The 21st Cyprus International Film Festival (CYIFF) and the 6th Women in Film & TV – Cyprus (WIFT Cyprus)concluded this year’s edition with the prestigious Golden Aphrodite Awards Ceremony, held on Saturday, 25 September, at the Melina Merkouri Cultural Centre in Nicosia.

The CYIFF, which carries the EFFE Label – Europe’s quality stamp for remarkable arts festivals, community involvement and international openness, welcomed filmmakers and cinematic voices from around the world once again this year. The CYIFF is held Under the Auspices of the Municipality of Nicosia.

The festival’s highest honour, the Golden Aphrodite for Best Feature Film, was awarded to KIM CHEOL by Chengfeng Jin (China, 2025). The film also received the awards for Best Production Design and Best Editing.

Among the major feature film distinctions, Kerry Ann Enright received the awards for Best Director and Best Scriptfor TIGER, while Carlos Woo Million received the Best Debut Director Award for Whimper. The awards for Best Leading Actor and Best Leading Actress went respectively to Andrija Kuzmanović for Yugo Florida and Jorie Blake Rosen for TIGER.

The programme also highlighted outstanding achievements in short films, documentaries, animation, experimental cinema and emerging talent, with distinctions including Nihilism, These Women, Angel & Meow, Lost Spaces, After The Lightning, A Day Through My Eyes and Jane and Zhen.

Greek and Cypriot Filmmakers in Focus – The World Premiere of La Croix

The Greek and Cypriot filmmakers held a particularly important place in the 21st edition of the Cyprus International Film Festival, reaffirming the strong presence of Greek-language and Cypriot cinema within an international environment of creativity and cinematic exchange.

A special highlight of this year’s festival was the world premiere of the French-Cypriot production La Croix (Crossroads) by Hu Xueyang, an international co-production between France and Cyprus. The film was presented to audiences for the first time as part of the 21st CYIFF and received the CYIFF 2026 Special Festival Award.

Hu Xueyang’s presence at the Festival carried particular significance, as the distinguished Chinese director had previously served on the CYIFF Jury, thus connecting two different moments in the Festival’s history and highlighting its long-standing relationship with prominent international filmmakers.

Among the important distinctions, the CYIFF 2026 Best Greek Short Film Award was presented to Theodora Madarou for I Have a Story but I Am Not My Story.

Avgoustina Papadopoulou received the Best Music Dance Short Film Award for Nihilism, while Belinda Cherrington and Kalli Koulloufidou received the CYIFF 2026 VR Award for Lost Spaces.

Another significant distinction was the Special Award for Inclusion & Human Dignity, presented to Cypriot filmmaker Charalampos Kontopanagos for A Day Through My Eyes, for its sensitive and powerful approach to the lives, experiences and aspirations of people with disabilities, highlighting human dignity, resilience and the right to full participation in society.

Dina Rosenmeier was also honoured with the CYIFF 2026 Aphrodite Cinematic Award for After The Lightning, a Spanish-Cypriot production. This distinction is presented to a female director demonstrating particular promise for development within the film industry.

The Festival further honoured Cypriot filmmaking with an Honorary Mention to Cypriot Filmmakers for Abstraction of Simplicity by Kyriakos Kakoullis, Vasilis Georgiou and Mamas Sourouppis, for its exploration of Cyprus’s architectural identity and its relationship with history and collective memory.

Meanwhile, Xeni Styl Motiti received an Honorary Mention for her actress’s performance in Hope, while Life Without You by Marios Kleanthous received an Honorary Mention for its poetic approach to love, absence and human connection.

Together with the world premiere of La Croix (Crossroads), these distinctions reflect the Cyprus International Film Festival’s commitment to being a meaningful meeting point for Cypriot, Greek and international indie filmmakers, encouraging international collaborations, highlighting new voices and creating bridges between Cyprus and the international film landscape.

The “1974” Tribute and the “Nostimon Imar” Award

The distinctions presented as part of the established “1974” Tribute, commemorating the events of 1974 in Cyprus, carried particular symbolic and artistic significance.

The film It’s Raining by Lucianna (Lu) Kyriacou (United Kingdom, 2026) received an Honorary Mention in the “1974” Tribute, while Echo of Time by Marios Kleanthous (Cyprus, 2025) was honoured as part of the same Tribute.

The “Nostimon Imar” Award also held a special place in the Festival’s awards programme. The award connects cinema with the concepts of return, memory and cultural identity and was presented to QUEENS OF CYPRUS by Panikos Michael Panayiotou (United Kingdom, 2024, 60’35”).

These distinctions reinforce the distinctive character of CYIFF as an international film institution which, alongside its global reach, maintains a meaningful dialogue with history, memory, Cyprus and Greek culture.