Last Sunday the Cyprus High Commission organised a wonderfully diverse selection of short films at the Mayfair Hotel from budding filmmakers.

RED NOSE: Andreas Kyriakou’s intriguing film tells the story of a Palestinian immigrant who is now working in an abattoir in Cyprus. His lonely existence takes an unexpected turn when a woman from his past turns up one day on his doorstep…An assured piece of filmmaking with a clever twist!

THE DAUGHTERS: Marinos Panayiotidou tells the sad story of an elderly woman living all alone with her foreign carer. She misses terribly her daughters and expects them to come and visit her even though they are now living abroad… A moving film told with raw honesty!

CATCH: Giorgos Evangelou focuses his short on a young boy who decides to go fishing even though he hasn’t got any equipment… It is an enjoyable film with an engaging and natural performance from Andreas Sofroniou as the young protagonist and a nice cameo from veteran actor George Zenios.

BIRTHDAY: Amelia Michael’s short lasts only two minutes but boasts more imagination than some full length features. Clever mixture of animation with live action!

HAPPY VALENTINES: A couple of red wine and meat lovers enjoy Valentine’s Day in Pantelis Hapeshis’s fun and unpredictable film. A promising film from a promising talent!

A…B…: This is a change of direction for Anthony Petrou, the maker of the impressive WE ARE MONSTER released in cinemas a couple of years ago. His five minute animation about a 7-year-old girl boasts clever designs and sharp editing.

THE CUT: Eli (Maria Zorba), works as a surgeon in an Athens hospital and is now facing a difficult dilemma when an old friend asks her to perform an illegal operation on her young daughter…Vangelio Soumeli directs with confidence and draws natural performances from her cast. I could see this easily developing into a full length feature!

THE INSIGNIFICANT LIFE OF ELENI PAVLI: A truly touching and heartfelt black and white short from Michael Hapeshis with an outstanding central performance from Anna Savva struggling to cope with her Alzheimer’s sufferer father (Dimitri Andreas).

ENSLAVED: Another impressive animation in this selection is Constantinos Sophocleous’ two minute short about a young girl’s attempt to escape prostitution.

NATAS: A very funny short from Harry Ayiotis about an awkward, dyslexic teenager who accidentally summons Santa instead of Satan.

TRANSIT: Another film about refugees is Yana Chilova’ moving story about a Syrian boy and his father in a refugee camp struggling to survive.

FISH BOWL: An imaginative, surrealistic tale from Andreas Sheittanis about a fragile man and his fish bowl.

MANGAS: I first saw Theo James Krekis’ amusing story about a young boy trying to prove his is grown up man at this year’s London Film Festival. A funny satire on male stereotypes!

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