The presence of Cypriot Cinema at the 66th Thessaloniki International Film Festival, which this year takes place between October 30 and November 9, is dynamic.
Emilios Abraham's successful film "Smaragda", which premiered in 2024 at Tallinn Black Nights, is making its Greek premiere in the international competition program of the Thessaloniki Festival, specifically in the "Meet the Neighbors+" category.
In an announcement by the Deputy Ministry of Culture, it is stated that the film won the grand prize at Cyprus Film Days 2025, while the lead actress, Niovi Charalambous, received the award for best performance. The film is a production of the company Bark like a Cat Films, with producer Tonia Misialis, director of photography George Rakhmatoulin with music by George Solonos.
Also, in the "First Run" category of the Greek program of the Thessaloniki Festival, the Cyprus-Greece co-production "Marisel" by Ilias Dimitriou, a production of the Filmblades company with producer Monica Nikolaidou, sound Dinos Kittos and director of photography Giorgos Gianellis, premieres.
The film narrates the experience of an immigrant from the Philippines, who takes care of an elderly couple in the Cypriot countryside. Starring Zar Donato, Lenia Sorokkou, Dinos Lyras and Diomedis Koufteros.
The same program includes the film by Marinos Kartikkis "Ektropi" (production company AB Seahorse with producer Andros Achilleos), which continues its festival run after its successful world premiere at the Alexandria Mediterranean Countries Film Festival and its selection at the Arab's Critics European Awards.
The music of the film is by Adonis Aletras, the editing by Emilios Abraham, while the cinematography is signed by Giorgos Rakhmatoulin. Starring Stelios Andronikou, Panagiota Papageorgiou, and Prokopis Agathokleous.
According to the announcement, the upcoming feature film by director Tonias Misialis "The Lion at my Back" will participate in the Agora of the Thessaloniki Festival and specifically in the Works in Progress program.
The film, which finished shooting recently and is in the post-production stage, is a Cyprus-Luxembourg-Greece co-production and is produced by the company Bark Like a Cat Films, with producer Tonia Misiali, director of photography Manu Tilinski and editing by Emilio Abraham. Starring Sokhna Diallo and Elena Kallinikou. The project has been selected to participate in the internationally prestigious cocoWIP – works in progress 2025 of the Cottbus Film Festival in Germany.
Also, "at the highly prestigious international festival Tallinn Black Nights in Estonia, two Cypriot short films and one minority co-production have been selected in the official competition program".
In particular, Argyros Nikolaou's short film "Sirens" (produced by Polyorama Pictures) has its world premiere in the competition program of live-action short films. The animation short film competition program includes the animated film by Giorgos Tsagaris "The Weaver", which continues its successful festival run at international film festivals.
Finally, the Cypriot minority co-production "The Megalomaniacs" by Greek director Spyros Stathoulopoulos, a Greece-Cyprus-Colombia co-production with Cypriot co-producer Stelios Kammitsi, also participates in the official feature film competition of Tallinn Black Nights.
Besides, "the 2nd Day of Contemporary Cypriot Cinema (Segunda Muestra de Cine Chipriota Contemporáneo) was held with great success on October 17 at the iconic Casa de Vacas Cultural Center, an event that strengthens the cultural ties between Cyprus and Spain and brings to the public of Madrid the richness and creativity of contemporary Cypriot cinema cinema.
The short films "Taxi" by Konstantinos Nikiforos (2024), "Tornado Outside" by Maria Tomazou (2023) and the feature film "Little White Envelopes" by Sotiris Christos (2019) were shown during the conference. The screening was attended by diplomats, members of the Cypriot and Greek communities in Madrid, as well as fans of European cinema.
The day was co-organized by the Department of Contemporary Culture - Deputy Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Cyprus, the Embassy of Cyprus in Spain and the Casa de Vacas Cultural Center, in collaboration with the Barcelona Cypriot and Greek Film Festival (FCCG) and the cultural company Oktana - Casa de Cultura.
