Free summer cinema in Larnaca

It must be summer if outdoor screenings are on the agenda says ELENI PHILIPPOU

There are many things that signal the arrival of summer and outdoor film screenings are most certainly one of them. Here to satisfy cinephiles is another month of free movie nights organised by the Larnaca Cinema Society. The garden of the Pierides Museum in Larnaca will host three film evenings this June while one more screening takes place on the beach.

First up is a screening of the Italian film Caravaggio’s Shadow on June 14. The film tells the story of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, an Italian painter in the 16th century, shown through the eyes of the Pope’s investigator. The Catholic Church secretly investigates Caravaggio as the Pope weighs whether to grant him clemency for killing a rival. The screening will begin at 8pm, as all Larnaca Cinema Society events do, and will be shown in its original Italian with subtitles in Greek. Following the screening, a 15-minute discussion will take place.

The next screening is of the Greek film Dog, which was filmed in Larnaca. On June 21, film lovers will be able to discover Gianna Amerikanou’s film shot in the Cypriot seaside town. The film follows Dimitris who, on the verge of manhood yet very much a child, has romanticised his imprisoned father to mythic proportions. When he gets released after ten years, Dimitris cannot wait to finally get to know him and to make up for lost time. But when his father reveals his true nature, Dimitris must face a great dilemma: whether to belong or seek justice.

The following film night changes up its location and heads out to the beach. June 23’s film screening will take place on the Larnaca beach with its Medieval Castle as the backdrop. There, film fans can watch Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow, an American drama based on Johnathan Raymond’s 2004 novel The Half-Life. The film features a skilled cook who has travelled West joining a group of fur trappers in Oregon. He only finds true connection with a Chinese immigrant also seeking his fortune and soon the two collaborate on a successful business involving a cow.

The June screenings will conclude with the well-known political thriller, Boy from Heaven, also known as the Cairo Conspiracy. It premiered in 2022 at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded Best Screenplay. In Larnaca, the film will be screened at the Pierides Museum on June 28 in Arabic with Greek subtitles. Adam, the son of a fisherman, is the protagonist of the film. He is offered the privilege to study at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the center of power of Sunni Islam. Adam becomes a pawn in the conflict between Egypt’s religious and political elites as when the Grand Imam of al-Azhar suddenly dies and a power struggle to replace him ensues.

Larnaca Film Screenings

Caravaggio’s Shadow. June 14. Dog. June 21. First Cow. June 23 (Medieval Castle Beach). Boy from Heaven. June 28. Pierides Museum, Larnaca. 8.30pm. Free. In its original language with subtitles in Greek. Tel: 99-434793