In Thessaloniki, which is unusually warm for the season, people do their best to stay outside longer. The outdoor tables of cafes and restaurants have their own meaning without even needing the famous stoves even at night. However, on Thursday evening there was a really good reason to fill at least one room in the city. 63rd Thessaloniki Film Festival opened his curtain in a crowded hall Olympian of Aristotle’s Squarewhere the cinematic “tribe” gathered to, of course, celebrate the opening, as well as enjoy the latest work of the legend on the big screen.

Artistic director Orestis Andreadakis, a man who “can convince you to do anything in 120 seconds”, according to evening host Giorgos Kapoucidis, was very happy because he succeeded, he told us, after several months of efforts by Steven Spielberg’s Fabelmana in Thessaloniki. And it really was worth it. The perfect opening film for any film festival around the world, the veteran director’s film is, above all, a love letter to cinema itself. In the magic of the big screen, as well as in the art of moving images. At the same time, this is Spielberg’s deeply personal confession, looking back at his childhood and youth.

His own family is obviously the Fabelmans, with father Bert (Paul Deino), mother Mitzi (the amazing Michelle Williams), three daughters and son Sammy. The latter, behind whom the American filmmaker himself is hiding, immediately falls in love with The Seventh Art and spends the next decade making his own amateur films. Between moves, family dramas, joys and sorrows, this whole dance of life moves in front of the camera at a pace that any contemporary filmmaker would envy in what is undoubtedly Spielberg’s finest work in at least two decades.

The 63rd Thessaloniki Film Festival opened its curtain on a packed Olympics.

However, as we have already said, it is hot in Thessaloniki, so the established opening group was moved (unofficially) from the warehouse From the port to the street, where most people preferred to stand. In the respective “wells”, many wondered what the two new foreign productions would be, which will soon begin filming in Thessaloniki, according to what the governor of Central Macedonia, Apostolos Tsitsikostas, announced at the ceremony. More on this in a week.

In the meantime, the city is slowly entering the festival rhythms and we take our places in the halls. There we managed to watch “The Line”, a Swiss film by Ursula Meyer, which tells about the violent conflict between mother and daughter. With the magnificent Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi as the first, the film manages to give an alternative look at modern family relationships, having as an asset a photograph of the great Agnes Godard. There was also interest in The Queen of Comedy by Swedish Sanna Lenken, whose main character is a 13-year-old girl who decides to become an improv comedian to make her grieving father laugh.

In general, women creators – and not only – have their share this year in Thessaloniki, which was repeatedly indicated at the opening ceremony and can be seen both from the poster and from the completely new venue of the event. The latter, choreographed by Evi Kalogiropoulou, depicts five women interpreting the legendary Ladadika by Marios Tokas and Philippos Grafs in a unique way. However, judging by the rather languid reception in the hall, the inhabitants of Thessaloniki probably prefer Mitropan’s version.