02/04/2019 - Keeping an eye out for emerging international and local talents, Cyprus’s biggest festival is about to kick off and has invited Udo Kier to chair the jury

Dedicated exclusively to contemporary world cinema, the Cyprus Film Days International Festival is currently gearing up for its 17^th edition. With an official selection spanning three main programmes, the largest international film event in Cyprus will take place from 12-20 April in the country’s two biggest cities, at the Rialto Theatre in Limassol and the Zena Palace Cinema in Nicosia. Everything is managed by a three-member artistic committee, consisting of director-producer Tonia Mishiali, film scholar Dr Costas Constantinides and director-producer Marios Stylianou.

The Glocal Images International Competition showcases works that represent international trends but still retain a local character, and comprises nine films helmed by first-time and sophomore filmmakers. The five-member international jury that will hand out the Cyprus Film Days Awards is headed up by acclaimed German actor Udo Kier, and includes film programmer Hayet Benkara, actress Sarah Adler, film director Christos Georgiou and production designer Lisa Tsouloupa.

The festival will open with a Cypriot film and the winner of Best International Narrative Feature at last year’s Tribeca, Marios Piperides’ debut comedy, the symbolic Smuggling Hendrix [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marios Piperides
film profile] (Cyprus/Germany/Greece), which is also taking part in the National Competition. Three of the films are directed by debutant European filmmakers: the contemporary drama Alone at My Wedding [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Marta Bergman
film profile] (Belgium/France/Romania) by documentarian Marta Bergman, her first attempt at fiction; the autobiographical Ray & Liz [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Richard Billingham
film profile] (UK) by well-known photographer Richard Billingham; and the urban drama Holy Boom [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (Greece/Albania/Cyprus) by Maria Lafi. Furthermore, the geopolitical comedy Tel Aviv on Fire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Sameh Zoabi
film profile] (Luxembourg/Belgium/Israel/France) by Palestine’s Sameh Zoabi and the Un Certain Regard-awarded drama Sofia [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Meryem Benm'Barek
film profile] (France/Belgium/Qatar) by Morocco’s Meryem Benm'Barek are taking part, flying the flag for the Mediterranean Basin. South America is represented by two sophomore filmmakers, Chile’s Dominga Sotomayor with her Locarno-awarded drama Too Late to Die Young [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Chile/Brazil/Argentina/Netherlands/Qatar) and the refugee horror Los Silencios [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] (Brazil/Colombia/France) by Brazil’s Beatriz Seigner. Finally, the coming-of-age drama House of Hummingbird (South Korea) by Kim Bo-ra rounds off the Glocal Images International Competition selection.

Four Cypriot films or movies by Cypriot directors will be competing in the National Films Competition programme. Apart from the aforementioned Smuggling Hendrix, Johnny Kevorkian’s horror Await Further Instructions [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (UK), Alexander Leondaritis’ thriller Waiting Room (Cyprus) and the crime-comedy Small White Envelopes (Cyprus) by Soteris Christou, set to enjoy its world premiere, are participating in the section. Also, Tonia Mishiali’s debut drama, Pause [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tonia Mishiali
film profile] (Cyprus/Greece), will have its Cypriot premiere as a special screening. Finally, the non-competitive section of the Cyprus Film Days, Viewfinder, will include six award-winning movies by both emerging and well-established directors.

Among the parallel events, Cypriot cinematographer Haris Zambarloukos will deliver a master class on his work on Murder on the Orient Express, while Hayet Benkara will explore the topic “Strategising for a Better Journey: Tips for Screenwriters, Directors and Producers”. In addition, for the fifth year running, the Cyprus Film Days for Children & Youth educational platform will focus on younger audiences, and film director Petros Charalambous has been appointed as the artistic director of this particular sidebar.

The Cyprus Film Days is co-organised by the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Rialto Theatre in Limassol, under the auspices of the Municipalities of Limassol and Nicosia.