Thessaloniki doc fest opener looks at global race to develop Covid vaccine
“How to Survive a Pandemic” by Academy Award-nominated director David France will open the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (TDF), taking place March 10-20, organizers announced Tuesday.
France, an American investigative reporter and filmmaker known for “How to Survive a Plague” (2012) and “Welcome to Chechnya” (2020), recounts the worldwide race to develop, test, manufacture and distribute the vaccine against Covid-19.
More than 230 films by directors from around the world will screen at festival theaters and online at the 24th edition of the annual event whose main theme for this year is “post-reality,” with documentaries that seek to delve into the human and social impacts of the pandemic.
TDF will also host a tribute to Laila Pakalnina, one of Latvia’s most prolific directors, and her Finnish counterpart Virpi Suutari.
The festival will wrap up with the documentary “Blind Ambition,” by Robert Coe and Warwick Ross, which tells the story of Zimbabwe’s first-ever team of sommeliers at the World Wine Blind Tasting Championships – the Olympics of the wine world.
For more information, visit the festival website.
