From April 16th to 24th Cyprus Film Days is once again having cinema screenings with a live audience. Co-organized by Cyprus’ Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth, the European Commission and the European Parliament’s Cyprus Office, the “largest international film event on the island of Cyprus” traditionally takes place at the Rialto Theatre in Limassol and the Zena Palace Cinema in Nicosia. Last year’s edition was cancelled during the pandemic.
Each year a three-person artistic committee is appointed by the Cypriot ministry and the Rialto Theatre to select the films. This year the committee has two film-makers, Marios Stylianou and Tonia Mishiali, and a researcher, Dr Costas Constantinides.
They in turn have appointed 5 film industry professionals to be this year’s jury: Eduardo Guillot, artistic director of the Mostra de Valence, Bulgarian actress Irmena Chichikova, Greek film-maker Minos Nikolakakis, Cypriot actress Kika Georgiou and Cypriot film-maker George Kallis.
Two competitions at the Cyprus Film Days
There will be ten films in the international competition – Glocal Images International:
- “Ballad for a Pierced Heart” by Yannis Economides (Greece, France, Germany, Cyprus)
- “Jumbo” by Zoé Wittock (France, Belgium, Luxembourg)
- “Senior Citizen” by Marinos Kartikkis (Cyprus)
- “180° Rule” by Farnoosh Samadi (Iran)
- “Between Heaven and Earth” by Najwa Najjar (Palestine, Luxembourg, Iceland)
- “Sole” by Carlo Sironi (Italy, Poland)
- “O Último Banho” (The Last Bath) by David Bonneville (Portugal, France)
- “Sin Señas Particulares” (Identifying Features) by Fernanda Valadez (Mexico, Spain)
- “Winona/The boy” by Alexandros Voulgaris (Greece)
- “The man who sold his skin” by Kaouther Ben Hania (Tunisia, France, Belgium)
The non-competitive section, known as Viewfinder, will show five award-winning films by well-known or emerging film-makers:
- “SWEAT” by Magnus Von Horn (Poland, Sweden), selected at Cannes,
- “Nomadland” by Chloé Zhao (United States), Best Film and Best Director at the 2021 Golden Globes
- “Night of the Kings” Philippe Lacôte (France, Ivory Coast, Canada, Senegal), Winner of the Youth Jury IFFR 2021, Rotterdam International Film Festival
- “Bad Tales” by Damiano and Fabio D’Innocenzo (Italy, Switzerland), Silver Bear for Best Script at the 2020 Berlin Film Festival
- “Apples” by Kristos Nikou (Greece, Poland, Slovenia), Best Script at the 2020 Chicago International Film Festival
For more information on Cyprus audiovisual news, click here.
Sources: cineuropa.org, cyprusfilmdays.com
