April 12 – 20, 2024

 

Film List

Waiting for Happiness

Abderrahmane Sissako
96’ / 2002
Mauritania, France

Lemesos 17.4 – 18:00
Nicosia 14.4 – 18:00

Considered the most important African filmmaker to have emerged in the past decade, in Waiting for Happiness Sissako beautifully observes the mosaic of life in a small seaside village on the West Coast of Africa where the inhabitants have created their own kind of modern world. A poetic reflection on themes of exile, travel, home and displacement.

Awards
1. FIPRESCI Prize Un Certain Regard – Cannes International Film Festival, 2002
2. France Culture Award for Foreign Cineaste of the Year – Cannes International Film Festival, 2002
3. Jury Award – Gijón International Film Festival, 2002
4. Grand Prize – Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival, 2002

The film has won 8 international awards in total and was nominated for 2 more

Life on Earth

Abderrahmane Sissako
61’ / 1998
Mali, Mauritania, France

Lemesos 14.4 – 18:00
Nicosia 16.4 – 18:00

In this poetic docu-drama, director Sissako plays a character very close to himself who returns to the poor village in Mali where he was raised to visit his father (played by the filmmaker’s real-life father). As news of the New Year’s celebrations in Paris are heard over the radio, this small, struggling community is barely affected at all as a new millennium dawns.

Awards
1. Grand Prix Award, Ecumenical Jury Award – Fribourg International Film Festival, 1999

2. Golden Spire Award – San Francisco International Film Festival, 1999

3. TELCIPRO Award – Ouagadougou Panafrican Film and Television Festival, 1999

– The film has won 9 international awards in total

Bamako

Abderrahmane Sissako
115’ / 2006
Mali, USA, France

Lemesos 16.4 – 18:00
Nicosia 17.4 – 18:00

Melé is a bar singer, her husband Chaka is out of work and the couple is on the verge of breaking up. In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial court has been set up. African civil society spokesmen have taken proceedings against the World Bank and the IMF whom they blame for Africa’s woes…Amidst the pleas and the testimonies, life goes on in the
court yard. Chaka does not seem to be concerned by this novel Africa’s desire to fight for its rights.

Awards
1. FACE Award – Istanbul International Film Festival, 2007

2. Lumiere Award –Lumiere Awards, France, 2007

Suspiria

Dario Argento
98’ / 1997
Italy

Lemesos 18.4 – 16:00
Nicosia 18.4 – 20:00

Suspiria is a 1977 Italian horror film directed by Dario Argento, and co-written by Argento and actress Daria Nicolodi. A candy-colored nightmare from Italian terror maestro, the film weaves a menacing tale of witchcraft as a fairy tale gone horribly wrong. Entertainment Weekly rated the film #18 of its top 25 scariest movies of all time, saying it had “the most vicious murder scene ever filmed”.

Thirst

Chan-wook Park
113’ / 2009
South Korea, USA

Lemesos 11.4 – 18:00
Nicosia 18.4 -18:00

Thirst is the latest film by Korean acclaimed director Chan Wook Park. This horror/drama film tells the story of a priest, who is in love with his friend’s wife, turning into a vampire through a failed medical experiment. Park has stated, “This film was originally called “The Bat” to convey a sense of horror. After all, it is about vampires. But it is also more than that. It is about passion and a love triangle. I feel that it is unique because it is not just a thriller, and not merely a horror film, but an illicit love story as well.” The film won the Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

Awards
1.Jury Prize – Cannes International Film Festival, 2009
3. Best Actress Award – Sitges Catalonian International Film Festival, 2009
– The film has won 3 international awards in total and was nominated for 2 more

REC2

Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
85’ / 2009
Ισπανία / Spain

Lemesos 18.4 – 22:00
Nicosia 11.4 – 18:00

REC 2 is the sequel to 2007’s REC. Written and directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza, both of whom returned from the previous film, the story takes place immediately after the events of the first film, with producing company Filmax International describing it as having “the same claustrophobic concept” as REC but with “new means of transferring fear from the screen to the spectator through the recording lens.” The film is undoubtedly one of the most successful horror sequels in cinematic history and it’s certainly impossible not to expect great things for the inevitable third installment.

Awards
1. Best Editing, Sound, Special Effects – Gaudí Awards, 2010
2. Ben & Jerry’s Award – Catalonian International Film Festival, 2009
– The film has won 6 international awards in total and was nominated for 1 more

REC1

Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
78’ / 2007
Spain

Lemesos 18.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 11.4 – 16:00

REC is a 2007 Spanish horror film co-directed by Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza. The film turns on a young TV reporter and her cameraman who cover the night shift at the local fire station. Receiving a call from an old lady trapped in her house, they reach her building to hear horrifying screams — which begin a long nightmare and a uniquely dramatic TV report. REC has refined visceral horror and is regarded as one of the better horror films to date.

Awards
1.  Silver Scream Award – Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, 2008
2.  Audience Award, Special Jury Prize – Gérardmer IFF, 2008
4.  Special Award – Turian Awards, 2008
–  The film has won 16 international awards in total and was nominated for 6 more

Lebanon

Samuel Maoz
92’ / 2009
Israel, France, Germany

Lemesos 15.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 16.4 – 20:00

First-time director Samuel Maoz creates an unforgettable portrayal of the horrors of war with this autobiographical account of Israel’s ill-fated 1982 invasion of Lebanon. A lone tank is dispatched to search a hostile town that has already been bombarded by the Israel Air Force. What seems to be a simple mission gets gradually out of control and turns into a death trap, a shivering nightmare.

Awards
1. Best Art Direction, Sound, Cinematography, Supporting Actor – Israeli Film Academy Awards, 2009

2.  Human Rights Award –Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2009

3. Golden Lion, Nazareno Taddei Award, SIGNIS Award (Honorable Mention) – Venice Film Festival, 2009
– The film has won 9 awards in total and was nominated for 6 more.

Fish Tank

Andrea Arnold
123’ / 2009
United Kingdom

Lemesos 17.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 10.4 – 20:00

Fish Tank is the story of Mia, a volatile 15-year-old, who is always in trouble and who has become excluded from school and ostracized by her friends. One hot summer day her mother brings home a mysterious stranger called Connor who promises to change everything and bring love into all their lives. In the film Academy Award Winning Director Andrea Arnold proves remarkably facile at capturing society’s ills in dramatic form, particularly the treacherous terrain that fatherless teenage girls face.

Awards
1. BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film, 2010
2. Best Director – British Independent Film Awards, 2009
3. Jury Prize – Cannes International Film Festival, 2009
4.  Best British Performance – Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2009
5.  Nominated for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Director – European Film Awards, 2009
– The film has won 10 international awards in total and was nominated for 16 more.

Tehroun

Nader T. Homayoun

95’ / 2009
Iran, France

Lemesos 16.4 – 22:00
Nicosia 15.4 – 22:00

Ibrahim has left his village and family to try his luck in Tehran. However, in this urban jungle where everything can be bought and sold, dreams rapidly turn into nightmares. Nader T. Homayoun’s debut film, Tehroun is one of the more intriguing and fascinating films to emerge from the current Iranian crop which could also be the country’s first crime thriller.

Awards
1.  International Critics’ Week Award – Venice Film Festival, 2009

La Tigra, Chaco

Federico Godfrid, Juan Sasiaín
75’ / 2009
Argentina

 Lemesos 16.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 15.4 – 20:00

Esteban returns to his father’s hometown – La Tigra, Chaco – where he spent his childhood summers. His father still lives there with his new family but is out on a job, driving his truck, so Esteban spends a few days with his aunt while waiting for him. This gives him the chance to get reacquainted with his old friend Vero – nowadays a very attractive but, unfortunately, engaged young woman. Each step they take together seems to take them back to the most precious moments of a shared memory.

Awards

1. Audience Award – Argentinische Filmtage Leipzig, 2009
2. Special Mention of the Jury, Forum of Independents – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, 2009
3. Best Argentine Movie, FIPRESCI Award – Mar del Plata International Film Festival, 2009

Medal of Honor

Calin Peter Netzer
105’ / 2009
Romania, Germany

Lemesos 15.4 – 22:00
Nicosia 11.4 – 20:00

Told with precision, irony and extraordinary performances, this immensely touching film encapsulating Romania’s shift from Communism to Capitalism, centers on a 75-year-old man awarded a Medal of Honor for unspecified “heroic” actions during World War II. But after a while his luck unexpectedly changes, when he receives a letter from the Ministry of Defense saying that the awarding of the medal was an error and that he should return it. He now desperately tries to find evidence of his inexistent heroic actions…

Awards
1. FIPRESCI Award, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Silver Alexander – Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2009

2. Audience Award, Best Script, Special Mention – Torino International Festival of Young Cinema, 2009

–  The film has won 8 international awards in total and was nominated for 1 more

About Elly

Asghar Farhadi
119’ / 2009
Iran

Lemesos 14.4 – 22:00
Nicosia 16.4 – 22:00

About Elly is a supremely sophisticated Iranian drama about a group of friends while they’re at a getaway on the banks of the Caspian Sea. The trip is planned by Sepideh, who has brought along Elly, her daughter’s kindergarten teacher, in order to introduce her to Ahmad, a friend who has come back from Germany. But everything changes when the young Elly disappears. The film establishes writer – director Asghar Farhadi as one of Iranian cinema’s prominent and distinctive voices, as he brings us ever closer to the nexus of his characters’ web of deceit.

Awards
1. Silver Bear for Best Director – Berlin International Film Festival, 2009

2. Best Narrative Feature Award – Tribeca International Film Festival, 2009

2. Special Jury Award, Best Screenplaytor – Asia Pacific Film Festival, 2009

–  The film has won 9 international awards in total and was nominated for 1 more

Plan B

Marco Berger
103’ / 2009
Argentina

Lemesos 14.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 11.4 – 22:00

Marco Berger’s debut feature sees conniving Bruno dumped by his girlfriend and deciding to win her back by any possible means. She’s not interested, however, as there’s a new man in her life, the charming, good-looking Pablo. When Bruno realizes that she’s not going to give Pablo up, he devises an alternative plan to win her back. Plan B is an appealing modern-day love story set among the roof terraces, gyms and apartments of contemporary Buenos Aires.

Metastazes

Branko Schmidt
84’ / 2009
Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia

Lemesos 13.4 – 22:00
Nicosia 14.4 – 22:00

Set in Zagreb’s underworld, Metastazes depicts the lives of a young generation who grew up during the Croatian Homeland War, and the subsequent postwar years. It explores their struggle to adapt to the new rules of merciless capitalism. The story follows four drug addicts, and begins when one of them returns home after three years at a rehabilitation center. The film’s aim is to portray from the inside the violent and rightwing extremist groups who have taken root in modern Croatia.

Awards
1. Big Golden Arena Award for Producer, Best Actor – Pula Film Festival Croatia, 2009

Hadewijch

Bruno Dumont
100’ / 2009
France

Lemesos 13.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 14.4 – 20:00

Acclaimed director Bruno Dumont returns with Hadewijch, his most provocative film yet. Named after a thirteenth-century mystic, the film follows the path of Céline, a young novice nun who finds her intense mystical inclinations out of keeping with the realities of convent life. Dumont has a way of dividing audiences like few other directors, but in Hadewijch he gives us a remarkable, audacious film.

Awards
1. International Critics Award – Toronto Film Festival, 2009

London River

Rachid Bouchareb
87’ / 2009
United Kingdom, France

Lemesos 12.4 – 22:00
Nicosia 13.4 – 22:00

After his commanding, polemical reinvention of the World War II epic in the Oscar nominated Days of Glory, Director Rachid Bouchareb takes up a smaller canvas with this spare, timely drama, set against the background of the July 2005 London bomb attacks. London River focuses on two different parents who arrive in London to search for their missing children after the bombings. As both characters arrive in the North London area, and make inquiries in different directions, it can’t be long before they meet in a city where the everyday collisions of cultures produce not only conflict but possibility.

Awards
1. Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Special Mention, Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actor – Berlin International Film Festival, 2009

Dogtooth

Yorgos Lanthimos
96’ / 2009
Greece

Lemesos 12.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 13.4 – 20:00

This unpredictable and provocative film from Greece focuses on a family of five: mother, father, and three kids. They all live in a house at the outskirts of a city which is surrounded by a tall fence. The kids have never been outside that fence. They are being educated, entertained, bored and exercised in the manner that their parents deem appropriate, without any contact from the outside world. The film introduces us to a patently surreal situation, and it’s darkly amusing to see what happens when flat normalcy infects outrageous absurdity.

Awards
1. Prix Un Certain Regard – Cannes Film Festival, 2009

2. Special Jury Price, Best Actress – Sarajevo International Film Festival, 2009

3. Feature Film Award – Montréal Festival of New Cinema, 2009

– The film has won 8 international awards and was nominated for 2 more

Eastern Plays

Kamen Kalev
89’ / 2009
Bulgaria, Sweden

Lemesos 11.4 – 22:00
Nicosia 12.4 – 22:00

Two brothers who have lost all contact are suddenly brought together when they have opposite roles in a racist beating: while Georgi, who’s recently joined a neo-Nazi group, participates in the violence, Itso witnesses the incident and rescues a Turkish family that was attacked. Only by reuniting will the two brothers be able to assess what they really want from life. Eastern Plays is an honest, skillful rumination on the search for inner and outer connections.

Awards
1. Grand Prix Award, Best Director, Best Actor – Tokyo International Film Festival, 2009

2. Ecumenical Jury Award, Best Director, Best Actor – Bratislava International Film Festival, 2009

– The film has won 7 international awards in total and was nominated for 1 more

La Pivellina

Tizza Covi, Rainer Frimmel
100’ / 2009
Austria, Italy

Lemesos 11.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 12.4 – 20:00

Abandoned in a park, the two-year-old girl Asia is found by Patti, a circus woman living with her husband Walter in a trailer park in San Basilio on the outskirts of Rome. With the help of a teenager boy, Patti starts to search for the girl’s mother and gives the girl a new home for an uncertain period of time. La Pivellina is a moving tale of courage and discrimination, of loss and togetherness, a look behind the corrugated-iron fence of a gated community.

Awards
1. Europa Cinemas Label Award – Cannes Film Festival, 2009

2. Best Film, Audience Award – Valdivia International Film Festival, 2009

– The film has won 5 international awards in total

Ajami

Yaron Shani, Scandar Copti
120’ / 2007
Israel, Germany

Lemesos 10.4 – 20:00
Nicosia 17.4 – 20:00

Jaffa’s Ajami neighborhood is a melting pot of cultures and conflicting views among Jews, Muslims and Christians. Back and forth in time, and through the eyes of various characters, in Ajami we witness how impossible the situation actually is. The tragic fragility of human existence is experienced in the enclosed community of Ajami, where enemies must live as neighbors. No location better expresses the dramatic collision of different worlds.

Awards

1. Winner Golden Camera, Special Mention – Cannes Film Festival, 2009

2. Golden Alexander, Audience Award, Best Screenplay – Thessaloniki Film Festival, 2009

3. Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Music – Israeli Film Academy Awards, 2009

4. Best Foreign Language Film Nominee – Oscars 2010

–  The film has won 12 international awards in total and was nominated for 5 more