Cyprus Sideways
16/10, Friday, 18:30, Rialto on Stage
Cyprus is an island endlessly mapped and reimagined, at once in the middle of the world and stranded in the middle of the sea. Across three films, familiar landscapes go out of focus and reappear from unexpected angles: through transient queer encounters, the unseen ecosystems of the night, and skewed geographies. Moving between the personal, the political and the non-human, Cyprus Sideways challenges us to encounter the island we call home as something strange and never entirely known.
From Love, With Cyprus
Nico Carmandaye
10’, 2025, Cyprus, UK
Synopsis
Landing in Cyprus alone for an art residency, Polish artist and director Nico Carmandaye navigates art, queerness, and the complexities of open relationships with humour and introspection.
Secret
Stelios Ilchuk, Demetris Kolokotronis
9’, 2025, Cyprus
Synopsis
Night footage by Demetris Kolokotronis, recomposed and edited with original sound by Stelios Ilchuk, reveals Cyprus’s biodiversity: critters scatter through dark caves, aquatic life races through black waters, while legless and winged beings navigate the fauna, humans remain curious observers.
Neican: “Western Cyprus”
Pastinaca Videotapes Plantation
14’, 2024, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Switzerland
Synopsis
Neican (internal reference) videotapes are the most special, closed and mysterious type of videotapes in China and even in the world. Since VCRs and videotapes gradually disappeared from the public eye, a large number of Neican videotapes have flowed into China's second-hand market, entering the vaults of videotape collectors or the homes of ordinary people.
