Cyprus Film Days: A critical guide
The island’s only world-class film festival is well worth your time says THEO PANAYIDES
It’s Cyprus Film Days (CFD), our only world-class film festival (not counting shorts and ...
Articles
His brand is creative chaos
Using the body itself as art, one local man with a curated look is both playful and serious. THEO PANAYIDES meets a man (once half fish) who trusts his instincts
...
The paradox of the Palestinian Cypriot
In the creator of award-winning adverts, THEO PANAYIDES meets a driven, cool man who sees things other people can’t and believes the world should fight for Gaza, not feel ...
Three-act life of a travelling storyteller
In a Colombian storyteller, THEO PANAYIDES finds a woman who has lived through drama – stepping over dead bodies on the way to school – but finds medicine in stories
It’s ...
How does money work?
In the Queen of Money, THEO PANAYIDES meets a woman bored by the easy things, striving to overcome her impostor syndrome to shape change
It’s a strange thing about ...
Public opinion: Has the monks scandal shaken your religious faith? (video)
We asked a selection of people in Nicosia for their opinion on the scandal surrounding the Osiou Avakoum monastery in Fterikoudi.
Dynamic doctor buying time for his patients
In a roving oncologist, THEO PANAYIDES finds a socially conscious doctor who believes a positive mindset can help fight the bad vibes and worse of his days
“I had a ...
Public opinion: What’s the biggest problem we’re facing right now? (video)
We asked a selection of people on the streets of old Nicosia for their opinion on the biggest problem we’re facing right now – both in Cyprus, and the world ...
‘How could they allow themselves to reach such depths of depravity?’
Peace is the crucial element of life, the UK’s chief rabbi tells THEO PANAYIDES. He is a jovial man whose lifelong goal was to become a rabbi, now more ...
Farmer instructed by God to yell
Working the land is a gamble, one angry lifelong farmer tells THEO PANAYIDES, and credits praying to St Parthenios for curing his cancer
Tractors parked in single file, blocking the ...
Anti-war Russians protest in Nicosia (video)
On February 24, 2024, exactly two years since the start of the war in Ukraine, the Democratic Community of Russians in Cyprus – a group of expat Russians opposed to the war, and ...
Drag queens in Cyprus (video)
We visited Bar Souvenir in Nicosia, where Sunday brunch also includes drag-queen karaoke and a special show by Lynn Dynasty and Masc4Mascara.
(For best results, play video in 1080p (...
The man who’s tried 33,000 different beers
In a beer celebrity drinking his way around the world, THEO PANAYIDES meets a man who has seen a lot and done a lot, including tasting 67 brews in Cyprus alone
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Counter-productive to still ignore persistent Covid jab fears
Officials would do better to stop blaming misinformation, apologise for clearly illiberal measures during the pandemic, and try to reassure us that the vaccine situation is being monitored
Covid vaccines ...
Palestinian Cypriot creative with an eye for emotion
In the creator of award-winning adverts, THEO PANAYIDES meets a driven, cool man who sees things other people can’t and believes the world should fight for Gaza, not feel ...
Cyprus’ stateless children, a red-tape nightmare
It could take years for new criteria to take effect… if it does at all
Alexandra is 30 years old and lives in Limassol. Her partner Philip (she calls him Philippos) ...
Activist charged with saving the Akamas
In an outdoorsy, fiery architect THEO PANAYIDES meets the woman trying to steer a course between money and natural beauty
When I meet Antonia Theodosiou, in her office on a ...
Has Limassol therapist found secret to wellbeing?
From a child who was never heard, to a young ‘asshole’, to wearing many emotional hats, one alternative doctor is fearless. THEO PANAYIDES meets him
Where to begin? Most of ...
Nearly 50% of Nicosia pupils from migrant background
Headteachers say they are coping well, but what about outside of school?
Recent figures, released in November by the Schools Board of Nicosia, show that 49.5 per cent of schoolchildren in ...
The mental strength of Cyprus’ long-distance runner
THEO PANAYIDES meets an ultra runner with a warrior’s tenacity in search of a hippy’s sense of freedom, a man who finds freedom when moving through nature
Some ...
Delivering ‘crazy science’ with compassion
In a woman working in Limassol on a cure for cancer, THEO PANAYIDES finds someone whose life fell apart when members of her own family died from it but is ...
Accidental politician with the burden of a famous name
In a Turkish Cypriot public figure, THEO PANAYIDES meets a doleful doer who treated politics much like a business. While dismissing the chances of Cypriots living together again, he is ...
2023: Oh, for those website-free days of writing profiles
Life would be so much simpler without the views. I’ve been writing profiles for years – I interviewed 45 people for the Living section of the Sunday Mail in 2023, including today’...
Struggling for hope while dying inside
At a time of year when cynicism should be put to one side, THEO PANAYIDES meets an African couple faced with deportation who love Cyprus but not the human cost ...