the Critics’ Corner initiative will also take place. Every morning, the three FIPRESCI jury members will engage in open dialogue with professionals and the general public about the films screened the night before in competition. This event celebrates the 100th anniversary of FIPRESCI and will be held as part of the 10th anniversary edition on Friday, August 29.

As every year, Masterclasses will be conducted by leading industry professionals:

  • Claudia Bucher (ARTE Thema Division Head) will explain how ARTE operates and how filmmakers can integrate their projects into the channel’s framework.
  • Silvia De Felice (RAI Documentari) will guide participants on how to approach RAI and secure a place for their documentaries in Italy’s public broadcasting landscape.
  • Angelos Kovotsos, President of the Hellenic Documentary Association, will present the profile and mission of the Association.
  • Gilles Perrin, literature and cinema professor at École Alsacienne, will share his vision and experience teaching cinema to high school students.

As part of the Panorama section, a special event titled The Future of Documentary will take place on Saturday, August 30, dedicated to the evolving landscape of documentary filmmaking. The award-winning documentary Ending Wars and Making Peace by Jobst Knigge will be screened, followed by a discussion with the director on his creative process, artistic choices, and the innovative techniques used to expand the boundaries of the genre. A panel of directors, academics, producers, and decision-makers will join to explore the present and future of documentary creation, from artistic trends and production ecosystems to audience engagement.

For the first time, the festival introduces the Beyond Borders Podcast Series. Distinguished guests and leading professionals from the global audiovisual industry, invited by the festival, will give exclusive interviews during the event. These discussions will be made freely available to the public via the festival’s official digital platforms, offering a valuable archive of knowledge, insight, and inspiration.

A core part of the festival is the two-day Audiovisual Pitching Lab, where 12 selected projects from around the world are presented online and discussed with leading figures in the film industry. These interactions significantly shape the future of emerging films. Once again, Claudia Schreiner (Documentary Campus Masterschool, Germany) will serve as Head Moderator, while the selection jury will consist of students from the Beyond Borders network of film schools: Sofia Y. Silva (Venezuela), Spyros Betsis (Greece), Ana-Stefana Pop (Romania), and Haluk Laman (Turkey).

The winning project will receive a free professional color grading package (valued at €3,000) for its final cut, courtesy of award-winning colorist Dimitris Karteris (dimitriskarteris.com).

Emphasizing not only film screenings but also education and career development, the festival has created a pioneering Film School Network, partnering with top institutions from Southeastern and Central Europe, the Middle East, and South America. Participating schools include:

  • Stavrakos Film & TV School (Greece)
  • Aristotle University of Thessaloniki – Film Department (Greece)
  • Łódź Film School (Poland)
  • National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts (Bulgaria)
  • Faculty of Dramatic Arts, Belgrade (Serbia)
  • Beirut Film Institute (Lebanon)
  • Academy of Performing Arts, Sarajevo (Bosnia)
  • Faculty of Theatre and Film – UBB (Romania)
  • Munich Film School (Germany)
  • Film Academy Baden-Württemberg GmbH (Germany)
  • Steve Tisch School of Film and Television (Israel)
  • Kadir Has University and Maltepe University (Turkey)
  • Escuela Nacional de Cine (Venezuela)

This collaboration includes participation in the micro competition, the Pitching Lab and its jury, hands-on learning about production stages, programming teams, and more.

Alongside the main program, Beyond Borders, in collaboration with the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center – Creative Greece, will host a special informative event on the Extroversion Program. Aimed at both the general public and industry professionals, this initiative is part of HFAC’s new cultural policy tools, designed to strengthen the presence of Greek audiovisual creation both domestically and internationally. Its goal is to enhance its connection with domestic audiences and promote it at European and international forums. The program focuses on five main pillars: supporting festivals in Greece, promoting Greek films abroad, reinforcing their distribution, enhancing outreach through the Creative Hub and coordinated representation of Greece and its creative sector at international institutions, festivals, and fairs.

Parallel Cultural Activities of the Festival Beyond film screenings and workshops, the Festival also hosts an array of parallel cultural events each year, transforming Greece’s easternmost island into a global meeting point of cultures and generations.

Throughout the screening week and during breaks, musical interludes will be performed by the Athens String Quartet, featuring members of the Athens State Orchestra: violinists Apollon Grammatikopoulos and Panagiotis Tziotis, violist Angela Giannaki, and cellist Isidoros Sideris.

During the festival week, documentaries by children for children will be screened as part of a partnership with the Chania Film Festival. The Artistic Bookbindery will offer educational bookbinding workshops for kids under the title “Bound Together.” The Rhodes Chess Club “Knight” will conduct chess classes and demonstrations for children of all ages, where young and old alike can interact with AI-powered SenseRobot chess units. Neil Adrian Blakemore, a UK-born artist living in Greece, will perform two acrobatic shows for all ages.

The concert “Nocturnal Confessions” will bring together two distinguished Greek soloists: conductor and pianist Miltos Logiadis and composer-accordion virtuoso Christos Zerbinos. The program includes selections from the albums “Spring Equinox” (traditional pieces) and “From the Keys to the Heart,” dedicated to Manos Hadjidakis.

In parallel with the screenings, a sculpture exhibition by visual artist Alexandros Zygouris will be presented, while every day, journalist and author Pavlos Methenitis and academic Matteo Compagnolo will recommend selected books spanning history, literature, and cinema. Among the highlights is the newly curated edition by IDISME of Athina Tarsouli’s Kastellorizo, published 75 years after its original release—a valuable chronicle of the island’s oral traditions, history, and identity. Also featured is the book The Uses of Oppression: The Ottoman Empire through its Greek Newspapers, 1830–1862 by Lady Marina Marks Sakalis, a doctoral dissertation at Harvard University (Harvard University Press), shedding light on the sociopolitical life of the Greeks within the Ottoman Empire through the emerging press during the Tanzimat reform era.

As part of the parallel events of the 10th anniversary edition of Beyond Borders | Kastellorizo International Documentary Festival, the poetry competition Kastellorizo: Reflections was successfully concluded. Maria Panagiotidou was awarded first prize, Anastasia Rizou received second prize, and Panagiota Vouvoulouda was awarded third prize, while the distinction for best foreign-language poem was presented to Demosthenis Dimitrios Despotidis. The awarded poems will be published in the official catalogue of the 10th anniversary edition of the Festival.

The Closing Ceremony of the Festival will feature the Greek premiere of the documentary Astéroïde Hunters by Guillaume Lenel & Thomas Marlier (France, 2024). Planetologists, astrophysicists, geochemists, and a vast network of global scientists work together to detect, track, and study asteroids—celestial bodies traversing our solar system, some of which could one day threaten Earth.

The Festival will conclude with a unique concert by Kostas Triantafyllidis. On the Hero’s Square stage, he will perform iconic songs that have made history, along with his own beloved hits such as “Deceptive Dream” and “History.”

COMPETITION SECTION: FEATURE FILMS

The Main Competition line-up includes powerful, timely, and diverse works from around the world:

  • Death Plan for a Dog and a Man, Christos Karakepelis, Greece, 2024: A homeless outcast and his dog walk silently from Greek mountains to New York’s avenues.
  • Exam on the Edge of Time, İlkay Nişancı, Turkey, 2024, World Premiere: High school students in Hatay study for university amidst ruins.
  • Hawar, Our Banished Children, Pascale Bourgaux, Belgium/France/Switzerland, 2023, Greek Premiere: A Yezidi genocide survivor secretly returns to see the daughter born of rape, taken from her.
  • Letters from Wolf Street, Arjun Talwar, Poland, 2023, Greek Premiere: One street in Warsaw reflects Europe’s transformation.
  • Lo, Thanasis Vassiliou, Greece, 2025: A son returns to his childhood village to untangle a distant bond with his father.
  • Mountain of Gold, Roland Edzard, France, 2025, Greek Premiere: Gold diggers cross Niger’s desolate expanses in pursuit of fortune.
  • Night Recedes, Timon Koulmasis, Greece-France, 2024: The intertwined lives and art of Memos and Zizi Makris, who lived through Occupation, exile, and the Cold War.
  • On Melting Snow, Mojtaba Bahadori, Belgium-Iceland, 2024, Greek Premiere: A wandering artist transforms memories into connective artworks in weathered landscapes.
  • Sculpted Souls, Stavros Psillakis, Greece, 2025: A Swiss dentist who cared for leprosy patients for 26 years finds a second homeland in Greece.
  • The Getaway, Nikita Popkov, Russia, 2025, World Premiere: Three people confront themselves amid turbulent times.
  • The German People, Marcin Wierzchowski, Poland, 2025, Greek Premiere: Families of the Hanau attack victims demand justice in a divided Germany.
  • The Longer You Bleed, Ewan Waddell, Ukraine, 2025, Greek Premiere: Displaced Ukrainians in Berlin navigate war through screens and survival humor.
  • The Lost Season, Mehdi Ghanavati, Iran, 2024, World Premiere: Kosar, a teenage girl in Iran, fights to escape tradition in a parched border village.
  • The Tirana Conspiracy, Manfredi Lucibello, Italy, 2024, Greek Premiere: A Biennale remembered not for its art, but for its scandal.
  • To Use a Mountain, Casey Carter, USA, 2025, Greek Premiere: Six rural communities fight nuclear waste site plans.
  • Welcome to Babel, James Bradley, Australia, 2024, Greek Premiere: An artist explores the revolutions of the 20th century through Mao’s Cultural Revolution.
  • Welcome to the Orchard of England, Louis Norris, UK, 2025, Greek Premiere: In Herefordshire, apples become a way of life.
  • Wild Women of Anatolia, Sedef & Aslı Özoğuz, Turkey, 2024, World Premiere: Five women’s stories of fierce freedom, desire, and resistance.

μicro: SHORT FILM COMPETITION

  • Welcome Home Freckles, Huiju Park, UK, 2025, Greek Premiere: A filmmaker revisits childhood wounds through her father’s memory.
  • I Didn’t Get into Berghain but I Did Meet Vica, Evan Frijters, Netherlands, 2024, World Premiere: A young Ukrainian refugee roams Germany and England facing the psychological toll of war.
  • Work / Memories of Work, Hector Arkomani, UK, Greek Premiere: A poetic meditation on Eleonas’ industrial landscapes and laborers.
  • Gypsy Gadji, Dáša Raimanová, Slovakia, 2024, Greek Premiere: Roxana, a Roma-Polish teacher, walks the edge of cultural identity.
  • Fatbardha, Kitty Kentezi, Greece, 2024: A lyrical reflection on an aging couple facing illness.
  • Specters of Home – Prologue, Ava Aviva Avnisan, USA, 2024, International Premiere: A trans traveler confronts family truths in Jerusalem.
  • We Will Grow, Areti Pagoulatou, UK, 2025: After the 2023 Rhodes wildfires, a local community turns to memory and solidarity.
  • Al Basateen, Antoine Chapon, France, 2025, Greek Premiere: Survivors recall their razed Damascus neighborhood, now site of “Marota City”.
  • Death of a Format, Marios Lizidis, Cyprus, 2023, Greek Premiere: The last video club in Cyprus awaits its final visitors.
  • Through the Window, Daniel Stopa, Poland, 2025, Greek Premiere: A kiosk window captures neighborhood lives and struggles.
  • Clear Sky, Marcin Kundera, Poland, 2024, Greek Premiere: Children’s vacation is shadowed by war sirens and soldiers.
  • Between a Rock and a Hard Place, Thanos Liberopoulos, Greece, 2024, World Premiere: Afghan refugee children in Athens raise their voices.
  • P.S., Aleš Suk, Croatia, 2024, Greek Premiere: The sole resident of a remote Adriatic island reflects on solitude.
  • How to Suture the Soil?, Wil Paucar Calle, Ecuador, 2024, Greek Premiere: A son retraces his mother’s journey from rural abandonment.
  • Refuge, Partha Das, India, 2024, World Premiere: A father and son wander through fragments of memory seeking shelter.
  • My Land is Burned, Abdulrahman Alshowaiki, Belgium, 2024, Greek Premiere: In Lebanon’s refugee camps, a teacher sows seeds of hope.
  • The Sun is Low, Marta Ojrzynska, Poland, 2025, Greek Premiere: A mother and her son embark on a camper-van journey after divorce.
  • Once I Got In, It Was Hard to Get Out, Nora Štrbová, Czechia, 2024, Greek Premiere: Childhood homes become memory labyrinths.
  • Crossing, Karol Felicio, Brazil, 2024, International Premiere: A young mother navigates tradition and modernity.
  • Simply Divine, Mélody Boulissière & Bogdan Stamatin, France, 2024, Greek Premiere: A wartime romance rekindled 75 years later.
  • Albgreko, Ilir Tsouko, Greece, 2024: Children of Albanian migrants share stories of dual heritage in Greece.
  • The Truth About the Telegraph, Kieran Mpetyane Satour, Australia, 2024, International Premiere: Australia’s telegraph line and Indigenous displacement.
  • Vertigo, Alejandra Sanchez Canan, Spain, 2024, World Premiere: In a threatened Valencian village, fears and stories swirl.
  • GIOJA22, Stefano De Felici, Italy, 2023, Greek Premiere: A man scales a Milan skyscraper in an act of civil disobedience.

PANORAMA (NON-COMPETITION SECTION)

  • Femicidio, Nina Maria Paschalidou, Greece, 2022: Femicide cases shake Italy, told through survivors’ and families’ voices.
  • Ending Wars and Making Peace, Jobst Knigge et al., Germany, 2025: Behind-the-scenes of post-conflict peace processes.
  • Kastellorizo: An Island in the Heart of the World, Ivan Butel, France, 2025, World Premiere: A border island between festivity and tension.
  • Memory Too Low for Words, Ümit Kıvanç, Turkey, 2022: The silenced vision of Hrant Dink, revived in sound and image.
  • One Big Family, Vassilis Loules, Greece, 2023: A family-run soft drink company and its century-long legacy.
  • Rules of Stone, Danae Elon, Canada, 2024: Colonial violence in Jerusalem revealed through architecture.
  • Tack, Vania Turner, Greece, 2024: Two pioneers of the Greek #MeToo movement demand justice in sports.
  • The Man Who Told the Truth, Mal Marken, Ireland, 2017, Greek Premiere: Uncovering the legacy of Charles Thomson, forgotten U.S. founder.
  • The Red Teacher, Stelios Charalampopoulos, Greece, 2024: The trial and forgotten martyrdom of Nikos Ploumpidis.
  • That’s How We Came from Karsi (ep. 3), Taina Grigoriadou, Greece, 2022: Stories of refugee housing and integration.
  • Uberto Primo, Alessandra Maioletti, Greece, 2021: Nine Jewish students of WWII Thessaloniki fight for survival.
  • Yiannis Spanos: Behind the Marquee, Aris Dorizas, Greece, 2024: A music journey from Kiato to Paris to Greek hearts.
  • The Unclaimed, Marianna Economou, Greece, 2024: Forgotten TB patients of “Sotiria” hospital buried anonymously.
  • My Name is Battle, Cécile Allegra, Italy-France, 2024: Letizia Battaglia’s lens defies the Mafia with truth.

Photos from the festival can be found HERE and film stills HERE.

Watch the trailer of the 10th edition HERE.

Selected photos from the Press Conference you can find HERE.

For more information, visit: www.beyondborders.gr or email info@beyondborders.gr

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Organized by the Hellenic History Foundation (IDISME), in collaboration with France’s Ecrans des Mondes.

Co-organized by the South Aegean Region with the support of the Hellenic Parliament, Ministry of National Defense, General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad & Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, General Secretariat for the Aegean & Island Policy of the Ministry of Shipping, EKKOMED – Creative Greece (National Centre for Audiovisual Media & Communication), Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), Greek National Tourism Organization and the embassies of Australia, Germany, Austria, Spain, and Switzerland in Athens.

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