LIMASSOL/NICOSIA: The French production Nino by Pauline Loquès, and Hold Onto Me (Cyprus, Denmark, Greece) by Myrsini Aristidou received the main awards in the Glocal Images – International Competition, and the Cypriot Competition, respectively, of the 24th edition of the Cyprus Film Days International Festival.
The 7th Dot.on.the.Map. Industry Days also announced its awards.
The festival was held 17 – 25 April 2026 at Rialto Theatre in Limassol and Zena Palace Cinema in Nicosia. It is an institutional event of the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, organised by the Department of Contemporary Culture and the Rialto Theatre.
FULL LIST OF WINNERS:
Festival Winners:
International Competition Section – Glocal Images:
Best Film Award:
Nino (France)
Directed by Pauline Loquès
Special Jury Award:
Aisha Can’t Fly Away (Egypt, France, Germany, Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Sudan)
Directed by Morad Mostafa
Best Director Award:
Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay for Hysteria (Germany)
Best Cinematography Award:
Agnès Piqué Corbera for Forastera (Spain, Italy, Sweden)
Directed by Lucía Aleñar Iglesias
Jury Distinction:
Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day / Lijep avečer, lijep dan (Croatia, Canada, Poland, Cyprus, Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Directed by Ivona Juka
Produced by 4film
Coproduced by Quiet Revolution, ORKA, Caretta Films, DEPO Production
Supported by the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, Creative Europe – MEDIA, the Adris Foundation, Telefilm Canada, the Ontario Creates programme, the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth through its Cinema Advisory Committee, and Sarajevo and Tuzla Canton Film Funds
Cypriot Competition Section:
Best Cypriot Film:
Hold Onto Me (Cyprus, Denmark, Greece)
Directed by Myrsini Aristidou
Produced by One Six One Films, Filmblades
Coproduced by Fredo Pictures, Graal S.A
Supported by the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, ERT (Greek TV Channel), the Danish Film Institute, the Greek Film Center, the Black Family Grant of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Pleasant Bay Pictures, the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab – Emerging Filmmaker Award, Mango Productions
Best Director:
Myrsini Aristidou for Hold Onto Me (Cyprus, Denmark, Greece)
Best Performance Award:
Dinos Lyras and Lenia Sorokkou in Maricel (Cyprus, Greece)
Directed by Ilias Dimitriou
Produced by Filmblades
Coproduced by HomemadeFilms
Supported by the Cyprus Cinema Advisory Committee, ERT Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, the Greek Film Center
Dot.on.the.Map Industry Days – Pitching Forum Awards:
Cyprus Film Commission – Invest Cyprus Award:
Your Turn 203 (Lebanon)
Directed by Cynthia Sawma
ΕΚΚΟΜΕD Award:
Horses (Slovenia)
Directed by Jernej Kastelec
Produced by Ida Weiss
P.S. Movies & Stories Award
Until We Find Your Name (Cyprus)
Directed by Vaggelio Soumeli
Produced by Janine Teerling, Marios Piperides
Thessaloniki International Film Festival – Agora Networking Award:
Of Heart and Lung (Tunisia)
Directed by Walid Mattar
