This year’s Opening Ceremony carried a particularly festive atmosphere. In the packed Heroe’s Square of the picturesque Kastellorizo, more than 700 guests and visitors from Greece and abroad — island residents alongside international representatives of the film world — gathered to launch this milestone edition. As always, the festival’s heartbeat lies with its people.
Strategic Partner of Beyond Borders is PPC (Public Power Corporation), the leading energy company in Southeastern Europe, which actively supports art and culture. As an integral part of the country’s social and economic fabric, PPC fosters dialogue with culture and the arts, standing behind everything that leads us to a brighter future — one in which culture takes center stage.
In her welcome address, Irini Sarioglou, Artistic Director and Founder of the Festival, offered a moving retrospective on the ten-year course of Beyond Borders. She recalled how the Festival began as a dream and has since grown to be recognized by FIPRESCI (the International Federation of Film Critics) as one of the three most distinguished film festivals worldwide, alongside Venice and Locarno.
“I come from a small island near Istanbul, Antigoni. Perhaps that is why, from an early age, I have been deeply concerned with values such as justice, solidarity, humanity and truth,” Ms. Sarioglou noted. “Beyond Borders is now aiming at even greater growth, following this year’s record-breaking 907 film submissions.” During her address, audiences were shown the landmark short film by the Manakia Brothers (1905), featuring women weavers — the first-ever cinematic recording in the Balkans. “Just as these women wove their present with their hands, today’s documentary filmmakers weave with images and sound the complex tapestry of our reality,” she concluded.
Michel Noll, Founder of Ecrans des Mondes and Director of International Development at Beyond Borders, reminded the audience that at the very heart of every festival are the filmmakers, who invest immense time, energy, and resources to share their ideas with the world. Stressing the critical role of history and cinema, he stated: “We are living through dangerous times. Never before has it been so urgent to stop and truly observe what is happening around us. The world is engulfed by violence and wars. From my 40 years of experience in documentary, I can say with certainty that there is no more effective response to violence than dialogue. And for dialogue to be meaningful, it must be grounded in evidence. That is precisely what documentary does.” Noll concluded: “Beyond Borders reminds us never to rest on our laurels, but always to seek the bigger picture.”
Stratos Amygdalos, Deputy Mayor of Culture of the Municipality of Megisti, welcomed the audience by underlining the shared conviction that Beyond Borders has now secured its own unique place on the global cultural map. “The Festival invites us to delve deeper, to understand, to remember. It is a shining example of how a cultural institution can serve as a tool for education, dialogue, and collective memory,” he said. A long-standing friend of the Festival, Mr. Amygdalos expressed heartfelt gratitude to Artistic Director Irini Sarioglou for her love of the island, ever since her very first visit to Kastellorizo three decades ago. He emphasized that Kastellorizo, with its rich cultural heritage, historical weight, and contemporary significance, continues to carve its own path, standing as a point of reference not only for Greece but also for the world.
In her address, Cristina Caputo, Deputy Ambassador of Italy to Greece, emphasized that through Beyond Borders, Kastellorizo has evolved into a true meeting point of ideas, cultures, and narratives. “Italy is proud to share with Greece not only a passion for Mediterranean culture, but also the conviction that cinema serves as a bridge between societies, past and future,” she noted. Ms. Caputo also congratulated the Festival for honoring the Italian broadcaster RAI as this year’s International Media Partner of Honour, in recognition of its longstanding and significant contribution to the documentary genre. “Continue to inspire us with creative voices,” she concluded.
Alexis Papachelas, Executive Editor of Kathimerini, which is this year’s Greek Media Partner of Honour of the Festival, highlighted the essential role of memory and history in a time of deep uncertainty. He underlined that Beyond Borders is yet another testament to the extraordinary resilience of Kastellorizo, an island that has endured, been reborn and continues to inspire through the survival stories of its people. “The Festival is an integral part of this recent renaissance,” he remarked. Mr. Papachelas also expressed his admiration for the fact that, despite challenges and adversities, the Festival has, within only its first decade, managed to establish itself as a cultural institution of international scope. He referred to Kathimerini’s special feature on Kastellorizo, produced in collaboration with the Festival, and emphasized that the newspaper’s Sunday edition, with its dedicated supplement on the island, was exceptionally delivered to Kastellorizo to mark the occasion. “Today, Kathimerini is Kastellorizo,” he concluded.
This year’s edition also honors, alongside Greece and the two featured media outlets, the GrecDoc Festival of Greek Documentary in Paris as the Honored Festival, while the École Alsacienne (Paris) has been selected as the Honored Academic Institution.
The Opening Ceremony further introduced the Juries of this year’s Festival:
- Main Competition Jury: Tassos Boulmetis (President – director, screenwriter, producer), Claudia Bucher (Commissioning Editor, ARTE G.E.I.E), Eugenia Giannouri (Associate Professor, Sorbonne Nouvelle), Jobst Knigge (director), and Maria Louka (documentarian, screenwriter, journalist).
- Micro Competition Jury: Michaela Kolster (President – journalist and Program Director, ZDF/PHOENIX), Bruce Clark (author, journalist), Alex Sakalis (author, journalist), Gilles Perrin (professor of French literature and cinema), and Vassilis Loules (director).
- FIPRESCI Jury: film critics Jan Storø, Elli Mastorou, and Nikolaos Aletres.
The film that officially opened the Festival was Johatsu – Into Thin Air (Japan–Germany, 2024) by Andreas Hartmann & Arata Mori. The documentary explores the unusual phenomenon of Japan’s so-called “evaporated people” (Johatsu) — thousands who vanish without a trace every year, leaving behind families and lives due to troubled relationships, mounting debts, or threats from organized crime. Assisted at times by “night moving companies,” they attempt to disappear and rebuild a new existence elsewhere. Through a deeply personal lens, the film portrays the inner struggles of both those who disappeared and those left behind.
Following the screening, Chrysi Papagiannouli (vocals), Nikos Plios (guitar, vocals), and Tasos Giannousis (bouzouki, vocals, artistic curation) presented a special musical anthology created for the Festival’s 10th Anniversary. The program featured unforgettable works by some of Greece’s most renowned composers — Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Manos Loizos, Stavros Kougioumtzis, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Markos Vamvakaris and others. Beloved landmark songs were reimagined with power and freshness, in an evening filled with music, memory, and emotion.
From today onwards, the Festival continues with its competition sections and special Panorama screenings, hosting international premieres, masterclasses by acclaimed filmmakers, the Co-Production Forum already bearing fruit, the Audiovisual Pitching Lab, the Critics’ Corner, and a rich program of initiatives: the new Beyond Borders Podcast Series, the Film School Network engaging students in multiple Festival activities, alongside book presentations, exhibitions, children’s workshops and games, and unforgettable music nights.
