Lentzou's 'A Day in the Life of Jo' wins Golden Alexander at Thessaloniki film festival

Three Golden Alexanders and a Greek sweep

The 67th Thessaloniki International Film Festival ended with its awards ceremony on Sunday, 15 November 2026, held at Warehouse C in the port of Thessaloniki. Seven Greek films collected 22 awards and distinctions across the festival's sections, according to one report. Three Golden Alexanders went to films from the three competitive strands: 'A Day in the Life of Jo: Chapter Phaedra' by Zaklin Lentzou in Arrivals, 'Dua' by Blerta Basholli in Meet the Neighbors+, and 'I Plant My Hand in the Garden' by Boris Hadjiyia and Honda Taheri in Film Forward.

Lentzou's film won the Golden Alexander - Theodoros Angelopoulos award for best feature, which carries a 10,000 euro prize. The jury praised the film's tender portrait of adolescence and the way it blends everyday life with the otherworldly. Lentzou dedicated the prize to her mother and recalled that she first met Theodoros Angelopoulos in 1998 or 1999, when she visited Thessaloniki with her father to interview people at the festival.

“Thessaloniki is her city, it is her mother's city.”

The film had already premiered in the Orizzonti section of the Venice Film Festival, where it won the best director award in September 2026. Distribution in Greek cinemas is being handled by Filmtrade, and the film's next festival stop is the Marrakech festival.

Other winners

The Silver Alexander for best director, supported by the festival's main sponsor TELEKOM with a 5,000 euro prize, went to Polin Joulie and Nicolas Sapoulie for 'Les Indes'. Their debut feature is set in 1652 and follows three men carrying a painting through a Europe torn by war and uprisings. The Arrivals best actor award was shared by Kaike Kopke and Italo Martins for 'Flesh and...' work in the Brazilian film directed by Mateus Farias and Enoc Carvalho, while Arisa Sasaki won best actress for 'Titanic Ocean' by Konstantina Kotzamani, who also took the best artistic achievement prize in the same competition.

In Film Forward, Rob Rice won best director for 'Poderosa' and Argyris Germanidis won the best artistic achievement award for 'Dust Particles'. In Meet the Neighbors+, Abdallah Al-Katib won best director for 'Chronicle of a Siege', Pierre Le Gall took the Municipality of Thessaloniki screenplay award for 'Flesh and Petrol', and Maria Petrova won best actress for 'Krata Me' by Myrsini Aristeidou. Evita Andriopoulou, who stars in Lentzou's film, received a special mention for her performance.

Historic cinema register

Deputy Minister of Culture Iasonas Fotilas attended the ceremony and announced that the ministerial decision on the Register of Historic Cinemas had been published in the Government Gazette (FEK B 6763) on 11 November 2026. The decision sets out how the register works and builds on Article 14 of Law 5271/2026. Entry requires, among other conditions, 30 years of operation. Fotilas framed the step in these terms.

“To change something, you first have to record it and define it.”

Fotilas also said that Greece's institutional presence in pan-European film policy is meant to support filmmakers and the cinema community.