The 23rd Cyprus Film Days International Festival 2025 is excited to welcome a celebrated International Jury composed of five distinguished professionals from different corners of the cinematic world, bringing their experience and varied expertise to the table.
The Jury is chaired by Aleksandra Božović (Montenegro), acclaimed producer and Director of the Film Centre of Montenegro. Members include Delphine Leccas, independent film curator and art manager known for her boundary-crossing and eclectic projects; award winning Hungarian director and scriptwriter György Pálfi, widely acknowledged for his unique style; French co-founder and Director of Les Arcs Film Festival Guillaume Calop, highly experienced in the organisation of film events; and Agnes Scott, Cypriot actress of global acclaim with a dynamic presence in cinema.
The International Jury will watch and evaluate the seven international and three Cypriot films participating in this year’s Glocal Images International Competition Programme.
The winners will be announced on Saturday 12 April during the Closing and Award Ceremony at Rialto Theatre.
The Awards
To be presented at the Award Ceremony:
– Best Film Award accompanied by €6000
– Best Cypriot Film Award accompanied by post-production services, worth of €7000, sponsored by Authorwave
– Special Jury Award, accompanied by €3000
– Best Director Award, accompanied by €1000
– Best Cinematography Award, accompanied by €1000, sponsored by Caretta Films
– Best Cypriot Director Award, accompanied by €4000, and the right to use The Studio, sponsored by CYENS Excellence Center
– Best Performance Award in a Cypriot Film, accompanied by €1000, courtesy of the Municipality of Limassol
All the films screened in the official international competition section and the Cypriot films competition section are eligible for the Audience Award, decided on viewer votes cast right after each screening, and accompanied by €1500, sponsored by Breaking Wave Productions.
* The awards conferred by the International Jury have the shape of a Neolithic human figure. They are faithful replicas of a stone idol found in the Neolithic settlement of Choirokoitia, a UNESCO inscribed World Heritage Monument, dated to 7000 – 6000 B.C.
The Jury presents
On the occasion of the presence in Cyprus of György Pálfi, “The Jury presents” section enriches this year’s screening programme with Mindörökké [Perpetuity] the Hungarian filmmaker’s latest film, set in a post-apocalyptic Hungarian-Ukrainian village.
Information about the International Jury members
Aleksandra Božović is a Producer, born in Belgrade (1979). She pursued her doctoral studies in Drama and Audiovisual Arts, at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, University of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Since 2016, she has been living and working in Montenegro. Married and a mother of a daughter. She began her professional career as the founder and director of two production companies. Over the past decade, in addition to her production work, she has held managerial positions in cultural institutions in multiple countries. Since 2021, she has served as the director of the Film Center of Montenegro. She is a member of EFAD (Association of European Film Agency Directors) since 2021 and EWA (European Women’s Audiovisual Network) since 2021.
Delphine Leccas is an art manager and curator who served as the artistic director of the International Festival of Arab Cinema in Marseille. She has curated numerous film programs, including “Who Knows What Yesterday Will Bring?” (a touring program), “Unfortunately, It Was Paradise” (Athens), “Tribute to Med Hondo” (Marseille), “In the Heart of the Heart of Another Country” (Athens and Beirut), and “Shifting Shores” at the International Film Festival Rotterdam as well as multidisciplinary events such as the Institute of Islamic Cultures (Paris), the Biennial of Young Artists from Europe and the Mediterranean (Thessaloniki and Ancona), the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (Thessaloniki), DEPO (Istanbul), and ZKM (Karlsruhe).Her experience extends to the production of major international events, including Home Works (Ashkal Alwan, Beirut) and documenta 14 (Athens).
György Pálfi is a film director, born and living in Budapest. He graduated from the Academy of Theatre and Film in 2000. Since then, he has made eight feature films (Hukkle, Taxidermia, I Am Not Your Friend, Final Cut, Freefall, His Master’s Voice, Perpetuity and a newest Hen), as well as numerous short films, music videos and commercials. Although his work has been awarded at prestigious festivals (European Film Award, Karlovy Vary Best director, Cannes official selection, etc.), he is always dissatisfied and wants to make more films.
Guillaume Calop started his career at the Annecy animation festival where his passion for cinema and for film festivals grew. He then moved to Los Angeles to participate in the launch of the web portal Animation World Network (awn.com). Back in France, he then worked for 7 years at the internet branch of CANAL+ group. In 2004, Guillaume decided to launch a personal project and sat up a DVD publishing company called Chalet Pointu, specialised in animation, short films, documentaries and other rarities, opened a small DVD shop in Paris and on the web that became one of the best address for « rare and quality films on DVD ». In 2009, together with his partner Pierre-Emmanuel Fleurantin, they imagined a film festival in the mountains where they grew up, the ski resort of Les Arcs. In only a few years, Les Arcs Film Festival became a major marketplace and event for European cinema. Beyond cinema, Les Arcs Film Festival is a place where the team likes to explore societal subjects such as the place of women in the field of cinema, ecology, Europe… Guillaume is also the co-founder of Le Village, a company developing professional platforms for film festivals (FestiCiné) and film projects (Coprocity) and the co-founder of Le Lab Femmes de Cinéma, a think tank aiming to analyse, study and develop ideas for a better consideration of women in the cinema industry. Last but not least, he is at the origin of the Green Charter for Film Festivals.
Agni Scott (née Tsangaridou) is an international stage and screen actress born in Cyprus. Her breakthrough role came as Aysel in the groundbreaking HBO drama The Hamburg Cell, the first film about the 9/11 hijackers. Her work in cinema includes the female lead in OPA! (with Matthew Modine) and in the Greek language film Akamas. She can currently be seen on Netflix in Persuasion with Dakota Johnson, as Queen Stateira in the acclaimed series Alexander – the making of a God, and starring opposite Harry Connick jr in Stelana Kliris’s Find Me Falling – the most commercially successful Cypriot film in history. Her next film Words of War, produced by Sean Penn, opens in America on the 2nd of May.
* The Festival’s full programme is available on cyprusfilmdays.com
Information:
For more information: Rialto Theatre 77 77 77 45
Facebook & Instagram: Cyprus Film Days International Festival
Organisers:
Under the auspices of: Limassol Municipality & Nicosia Municipality
In partnership with: CIPA Film in Cyprus
Supported by: Institut Français de Chypre, Goethe-Institut Zypern
Technical Partner: Event Pro
Best Cypriot Film Award Sponsor: Authorwave
Best Cypriot Director Award Sponsor: CYENS Center of Excellence
Audience Award Sponsor: Breaking Wave Productions
Glocal Images Best Cinematography Award Sponsor: Caretta Films
Dot.on.the.Map Award Sponsor: Movies and Stories
Hospitality Sponsor: Mediterranean Beach Hotel
Media Sponsors: CITY, CyBC
Workshop Sponsors: Columbia Beach Resort, CYENS Centre of Excellence, Filmmakers Europe
Sponsor: Digital Tree
Dot.on.the.Map Industry Days Hospitality Sponsor: Alinea
Cyprus Film Days for Children and Youth Communications Sponsor: Alpha
Dot.on.the.Map Co-organisers: Organisation for European Programmes & Cultural Relations,
Creative Europe Media
Dot.on.the.Map Partners: Directors Guild of Cyprus, Thessaloniki International Film Festival Agora, Coprocity
Supporters:
Crowne Plaza Hotel Limassol, Sozo Brain Center, K-Cineplex, Bolt, Mall of Cyprus, LOEL, The Friends of Cinema Society (Nicosia), Limassol Cine Club, Larnaca-Famagusta Cinema Society, Cyprus University of Technology, University of Cyprus (University Development and Alumni Relations), EMEL Ltd-Limassol Buses, Cyprus Public Transport, Lemesos Newspaper, Limassol Today, Lemesos Blog, Vestnik Kipra, Limassol Tourism Board.
Rialto Theatre
Information / Tickets:
rialto.interticket.com
www.rialto.com.cy
Βοx Office: 77777745
