Cyprus Film Days to start with a bang

Just a few days remain until the 21^st edition of the Cyprus Film Days International Festival lifts the curtain and a special opening ceremony is planned. The festival will officially begin on Friday, April 21 at 8pm at Rialto Theatre with an artistic inaugural ceremony, which will be held in the presence of the deputy minister of culture, Michalis Hadjiyiannis, and inspired by the curatorial question ‘What Now/Now What?’

A screening of the Cypriot film IMAN, directed by Corinna Avraamides and Kyriacos Tofarides will kick-start the festival. The film is a gripping drama that connects three stories, each involving characters whose actions mean the difference between life and death. Featuring an eclectic international and Cypriot cast, the film had its world premiere at the 63rd Thessaloniki International Film Festival and will be presented for the first time in front of a Cypriot audience.

The opening ceremony, curated and directed by Dimitris Chimonas and his collaborators, is inspired by Sessions, a project of collective queer happenings. Attendees will have a unique opportunity to experience a ‘ceremonial’ arrival, where both viewers and filmmakers are two sides of the same coin.

“Unexpected combinations of imagery and sound create universes on the edges of reality,” say the organisers, “somewhere between nothing and everything, nowhere and everywhere, between chaos and order. By watching them, we contribute to their completion”.

Following IMAN’s screening, the festival will host an opening party with DJ Coral Bae. This celebratory opening night will be attended by official festival guests, the members of the international jury, members of the film community, as well as organisers’ representatives (Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture – Deputy Ministry of Culture, and the Rialto Theatre), the sponsors and, last but not least, the festival’s loyal audience.

Cyprus Film Days 2023 will begin to unfold its rich programme of screenings and events starting on the weekend of April 22 and 23 in both Limassol and Nicosia. In Limassol, on Saturday 22 at 11 am, the jury president, French film director Julie Bertuccelli, will attend the screening of her documentary film Jane Campion, La Femme Cinéma, which will be followed by a Q&A. In Nicosia, following the 8pm screening of The Eight Mountains, directed by Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch, guests are invited to an open party at the neighbouring S//IP Club. A week full of film screenings and parallel events awaits from April 21 to 29.

Opening Ceremony of 21^st Cyprus Film Days International Festival

Screening of film IMAN and party with DJ Coral Bae. April 21. Rialto Theatre, Limassol. 8pm. www.cyprusfilmdays.com