With over 110 films, Cyprus International Film Festival returns

Cinema lovers rejoice! The Cyprus International Film Festival returns this month for the 16th consecutive year with screenings and parallel events in selected venues around Nicosia and Larnaca. From November 11 to 17, and as part of the second Larnaca Biennale, the film festival features films from varied genres and hosts film directors during its events.

K-Cineplex Prime Nicosia will be one of the venues with screenings throughout the festival, each evening between 7.15pm and 9.45pm. The Classic Hotel in old Nicosia will also host some movie nights on the weekend of November 13-14, between 10am and 6pm with the presence of many directors.

On Monday, November 15 and Tuesday, November 16, from 12pm until 11pm, the Cyprus International Film Festival will join the Larnaca Biennale to present films within the Biennale’s theme of Limitless Limits. The Larnaca Municipal Theatre will host the all-day screenings.

Within this collaboration with the Biennale, the festival also works with the Cyprus branch of the international organisation Women in Film and Television to organise a special screening. On Monday 15 at 7pm an event will be held that includes music, screenings and an open discussion on Equal opportunities for Men and Women in the Audiovisual Sector. Commissioner for Gender Equality Iosifina Antoniou will open the discussion while directors and representatives from the Cyprus Directors Association, the CyBC and the Cyprus News Agency all will attend. The evening’s musical programme will be presented by Russian pianist Tatiana Stupak and violinist Olivera Rialas with songs by Russian Natalia Kriventsova.

This will be followed by screenings of two feature-length documentaries by the directors and members of the newly formed Women in Film and Television Cyprus chapter: She Should Run – Cyprus by Petra Terzi and Life Starts at 90 by Bejay Browne.

There were applications from 40 countries from six continents, while the official programme has 111 films, 20 of which are Greek.

The Festival promotes new talents and debut directors with their first short film in the category CYIFF Got Talent and with their first feature film in the category Golden Aphrodite, while all other feature and short films fall into the Veteran category. Since its foundation in 2006, it also screens films by expatriate directors of Greek origin in the category Nostimon Imar.

Alongside its main programme, the festival will also include some parallel events and screenings such as a scriptwriting workshop called Bridging the Second Act with screenwriter Scott Simpson, human rights films with an emphasis on tackling domestic violence, films in the 50/50 category which have equal participation of men and women in credits and films with a woman director or producer, for the Aphrodite Cinematic Award.

Cyprus International Film Festival Golden Aphrodite

16^th edition of festival with film screenings, awards and parallel events. November 11-17. K-Cineplex Prime, Nicosia. The Classic Hotel, Nicosia. Larnaca Municipal Theatre, Larnaca. For registration for the screenwriting seminar contact: 99-798112 or [email protected]. www.cyiff.org/