Film lovers get ready, the biggest local film festival of the year, Cyprus Film Days, will run from Friday until April 24 at Rialto theatre in Limassol and at Zena Palace Cinema in Nicosia.
This is the 14th year the festival has taken place and every year something new is added. This year you can expect to watch 25 international feature fiction film screenings, screenings for children and youth, tributes, workshops for film professionals and live music shows, all under a brand new logo. So when you see a red figure, you will know that you are in the right place.
The ten-day festival will include two main programmes of screenings, these are Viewfinder – which includes awarded films that have been celebrated internationally – and Glocal Images – which is the international competition section of the festival.
The opening ceremony will take place in Limassol and Nicosia at 8pm.
In Limassol the film to start it all off is Chevalier by Athena Rachel Tsangari from Greece, a comedy that observes male group psychology. Aboard a luxurious yacht, six heterosexual male friends and acquaintances compete to be the best in general. They comprehensively evaluate and rank one another in a testosterone-laden game, Chevalier.
The film won Best Film at BFI London Film Festival and a Special Jury Mention for its male ensemble, consisting of Yorgos Kendros, Vangelis Mourikis, Panos Koronis, Makis Papadimitriou, Yorgos Pyrpassopoulos and Sakis Rouvas receiving the Heart of Sarajevo for Best Actor. And for all Rouvas fans, he will also be present at the opening ceremony and the screening of the film.
The after party will start at 10pm when DJ Claudio will get us all nostalgic for some music of the past, while also spinning some more modern tunes.
In Nicosia the first film to be screened is The Brand New Testament by Jaco Van Dormael from Belgium. In this witty, black comedy God exists and lives in Brussels. God discovers that his daughter has decided to follow in her older brother’s footsteps by leaving the house, gathering her own apostles, and writing her own testament. The film stars Benoit Poelvoorde, Catherine Deneuve, Francois Damiens and Didier De Neck, who will be present at the screening.
After the screening, the party will be taken outside Zena Palace, where the local, all-girl band Belua will be performing.
The full list of screenings can be found at http://cyprusfilmdays.com/index.php/2016-edition/screenings for both cities.
There will also be a number of adult midnight screenings at Tritos Pantheon Gallery in Nicosia and at the Oro Club in Limassol. More details about these screenings should be on the festival’s website soon at http://cyprusfilmdays.com/index.php/2016-edition/midnight-screenings.
As for the workshops and master classes, the first will run on Saturday from 5pm until 7pm at Zena Palace with renowned British foley artists of Pinewood Studios Jemma Riley-Tolch, Peter Hanson and Pete Burgis, who will deliver a masterclass about the secret world of foley, with a live, on-stage presentation of their work.
At the Point Centre for Contemporary Art in Nicosia next Tuesday, Mannheim Meeting Place Co-ordinator Julek Kedzierski will analyse the application process to international co-production markets and examine the relevant points of co-production project presentation and philosophy, describing some of the more obvious pitfalls and mistakes. The master class will take place from 5pm until 6.30pm.
Also at the Point Centre for Contemporary Art, Emmy-nominated costume designer Jo Katsaras will analyse the relationship of the costume designer and the director by demonstrating examples of her own work in cinema next Wednesday from 5pm until 7pm.
The last master class will take place on Saturday, April 23 also at the Point Centre for Contemporary Art from 5pm until 7pm. Cypriot cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos will discuss the cinematography of the film Eye in the Sky and the challenges of a location shoot.
All films will be screened in their original language with Greek and English subtitles.
Cyprus Film Days
Screening of films during the film festival. April 15-24. Rialto theatre Limassol and Zena Palace Cinema, Nicosia. 8.30pm. Festival pass: €25, day pass: €6. Rialto Theatre: 77-777745, Zena Palace Cinema, 22-674128
