With the motto "Why cinema now?," the 50th Thessaloniki International Film Festival (TIFF) is celebrating half a century, from November 13 to 22, and invites artists, film professionals and of course its audience to actively participate in discussing the nature and role of cinema.

In a press conference on November 3, it was announced that the festival's international competition section will feature two world premieres.

The international competition jury committee will be chaired by renowned film director Theo Angelopoulos, while actress Jane Birkin will be among the special guests.

German director Werner Herzog’s retrospective will feature at the TIFF this year. Herzog himself will attend the festival to present his films, conduct a Masterclass and be honoured with a Golden Alexander, for his contribution to the art of cinema.

Accompanying the Herzog retrospective, a bilingual (Greek and English) monograph of the filmmakers’ work will be presented.

For the fourth year, the festival is hosting a digital competition section "DigitalWave." Eight different digital films are participating, six competing, and two as special screenings. Digital film production in Greece is developing widely, via the digitalization of the public television archive.