The most important film ever made on the Cyprus Problem
“Kalikangiaroi” (also called Skalapountari) are Cypriot fantasy creatures. Mischievous, funny-looking, thin, hunchbacked creatures, sometimes wearing a long pointy hat or even having big bat-like wings, Cypriots were terrified of Kalikangiaroi. Kalikangiaroi hide in the depths of the earth all year long and rarely come above the ground. However, come Christmas day they surface and their crazy reign begins for 12 long days and nights. Their favorite pastime is to play pranks, tease and cause trouble to humans and create mayhem with the sole purpose of having fun! They playfully tease people by tugging at their clothes, scare them with their screeching voices or frighten domestic animals. One thing Kalikangiaroi loves more than teasing is a piece of “loukaniko” traditional sausage.
Little Human is the third part of my ‘Cyprus Collage Stories’ series. Stop motion collage mixes up with old and new film in order to tell the imaginary adventures of a very popular Cypriot weaving pattern called ‘little human’. This anthropomorphic design which looks like something between a knight and a spaceman begins a journey to find his real home out of the weaving fabric.
Three women eat their tongue. The tongue is flesh; it is a part of them, it makes them who they are. The women fight. It is a battlefield. There is no winner. You are the viewer. You are not passive. You are invited to join this party. You are invited to eat your tongue. An allegory on the fragile memory of languages; specifically, the Greek Cypriot dialect.
Cyprus-born Mete, a young man directing TV series in İstanbul, in order to shoot a documentary, returns to the lands he emigrated from 10 years ago…
A poignant journey through time and war-torn memories. In 2016, Cyprus finds peace after 42 years of separation. Follow a Cypriot woman as she returns home, revisiting the scars of 1974's conflict. Based on real letters exchanged during the war, witness the emotional unraveling of a long-awaited past. Abandoned landscapes stand frozen, remnants of a divided past. This film, crafted in 2014 with hope for a united future, captures the essence of resilience and reconciliation.
Educational film about Cyprus - landscape, people, work, traditions etc.
On the 20th anniversary of the opening of crossing points, OVERCOMING tells the inspiring story of Cypriot women, queers, and antimilitarist cismen challenging militarism and gender norms. Through diverse interviews, the film explores how the opening and closing of the checkpoints, as the sole passageways between north and south, have impacted the lives of Cypriots while revealing their struggles against the ongoing division of the island and their efforts towards a more united future.
The second part of the series Cypriot Collage Stories sketches out the history of this Mediterranean island as a conflict of its two mothers – Aphrodite and Virgin Mary. Animations and collages are intertwined with found footage of the 1974 Turkish invasion of the island, revealing the obvious fact that modern conflicts are rooted in history.
This handmade silent film is a sociopolitical satire of our everyday life in Cyprus. Part of the Cyprus Collage Trilogy.
A romantic drama from a decade past, back when love was more than just a word. A man, a woman and the lie that got in the way.
The Untold Story of The Tragedy In Cyprus Venus came to find the truth about her parents' disappearance on her childhood home of Cyprus years ago. What begins as a personal journey starts a secret odyssey that will lead her closer and closer to unearthing Cyprus's tragic and hidden history. But in a land so deeply occupied divided, how far will Venus go for a country that is not her own?
Tracing the life of activist Costis Achniotis, the film develops within the history of the Cypriot radical Left and the bicommunal movement for reunification. In parallel quests between the past and present and with an auto-ethnographic approach, the filmmakers bring together personal artifacts, new and archival material, exploring the dialectics and poetics of the ethnic clash and division in Cyprus.
'Haftasonu' tells the story of Hasan, who travels to Cyprus after many years following the death of his father. As he spends a weekend in his childhood village, his sense of belonging and identity will be questioned by all within. Following a festival run in 2016 and 2017, the film is now available for viewing here: https://vimeo.com/161152843
On the island of Cyprus, an insomniac is haunted by hallucinations that his mother believes are a message from his dead father.
We have a topic that has always been on the agenda of Turkey and the world, which we have been discussing for nearly 40 years: Cyprus. To foreigners, Cyprus is known as an innocent little island under Turkish invasion. Everyone forgot the bloody events of the past. What about us? Do we know? No. Especially the younger generations, who have come to the point of governing the country today, do not know where this country has gone through regarding Cyprus. However, we are now approaching a road junction in Cyprus. I will tell you the story of Cyprus in this documentary. This is a very bloody and sometimes very sad story...
An indictment of the protagonists in the Cypriot civil war.
32.Day, a news classic by Mehmet Ali Birand, is with you this time with the documentary 50 Years of Cyprus!
Υorgos and Sophia are trying hard to cope with their financial problems and the needs of their two children. The grandfather helps them out with his pension since the family business, a small grocery store, does not provide them with enough income. When the grandfather suddenly dies in his sleep, they decide to keep it a secret for as long as they can, so as to continue collecting the money from his pension. But things become more complicated when officers from the social security department start looking for the grandfather.
32.Day, a news classic by Mehmet Ali Birand, is with you this time with the documentary 50 Years of Cyprus!