Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival (TiDF) has unveiled the programme for its 28th edition, running 5-15 March 2026 in Thessaloniki with an online component. The festival will screen 252 documentaries across feature and short formats, including a record 80 world premieres, alongside 32 international and 11 European premieres. Screenings will take place at the Olympion and Pavlos Zannas theatres and multiple Port venues, with additional online access via the festival platform.
Festival leadership framed the edition around the instability of the international moment, citing regions where democracy, justice, and human rights are being tested, and positioning documentary as a public forum for memory, truth, and dialogue.
TiDF opens on 5 March with Ivy Meeropol’s Ask E. Jean, which receives its international premiere in Thessaloniki. The film follows journalist and author E. Jean Carroll, whose legal actions against Donald Trump for sexual assault and defamation resulted in courtroom victories. TiDF will close on 15 March with Mr. Nobody Against Putin, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, directed by David Borenstein and co-directed by Pavel «Pasha» Talankin. The closing night also includes a live broadcast of the Oscars ceremony and an overnight party at the Olympion.
A high-profile guest programme is led by Juliette Binoche, who will attend to present her directorial debut, In-I In Motion, centred on her collaboration with British dancer and choreographer Akram Khan. Binoche will also appear in her capacity as President of the European Film Academy, as the organisation builds toward the 2027 European Film Awards in Athens.
Archives are positioned as a central curatorial throughline via a tribute titled «All the World’s Memory,» spanning screenings, discussions, and publications. Commissioned work includes Aristotelis Maragkos’ short The Unknowing of Things, created in collaboration with the General State Archives of Greece and integrated into the festival’s Rewind strand. An open discussion, «Genealogy of the Future,» is scheduled for 9 March at Pavlos Zannas.
On the industry-facing side, TiDF will preview Filmography, a forthcoming digital database for Greek cinema documentation and promotion, developed with «Greece 2.0» recovery funding and in collaboration with the Hellenic Film & Audiovisual Center and the Hellenic Film Academy, with public access targeted for late April.
The festival will present honorary Golden Alexander awards to Greek filmmaker Vouvoula Skoura (accompanied by a 20-film tribute), American multimedia artist Bill Morrison (including a public masterclass and six-film spotlight), and producer Yorgos Papalios, who will also serve on the International Competition jury; the Papalios-focused documentary Running on Waves will screen during the event.
Competition programming spans International Competition (14 films), Newcomers (14), Film Forward (10), and Immersive: All Around Cinema (8), while the festival’s accessibility programme expands with an augmented-accessibility screening using film pictograms plus audio description and subtitles for deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences. Agora, TiDF’s development and market arm, returns with its slate of labs and forums and adds a European Film Academy-led documentary think tank, plus a Basque producer delegation presenting projects to industry professionals.
