The first Russian-Cypriot Cinema Days, an international festival bringing together filmmakers from both countries, will show contemporary Russian and Cypriot feature and short films at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture in Nicosia on September 25 and 26.
The Russian Centre and the St Petersburg NGO Svoy Krug are organising the event. The organisers say they want it to be more than a series of screenings: a living space for meetings, communication and cultural dialogue between the two countries.
Opening night
The festival opens at 7pm on September 25 with an official ceremony, with music from the Al’Singers choir.
At 7.30pm, the festival will screen ‘Smaragda – I Got Thick Skin and I Can’t Jump’, a 2024 Cypriot feature directed by Emilios Avraam. It won Best Cypriot Film at the 23rd Cyprus Film Days international festival, where lead actress Niovi Charalambous received the award for Best Performance in a Cypriot Film. The organisers describe it as a moving story with gentle humour about persistence, loneliness, fear and the deep human need to be seen and heard.
The film will be shown in Greek with Russian subtitles. Afterwards, the audience will be able to meet and talk with members of the crew and cast, and the evening will end with a cocktail.
Short film competition
The second day starts at 11am with the competitive short film programme, divided into three themed sections. ‘Under the Same Roof’ (11am to 1pm) covers family stories and the often complicated relationships between the people closest to us. ‘Towards Each Other’ (2pm to 4pm) deals with human closeness, loneliness and the need to be heard and understood. In ‘Crossroads of Imagination’ (4.30pm to 6.30pm), everyday reality meets fantasy, the absurd and cinematic experimentation.
Closing ceremony and final film
The closing ceremony starts at 8pm, with awards for the winners of the short film competition and of a screenplay pitching competition. The festival ends with ‘You Drive Me Crazy’ (‘Сводишь с ума’), a 2025 Russian romantic comedy with fantasy elements directed by Daria Lebedeva. The screening starts at 8.15pm, in Russian with English subtitles.
The film is set in St Petersburg, where Alisa, who has just moved into a new flat, discovers an unusual mirror. Through it she sees a parallel version of the same flat, where Ivan lives. Separated by two different realities, the pair gradually grow closer and wonder whether they will ever meet in the real world. The film competed in the programme for feature films by first-time filmmakers at the 13th Koroche festival, and Lebedeva received the Art Theatre Award in the cinema category for it in 2026.
Venue and information
The venue is at 16 Alasias Street. The full programme is available on the festival’s official website, www.rucyfilmdays.com, and more information can be obtained on 22 761607.
