5th Cyprus Short Film and Documentary Festival
25-30 May 2009

The 5th edition of the Cyprus Short Film and Documentary Festival, organised every two years by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the RIALTO Theatre, takes place from 25-30 May at the RIALTO Theatre in Limassol. The festival serves as a means of encouraging and promoting the development of Cypriot cinematography and especially the short film and documentary forms.

The festival is particularly appealing to young creators who are given the chance to promote their films, get a taste of the total film production of the last two years from different countries, meet new people from the film industry and of course compete for the awards offered by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Taking part in the competition are Cypriot film directors who live and work in Cyprus and abroad, with films that were completed after January 1st 2007. Directors compete in the following three categories: Short Film and Animation, Documentary, and Student Fiction Film. For the first time this year, Turkish-Cypriot directors participate in the festival.

All the participating films will be viewed and assessed by the following festival jury members: Ada Solomon (film producer), Walter Lassally (director of photography, Oscar award winner), Kyros Papavassiliou (director), Florence Ayisi (film producer) and Androula Irakleous (actress).

This year’s program consists of 30 film screenings. It also features a Film Scenario Workshop entitled ‘Achieving the Shortest Short’ that will take place from 25-29 May (5 full-day workshops from 09:00 – 16:00). The workshop content will be delivered by Kyriakos Chatzimichailidis (director, producer and founder of t-short, a non-profit organisation for the promotion of short films) and Adonis Floridis (director, writer and film producer).

The afternoon program of the festival is devoted to a selection of short films from Ireland and also includes a master class by Walter Lassally. The festival opens and closes with music events and parties.

The Art Studio 55 (gallery next to the Rialto theatre) will be used this year as a gathering place for the festival participants and the public attending the events, as well as an information centre for the festival.

Download the Festivals's Catalogue from here

Screenings Programme

MONDAY, 25 MAY 2009
1    EDEM         Student Film         Stylianos Constantinou         8'07''
2    INSTRUCTIONS         Fiction         Costas Yiallourides         29'
3    HOPE AGAINST HOPELESS         Documentary         Constantinos Patsalides, George Avraam         43'

TUESDAY, 26 MAY 2009
4    ONE WARM SPRING DAY         Student Film         Antonis Petrou         5'15''
5    HAVEN         Student Film         George Alexandrou         6'
6    AM I DEAD?         Fiction         Maria Ioannou         9'
7    HOME, SWEET HOPE         Fiction         Stella Karagiorgi         10'
8    LULLABY         Fiction         Yianna Americanou         15'
9    MINERS MEMORIES         Documentary         Paschalis Papapetrou         60'

WEDNESDAY, 27 MAY 2009
10    THE REUNION         Student Film         Dinos Gregoriou         12'
11    ABSENT         Fiction         Simon Farmakas         14'32''
12    ANA LUCIA         Fiction         Charalambos Mavromichalis         16'
13    PERFECT SQUARE         Documentary         Evgenios Ioannou         15'
14    THE AYIA NAPA AQUEDUCT         Documentary         Panayiotis Fotiou         14'
15    CLOSER TO THE SOURCE         Documentary         Daina Papadaki, Georgina Christou         11'27''
16    PATHWAYS IN THE DUST. A TOPOGRAPHY OUT OF FRAGMENTS         Documentary         Marianna Christofides         30'

THURSDAY, 28 MAY 2009
17    FINLEY         Student Film         Charalambos Mavromichalis         12'40''
18    9-45         Fiction         Nicolas Pelentritis         10'
19    HELLMETS         Fiction         Georgios Koukoumas         15'
20    PEACE AT WAR         Fiction         Talat G?kdemri         15'
21    LETTERS NEVER RECEIVED         Documentary         Elias Dimitriou         42'

FRIDAY, 29 MAY 2009
22    OH MOTHER LIFE IS GREAT WHEN YOUR CHILD IS LAUGHING         Student Film         Nicolas Palladiou         12'11''
23    CROSS STITCH KIT VARIATIONS         Animation         Costantina Sophocleous         6'
24    AGAINST         Fiction         Panayiotis Fotiou         13'
25    HAPPY END         Fiction         Safak Guzoglu, Filiz Bilen, Bugra Gulsoy         15'
26    OEDIPUS         Fiction         Ioakim Mylonas         25'
27    TWIN PORTRAIT         Documentary         Theopisti Stylianou         11'45''
28    SHUSHU         Documentary         Diomedes Koufteros         12'40''

SATURDAY, 30 MAY 2009
29    TORA RE PALIOPAIDA         Documentary         Christina Hadjizachariou         13'
30    STYX         Fiction         Alexia Roider         18'