It was one of the most important events in Greek cinema, from its institution in 1992 until 2008.
Until 1991, only Greek movies participated in the Thessaloniki Film Festival.
Since 1992 the festival became international and a separate award was instituted for Greek movies.
In 2009, during the 50th Thessaloniki Festival, the Greek filmmakers decided to boycott the awards.
[1] The awards were subsequently abolished by a bill of the Ministry of Culture.