Cyprus 1935. Philippos is in love with Giorgoulla but his social status does not allow him to ask for her hand in marriage. His passion drives him to do something inconceivable. Based on true events, “Blind Passions” is a short period drama about love, passion…and its consequences. Christmas 1935 - Philippos, a poor young man is passionately in love with Giorgoulla, the daughter of Neophytos, a wealthy, arrogant man. Philippos knows that if he asks Giorgoulla’s hand in marriage he will be turned down because of his low social status. His passion for the young lady makes him do something inconceivable for that period on the island: ignoring his friend’s indications, he follows Giorgoulla on Christmas day. He stuns her by grabbing her from the back, tries to tell her that he is in love with her and forcefully kisses her. She struggles to get away but Philippos manages to do so when her cousin Niki arrives at the scene. Philippos runs away. When Giorgoulla tells her parents what happened, they turn to the local police. Neophytos is furious with Philippos and demands that he gets arrested and put to jail. Events take an unexpected turn and someone ends up… murdered!
This documentary film concerns the Cyprus silk industry, which has played an important role in the economic life of the island throughout the centuries. Although silk appeared in Cyprus from the Byzantine times, the period in which this material predominated in the "Silk Routes" is mainly from the 13th to the 15th century A.D. during the Lusignan Rule of the island. Cyprus was then developed into the manufacturing and trade center of the silk industry in the eastern Mediterranean basin, supplying with silk the Church in the West. Besides, one has to mention that the silk industry in Cyprus survived as a cottage industry until the mid-20th century. The traditional methods of silk production and weaving into precious textiles as well as their uses for the dowry household linen and costumes are presented in this documentary film. These rare documents are completed with selected interviews from craftsmen and traders from the last generation of silk producers with a couple of refugees as predominant characters throughout the film. The documentary's objective is not only to present scenes and information, but to maintain constant interest in the subject and to give artistic values as well: by means such as the "popularized" narration, the presence of the magical relationship between these craftsmen and their products, etc. within the framework of a changing society and economy. Dr. Eleni Papademetriou, cultural anthropologist, who studied the subject during fieldwork, in archives and museums, since 1965, writes the script.
This is an investigative documentary that explores the archaeoastronomical and geodesic aspects of three of the most important ancient temples in Cyprus: Apollo Hylates' temple at Curium, Aphrodite's temple at Palaepaphos and Aphrodite's temple at Amathous. The film explores also the connection these three temples have with other temples in the region such as the Apollo's temple at Delphi and Parthenon in Athens, Greece, and the Cheops's great pyramid in Egypt..
As a teenager, Chris abruptly abandoned his dream of becoming a fighter pilot of the US Navy to join a colourful yet reclusive Sufi sect led by the mysterious Turkish-Cypriot Sheikh Nazim. He then harbors a new dream of becoming an Islamic scholar. But the Sheikh has other, maybe grander, plans for him. A decade and half later, Chris, now known as Alauddin, lives in Germany, happily married to Fatima, the wife the Sheikh advised him to marry when he was 17, and working as a cook in the Sheikh’s restaurant. But despite his apparently problem-free lifestyle, Alauddin has begun to question whether the destiny alluded to by the Sheikh will ever materialize. He travels to Cyprus, the Shiekh’s home and spiritual headquarters, to find out.
Nikos Nikolaides is one of the most prominent figures in Greek literature. He was part of a new generation of poets and writers of the mid twentieth century. Nikolaides, in his writings, struggled for perfection of form and content. Man, for him was a deeply complex creature, sad and melancholic at his core but always liable for redemption. The construction of the character and the detailed chiseling of the tormented soul as presented by him, were new to the literary scene of the time. The documentary follows Nikolaides from birth to death, his meandering mainly through Egypt Cyprus, Greece, and his friendships with other creators of his time. Academics and researchers talk about his work and its importance in the evolution of Greek literature. Archived photos, reenactments, interviews of those who knew him and readings from his prose structure the documentary. Nikolaides, like his characters, was a man at odds with the world; he was a man of elegance in an inelegant world.
This documentary, as the title reveals, has as its subject the relatively recent literature of Cyprus. It covers the largest part of the period of the British Colonial Rule of the island, and more specifically from the last decade of the 19th century up to World War Two. The literature of that period is presented as a transition from previous eras to the eras of today, to show that the past and the present are undoubtedly linked. Through images and sound, interviews and documents, the most important writers are introduced. At the same time, the socioeconomic facts of the time are presented, facts which marked the history and influenced – to a greater or lesser degree – the local cultural movement and literary production. Part of this documentary is dedicated to writers who lived and created outside Cyprus, in places like Egypt or Athens. In this way, another side of the story of Cypriot literature comes to light: the relationships and the bonds between the centre and peripheral regions.
These are some of the words of Cypriot painter Telemachos Kanthos (the father of painting and engraving in Cyprus in the 20th century).This is his deposition in the documentary with the same title. The rare film clips of the artist, who passed away in 1993, the narration by his family members, his friends and the people who experienced him at different times of his life, the presentation of his best work from the time he was five up to the time of the last unsigned painting before his death, as well as the reconstruction of some scenes by director Pashalis Papapetrou, all beautifully create the portrait of Telemachos Kanthos on the film canvas.
Eight selected interviewees unfold the truth behind the "reality bites" of their everyday lives and the remnants of a war they have never witnessed. Eight different stories… a common denominator. Eight people from the generation of the Cypriot Crisis, who were born after the war in 1974, recall memories of places where they never lived and talk about their personal experiences, hopes, fears and the life they dream of living. In UNWITNESSED MEMORIES, Athena Xenidou lets different youngsters explain what it means to live among the remnants of war. As in Germany, Ireland, South Africa and the Middle East, children in Cyprus grow up among monuments, memorial meetings and other memories of wars that they have not themselves experienced. Costas, for example, explains what it is like to be a child of one of the 1619 people who have been missing since the invasion of Turkey in 1974. Others come from families who were forced to leave their house in that year and have been unable to visit their birthplaces ever since.
For the first time, eight youngsters talk about their dreams, nightmares and desires with “reality bites” of their everyday lives. About a line of division, entrenched in their country by military force in 1974 -- a line they dare not cross.
Traditional women potters working on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, who coil build cooking pots, jars, jugs, ovens and other clay containers on a slow moving turntable, us a technique reminiscent of ancient pottery. The women are the last of their generation. The similarities between traditional and ancient shapes, incised decorations, materials, and wood-burning kilns, provide an ideal ethnoarchaeological study of craft specialists. Quantitative data measure the rate of loss, number of pots fired together, precise decoration, along with attributes designed to differentiate between village and individual styles in Kornos and three mountain villages. After a 7-month field study in 1986, a year long follow-up in 1999-2000 examines what has changed or remained the same. As the number of traditional potters decrease annually, soon it will be impossible to record their work. Visit the potters to experience a rapidly disappearing traditional Cypriot craft set to authentic women's dance music.