Countries ranging from Chile and Cuba to Sudan, Iran and Vietnam are represented in the International Competition of the 16th International Short Film Festival of Cyprus (ISFFC), which runs from 10 to 16 October at Rialto Theatre in Limassol. The selection, made by artistic directors Kaiti Papadima and Diomides Koufteros, sits at the heart of the seven-day festival.

A programme with global reach

According to the organisers, the films selected this year give the programme a truly global scope: from Chile and Cuba to Sudan and Algeria, and from Norway and Spain to Iran, Taiwan and Vietnam. Each film brings its own perspective to Limassol, reflecting different cultures, contemporary concerns and new forms of storytelling. The festival describes its 16th edition as restless, bold and hungry for life.

Evening screenings at 20:00

From the opening ceremony on Saturday 10 October to the awards ceremony on Friday 16 October, the evening screenings at 20:00 alternate between fiction, documentary and animation. The organisers describe the selection as films that play with form, move from the personal to the political and look directly at the issues of our time.

The festival presents this year's edition as a celebration of a longing for life, a joy that finds space in the world despite everything happening in it. In the darkened auditorium of the Rialto, filmmakers and audiences share the screening experience, where, in the organisers' words, each film is completed through the eyes of its viewers.

The films in competition

The International Competition includes HYENA by Altay Ulan Yang (USA, China), Cosmonauts by Leo Černic (Slovenia, Italy), Kentucky Gaza by Omar Rammal (Jordan), Mother Lidia by Joaquín Nercasseau and Juan Bautista Tagle (Chile), Tongue by Lim Da Seul (South Korea), Family Feast by Nadir Taji (Italy), If You Don't Like It, Look Away by Margaux Fournier (France), Ali by Adnan Al Rajeev (Bangladesh, Philippines), Abortion Party by Julia Mellen (Spain), The Shiftby Samaneh Yadollahi (Iran) and First! by Michał Gątarek (Poland).

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Also competing are Stolen Memories by Anders Davidsen (Norway, Sweden), Sisters' Swim by Lola Degove (France, Belgium), Orla by Marie Lukáčová (Czech Republic, Slovakia), Norheimsund by Ana A. Alpizar (Cuba, USA), Daria's Night Flowers by Maryam Tafakory (Iran, UK, France), A Shot at Art by Ilke Paddenburg (Netherlands), Tropic of the Mourning Gecko by Stavros Markoulakis (Greece, France, Netherlands), Nothing Happens After Your Absence by Ibrahim Omar (Sudan), Without Kelly by Lovisa Sirén (Sweden), What Do the Maknines Dream of by Sarra Ryma (France, Algeria) and Praying Mantis by Joe Hsieh (Taiwan).

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The line-up is completed by La Barrière by Christophe Deram (France), Send Nudes by David Sick (Germany), Someday a Child by Marie-Rose Osta (France, Romania, Lebanon), The Dream is a Snail by Thien An Nguyen (Vietnam, South Korea), Baisanos by Andrés Khamis Giacoman and Francisca Khamis Giacoman (Chile, Spain, Palestine), Atlantic by Alexandros Stamatiadis (Greece), Nobody Barks by Júlia Coldwell Serra (Spain), Faux Bijoux by Jessy Moussallem (France, Lebanon), Crazy for You by Greta Díaz Moreau (Spain), A Hint of Daily Terrors by Astrid Rothaug (Austria) and Coyotes by Said Zagha (France, Palestine, Jordan, UK).

All films are screened in their original language with English and Greek subtitles.

Tickets and information

Daily tickets cost €5 and a festival pass costs €25. Entry is free for students on presentation of a student card, disability card holders, members of the Cyprus Directors' Union, and actors who are members of the Cyprus Actors' Union or the Theatre Artists' Branch of SIDIKEK-PEO. Screenings are suitable for audiences aged over 18. Information is available from Rialto Theatre on 77 77 77 45 and at isffc.com.cy and rialto.com.cy.

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