A surprising assault on a transgender couple in plain view of tons of Saturday evening has rattled filmmakers and visitors at this yr’s Thessaloniki Documentary Pageant, which has a highlight on queer cinema as one of many focal factors of its twenty sixth version.

Throughout the terrifying episode, which befell round 10:30 p.m. Saturday evening, a mob of near 200 black-clad youths cursed, spat and threw bottles as they pursued the couple throughout Aristotelous Sq., whose historic Olympion theater hosts purple carpet premieres through the Thessaloniki doc fest and its sister occasion in November. The couple took refuge in a close-by restaurant till the police arrived on the scene. A minimum of 21 suspects have been arrested to this point.

The assault — which befell in entrance of packed eating places and cafés in a sq. that’s the coronary heart of public life in Thessaloniki — has shocked and outraged attendees of the competition.

“I assumed some issues would have modified, however now I’m wondering, have issues modified?” says lesbian activist and filmmaker Maria Katsikadakou, also called Maria Cyber, including that she was “indignant and terrified” concerning the brazen assault.

“Greek society is abusive. It’s a society that feeds on hate, and this isn’t going to vary any time quickly,” provides conceptual artist and filmmaker Fil Ieropoulos, whose documentary “Avant-Drag!”, concerning the Athens drag scene, performs this week in Thessaloniki following its Rotterdam premiere.

This yr’s version of the Thessaloniki Documentary Pageant features a wide-ranging tribute to queer cinema, “Citizen Queer,” whereas an honorary Golden Alexander award is being bestowed upon Greek filmmaker Panayotis Evangelidis, whose work has lengthy targeted on the visibility of the LGBTQ group.

In an announcement offered to Selection, the competition mentioned it was stuffed with “anger and repugnance” over the assault.

“The competition unreservedly and explicitly condemns any act of homophobic and racist violence, sending out a loud and clear message of tolerance, inclusivity, acceptance and visibility by the complete scope of its actions,” the assertion learn. “As we’ve repeatedly said, the competition discards any acts of hatred and violence and the extremist voices of intolerance and racism, serving as an open platform of artwork, inclusivity and dialogue.”

The incident befell simply weeks after the historic passage of a invoice legalizing same-sex marriage in Greece, a primary for an Orthodox Christian nation. Whereas that laws has been broadly praised as progress within the wrestle for equal rights for Greece’s LGBTQ group, activists and filmmakers who spoke to Selection expressed their skepticism about such “top-down” laws, which supplies necessary and vital authorized protections for queer Greeks however doesn’t tackle the underlying threats they face in every day life.

Saturday’s episode, notes Ieropoulos, displays “what Greek actuality is for queers.”

“With these new legal guidelines, we’re at a crossroads and we’re going to see what all this actually means for Greek society within the subsequent few years,” he says. “I don’t personally assume these legal guidelines replicate the place Greece is as a society. And if something, this occasion reveals that the truth that some individuals might profit from the brand new legal guidelines doesn’t change Greek actuality normally and particularly for trans individuals.”

“Issues have modified. However the adjustments, you see in Athens,” says Katsikadakou, recalling the virulent homophobia she confronted on her final go to to Thessaloniki 5 years in the past. “The remainder of Greece is stuffed with Orthodox, right-wing, patriarchal individuals. The macho tradition is of their DNA.”

On Sunday, the mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, condemned Saturday’s assault, insisting that it went towards the pluralism on which Greece’s second metropolis — a historic crossroads of East and West — was constructed.

“We condemn in essentially the most unequivocal manner the vulgar, homophobic assault within the coronary heart of town,” he mentioned. “Acceptance is an indication of tradition and democracy. Within the colourful, inclusive Thessaloniki of respect for range there is no such thing as a place for racist attitudes.”

Native activists at the moment are looking forward to June, when town is slated to host EuroPride, a pan-European LGBTQ occasion held in a distinct European metropolis annually, that’s anticipated to attract a number of hundred thousand guests to town for concert events, events, occasions and a parade.

Katsikadakou, who helped curate the competition’s “Citizen Queer” tribute, expressed her hope that “we flood town with indignant queers [who] could have no fucking tolerance for fascist, homophobic, racist acts…[and will] include pressure and put these silly individuals again of their caves the place they belong.”

Native activists are planning an indication on the scene of the assault on Sunday evening. In the meantime, organizers of the annual Thessaloniki Delight occasion insisted they’d not be cowed, posting on the group’s Fb web page: “It’s as much as all of us to mobilize and present solidarity, in order to not let worry return to Thessaloniki! We’re not ashamed, we aren’t hiding, we aren’t afraid!”