The cycle of film screenings for the 1st Cypriot Film Panorama at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation has been completed, on Saturday, May 17, 2025, . On the initiative of the House of Cyprus and its director Diomedes Nikita, the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation hosted for five days films by important filmmakers such as Marios Piperidis, Yannis Economides, Gianna Amerikanou, Stelana Kliris and, of course, paid tribute to the universal Michael Cacoyannis.

Last Saturday’s closing ceremony took on a special significance, with the presence in the discussion and the screening of director Stelana Kliri’s film, Find Me Falling. Find Me Falling, a production with an international cast-headlined by Harry Connick Jr. (honored with two Emmy Awards, three Grammy Awards and with appearances in Hollywood films such as Hope Floats and Independence Day)-is in fact the first Cypriot production to be purchased and included in the Netflix platform’s film library.

Stelana Kliris

Days of Art in Greece spoke with Stelana Kliris about the film’s script, the Cypriot flavours of her work, the community created behind the cameras and her future plans.

Your film Find me Falling is a romantic comedy, with elements of melodrama and therefore an enhanced use of music. Given the multi-ethnic cast of your protagonists, would you say that music brings peoples closer to one another?

Sure! I especially wanted, without making the film touristic, to give the whole world this Cypriot “taste”, in any way I could; since this side of Cyprus has not been shown on the big screen. With the food, with the characters, the music, the landscapes. But the music in particular is something that gets into the spirit and authenticity of Cyprus.

How did you manage to “capture” these aromas through the direction of photography? Was it an idea that existed in your script beforehand?

The idea definitely started from the script as well. I was thinking, as I was writing it, about how the audience could “ enter” into the universe of the film. The aromas of the food played a very big role, since for all of us from the Mediterranean, food plays a crucial role in our daily lives. I worked a lot with our DP on how to shoot the specific shots, how to “play” within each image and I hope we succeeded.

How did you manage to create the sense of community that is pervasive in your film?

The truth is that from America we had Harry Connick Jr. and Ali Fumiko Whitney, and about four collaborators from Greece, but the rest of the cast and crew were from Cyprus. The crew members and I have grown up together-after all, for the last twenty years there was only one film crew in Cyprus. So in the background, there was a family atmosphere. I think that came through in the film, it was that thing that Harry fell in love with as well. He told us that we were the best production he had ever been involved in, precisely because he felt he found a family that embraced him. He loved the atmosphere of joy and solidarity between the production departments of our film. For American actors, filming is not just a job. They care about what they do.

Harry Connick Jr. and Ali Fumiko Whitney in “Find Me Falling”, Netflix

Did he bring any of his personality into his role?

Sure. Harry is a good man and the movie should have started with the character being a bad-tempered man who gradually comes to know the joy of life. Harry, however, is so kind and good that that part had to be worked on a bit. He definitely brought his charm, his particular brand of humor and of course, as he wanted, the music. He wished that he would write his character’s songs, which were fantastic. They are the two English songs that are heard in the film.

What are the standards for a major platform like Netflix to include a project in its film library?

Netflix hasn’t been with us from the beginning. After filming, through a sales agent, it was sold to the platform. That happens very rarely. Usually Netflix is involved from the beginning in the productions that they include in their film library. When the film was purchased, there was indeed a bit of editing to make the film more accessible to the streaming audience. Throughout the whole process, though, the Netflix people kept us close and were very cooperative. Especially as far as the artwork was concerned, but for everything else as well, from marketing and posters to trailers. I was very impressed because it was now their film, but they still wanted feedback from the director and the producers. I appreciated it very much.

Stelana Kliris

Would you like to tell us a few words about the new film you are working on, Apart from her?

It’s a very different film this time. It’s a period erotic drama and it’s my passion project. It’s set in the 1970s between Cyprus and South Africa and it’s about immigrants leaving one divided country to go to another equally divided by apartheid (editor’s note: Stelana Kliris was born and raised in South Africa). It’s basically the stories of my parents. For many women, the only way they could get papers and leave Cyprus was through a matchmaking process, so they would arrive at the airport, meet a Cypriot man they didn’t know and start a new life in a foreign country. So that in itself was very interesting to me as a case. I built my story around that and I hope the outcome will do justice to me and my collaborators.