Cyprus Film Days 2021: Back to the big screen

It’s been a good while since most of us have been to the cinema and even longer since a film festival took place but next month, world and local films are coming to the island.

After its strongly felt absence last year, Cyprus Film Days 2021 returns to Rialto’s big screen in Limassol and Zena Palace Cinema in Nicosia, from April 16 to 24. Organised by the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education, the festival is scheduled to take place in the physical presence of the audience.

This 19th Cyprus Film Days edition has an eclectic programme that incorporates more than 20 fiction feature films, including world-acclaimed films (Viewfinder section), a very promising competition section (Glocal Images) showcasing films that feature extensive thematic, stylistic and genre characteristics, with Cypriot productions, as well as an educational and entertaining programme for children and youth. In this way the festival aspires to capture the spirit of art-house cinema and present the jewels of the past festival year.

Among other films, the following will be screened: Apples by Christos Nikou, which will represent Greece in the upcoming Academy Awards, Sweat by Magnus von Horn, which premiered at Cannes Film Festival in 2020, as well as Night of the Kings by Philippe Lacôte, which received multiple awards and was screened at Rotterdam Film Festival.

This year’s international jury, which will select the awarded films competing in the Glocal Images section, will be comprised of prominent personalities from the independent film industry.

Paying tribute to the arts that kept many loyal company during this past year in times of lockdown and isolation, this year’s Cyprus Film Days edition will undoubtedly bring hope and optimism for the future. Its objective is to develop cinematographic education, to support talented filmmakers, directors and film industry professionals from Cyprus and abroad, to showcase the art of fiction cinema, as well as to establish the festival as a meeting point for film professionals, artists and cinemagoers from every corner of the globe.

For the second consecutive year, the festival organises a virtual event for film professionals, the 2nd Dot on the Map Industry Days, a co-production, education and networking platform, organised online in collaboration with AGORA Thessaloniki International Film Festival, Greece. Dot on the Map aims at encouraging film collaborations and synergies between producers, directors and screenwriters from Mediterranean countries. More information about it can be found on www.cyprusfilmdays.com/about-dot-on-the-map-21/

Wanting to be all-inclusive, the festival has something special in store for young cinema fans. Inspired by the most direct means of visual storytelling and entertainment, Cyprus Film Days for Children and Youth invites young audiences to a series of creative, fun and educational online screenings and workshops. The events are addressed to young spectators aged between 8 and 18.

All films will be screened in their original language and subtitled in both Greek and English. The detailed programme of screenings and events will be soon available on its website (www.cyprusfilmdays.com) as well as on its Facebook page. The festival will conclude with the awards ceremony at Rialto Theatre in Limassol but before that the island’s cinephiles will have ten days to relish a good old habit: the return to the big screen.

19^th Cyprus Film Days

Ten-day film festival and competition. April 16-24. Rialto theatre, Limassol and Zena Palace Cinema, Nicosia. www.cyprusfilmdays.com