21st CYPRUS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – GOLDEN APHRODITE AWARDS
21–25 September 2026 | Melina Mercouri Cultural Hall, Old Nicosia, Cyprus
A Cinematic Map of the World – Stories of Home, Memory, Identity, Love and Peace
Nicosia, Cyprus — For the 21st year, the Cyprus International Film Festival – Golden Aphrodite Awards (CYIFF) opens a window onto world cinema, bringing to Nicosia filmmakers and stories from different countries, cultures and societies.
From 21 to 25 September 2026, audiences will have the opportunity to experience a diverse programme that goes far beyond a single genre. Fiction, documentaries, animation, music and dance films, experimental and VR works, student films, comedy, mobile films and women’s filmmaking come together in a programme that reflects the diversity and richness of contemporary cinema.
What will audiences see?
Above all, they will see people.
People searching for home, trying to understand their identity, dealing with loss, learning to love, starting again and finding their voice.
A common thread runs through this year’s programme: the human need to belong and to connect with others.
In That’s It for Today by Serbian filmmaker Marko Đorđević, a family faces the difficulties that have overshadowed their lives and attempts to heal through laughter and unconditional love.
In It’s Raining (Βρέχει) by Lucianna Kyriacou, the story of a Greek Cypriot family in London in the late 1970s brings into the present the memory of the invasion, displacement and life in the Diaspora, while highlighting the power of family rituals and love to create a temporary refuge.
In the Chinese film A Room of Her Own by Ziyuan Wang, a migrant cleaner in Beijing, followed by the filmmaker for six years, eventually finds an unexpected way to make her voice heard—through poetry.
And in The Distance We Drift, love, memory and displacement come together through the story of a migrant couple from Hong Kong living in Britain, raising a timeless question: How far can we travel from the place and life we once left behind?
These stories may come from different countries, but they speak about things we all recognize:
Home. Loss. Love. Memory. Difference. The need to belong.
Cyprus: A Country Still Searching for Bridges
A special place in the programme is given to Queen of Cyprus, a powerful documentary exploring the strength and resilience of Cypriot women around the world.
Through their stories, the film explores the meaning of home, loss and the ability to rebuild what has been lost.
A Cyprus that remains divided, but can be united through love, memory, its women and its shared human experience.
This spirit continues through CWEP – Cyprus Women Environmental Peacemakers, the bi-communal initiative established last year by Women in Film and Television Cyprus (WIFT Cyprus), connecting peacebuilding with environmental sustainability.
The 6th International WIFT Cyprus Film Festival
As part of this year’s programme, the 6th International Festival of Women in Film and Television Cyprus (WIFT Cyprus) will also take place, strengthening the voice of women in cinema and television and creating an international meeting point for women filmmakers and audiovisual professionals.
Women’s filmmaking is not simply another category within the programme. It is a fundamental part of the philosophy of CYIFF and WIFT Cyprus: more women in creative and leadership positions, greater visibility, equal opportunities and meaningful participation in shaping the stories of cinema.
Nostimon Imar – A Cinematic Bridge to the Hellenic Diaspora
A distinctive and longstanding element of the identity of CYIFF is its relationship with Hellenism and the Greek Diaspora.
The Festival has created the special “Nostimon Imar” category and award to honour filmmakers of Greek origin from around the world.
Through Nostimon Imar, CYIFF recognizes that Hellenism is not geographically limited to Greece and Cyprus.
It lives throughout the Diaspora—in the stories of its people, in language, memory and art, and in the way new generations redefine and reconnect with their heritage.
Through its international programme, CYIFF also promotes Hellenism indirectly through culture and cinema—not as a closed identity, but as a living cultural heritage that continues to evolve and communicate with the world.
China Meets Hellenism Through Cinema
The significant presence of Chinese cinema in this year’s programme opens another path for cultural dialogue.
With films such as A Room of Her Own, as well as other Chinese productions, the Festival presents a contemporary China through diverse voices, social realities, poetry and new forms of cinematic expression.
CYIFF aims to develop this relationship further through the creation of a China–Cyprus Cultural Film Forum, establishing a permanent platform for Chinese, Cypriot, Greek and European filmmakers, producers, academics and cultural institutions to meet and collaborate.
The encounter between Chinese philosophical thought and the Greek philosophical tradition can provide a particularly fascinating field for dialogue around ethics, education, harmony, society and the place of the human being in the world.
Things We Pass By – The Poetry of What We Overlook
Alongside the film screenings, the poetic photography exhibition Things We Pass By invites audiences to do the opposite of what we so often do in everyday life:
To stop. To observe. To see.
Through photography, the exhibition reminds us that art can often be found in the simplest things—in those moments and images we pass without noticing. Please submit up to 4 photos by machine or mobile at cywift@gmail.com
Filmmakers Meet the Audience
An important feature of the 21st edition is the presence of directors and film representatives who will meet audiences and participate in discussions following screenings.
From personal stories and quests for identity to memory, migration, family relationships, female strength, and contemporary social concerns, the films in this year’s programme reveal a world in constant transformation. Films such as The Eternal Red, Lost Spaces, Memory of Stone and Snow, Twin Flowers, Jane and Zhen, Halima – Eine Anleitung zum Starksein, and It’s Raining (Βρέχει) bring diverse experiences and cultures to the forefront, while also highlighting shared human needs: the search for identity, the need for connection, loss, freedom, and hope.
Among the films represented by their filmmakers are:
Jumah, Echo of Time, Life Without You, Lovebug, Glari, the Female Seagull, PULP, Nasty Little Things, Trojan Affairs, SELF+TAPE and A Day Through My Eyes.
The presence of filmmakers adds another important dimension to the Festival: audiences do not simply watch a film; they have the opportunity to meet the person who created it.
Through post-screening discussions and Q&As, filmmakers can share the inspiration, creative process and personal or social questions behind their stories, while audiences have the opportunity to ask their own questions.
This is one of the defining characteristics of CYIFF:
The film does not end when the credits roll. The conversation is just beginning.
CWEP – Women, Peace and the Environment
The 21st Cyprus International Film Festival will also continue the work of CWEP – Cyprus Women Environmental Peacemakers, a bi-communal initiative of WIFT Cyprus connecting women, peacebuilding and environmental sustainability.
CWEP is inspired by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, which recognizes the important role of women in peacebuilding processes.
Following the successful two-day conference held at Ledra Palace in 2025 and the symbolic planting of an olive tree in Pyla, the initiative continues this year with discussions focused on the sustainability and further development of the CWEP project.
As Petra Terzi, Founder of Women in Film and Television Cyprus, says:
“By planting seeds and olive trees, we are planting hope and peace. This is more than symbolic—it is a statement about how grassroots efforts, especially by women, can transform conflict into cooperation.”
The olive tree, a symbol of peace, life and resilience, becomes a living message of CWEP:
Peace is not only a political agreement. It is something we cultivate every day through cooperation, trust and shared action.
You can see last year’s activities at https://cwepwiftcyprus.wixsite.com/cwep
A Festival That Does Not Simply Want to Show Films
CYIFF does not want audiences simply to watch a film and leave.
It wants them to leave with a question.
With an image that stays in their minds.
With the story of someone from Serbia, China, Cyprus, Greece or the Diaspora who suddenly feels more familiar than they expected.
With a different understanding of migration—not only as a political issue, but as a human story.
With the realization that Cyprus is not only a divided island, but also a place of people who continue to love, create and hope.
With a renewed recognition of the strength of women.
And perhaps with the desire to look again at the things they usually pass by.
21 Years of CYIFF – A Cultural Dialogue Without Borders
Since its foundation in 2006, the Cyprus International Film Festival – Golden Aphrodite Awards has welcomed filmmakers from more than 120 countries, creating an international meeting place for filmmakers, film professionals, cultural organizations and audiences.
At its 21st edition, CYIFF continues to embrace the same fundamental belief:
Cinema does not erase our differences. It helps us understand them, respect them and discover what unites us.
From Cyprus and Greece to Serbia, China and the rest of the world, the stories of the 21st Cyprus International Film Festival meet in one common place:
The human being.
You can register your interest in volunteering at the 21st Cyprus International Film Festival by emailing us at ciffprogram@gmail.com
**21 Years of CYIFF.
21 Years of Cinema as a Bridge.**
Cinema • Culture • Dialogue • Peace
21st Cyprus International Film Festival – Golden Aphrodite Awards
21–25 September 2026
Melina Mercouri Cultural Hall, Old Nicosia, Cyprus
Official CYIFF Website www.cyprusfilmfestival.org