UK Cypriot actor/writer/director, Kyriakos Georgiou, 28, has always been passionate about films and storytelling as his father, who passed away when Kyriakos was 18, was a massive film buff.

The life-long South London resident, based in Lewisham, decided at the end of 2019 to take the plunge and leave his job working in education, to focus on his passion of filmmaking and acting full time.

Kyriakos explained, “I had written a script for a short film which received incredible feedback. I was approached by a producer and we were going to make it happen and I was also in the planning stages of creating a TV show for online streaming services. Unfortunately, Covid messed up my plans and everything had to be postponed. It really hit my confidence.”

Feeling quite low during lockdown, Kyriakos used the time to reflect and put his creativity to good use. He made a short film titled ‘When Life Gives You Lemon’s Take Them, Because There are None Left In Tescos’, which has been very well received. The film has been selected in 19 film festivals across the world, had three finalist places and won an award for Best Comedy Short Film at the Screen Power Film Awards. View it at https://vimeo.com/411340432

Fast forward to today, with lockdown having taken its toll on the arts sector, Kyriakos realised that the one thing people could rely on at a time when they felt lost, trapped and low, was creativity.

“I had already been planning to make a film festival and was passionate about supporting students, however lockdown gave me the boost I needed to make it happen,” he said.

Kyriakos created The South London Film Festival because he is passionate about providing an opportunity for filmmakers worldwide to showcase their creativity with the multicultural community of creatives and film lovers in South London.

“We have a range of categories including a ‘Covid-19 inspired’ category,” he said. “Within five weeks of opening submissions, we have already received over 300 from over 30 countries around the world! I believe that every film we watch shapes the future of the creative industry and the world around it. That is why I am passionate about supporting the future of the creative industry and why we offer a non-profit ‘free to submit’ category for students.”

South London Based filmmakers are also entitled to a discount. “Growing up in South London, I know how difficult it is to find support for the creative industry and especially with cuts to funding for arts within education, I wanted to create a platform that gives an opportunity for creatives who might not have the academic or financial background to get them into further education,” explained Kyriakos.

The young director is working with partners to provide unique rewards that will support filmmakers in their future careers, for example, the winner of ‘Best Student Film’ will be invited to a 1-to-1 meeting with a professional Film Producer who will give them guidance on jumpstarting their career. He has also partnered with Raindance Film Festival who are offering three of The South London Film Festival winners access to their film school.

Kyriakos said, “I’m very passionate about supporting the community so I have been working with local businesses and charities to offer free promotion/awareness. We are going to set up a regular podcast where we have special guests from the community, whether it’s a filmmaker/artist who wants to talk about their upcoming projects, or even a local cafe business owner. I want to find out how the art of film connects all people within our society.”

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the film festival will be hosted online. To enable this to happen successfully, Kyriakos needs support with funding for equipment such as laptops, storage and editing software. For this reason, a crowdfunding page has been set up at https://payitforward.london.gov.uk/thesouthlondonfilmfestival

Any support with marketing/donations to help Kyriakos reach his target would mean a great deal to not only him, but the growing network of South London talent.

For more information on the festival, please visit www.southlondonfilmfest.co.uk

 

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