Cyprus’s seven-member National Oscar Selection Committee has chosen “Hold Onto Me” (Κράτα Με), directed by Myrsini Aristidou, as the country’s first official entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar, the Deputy Ministry of Culture announced.
According to the Deputy Ministry, the Committee completed its work for 2026 based on the criteria and procedures set by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the United States. After reviewing the films submitted, it selected “Hold Onto Me” as Cyprus’s first official Oscar submission in the category. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on March 14, 2027, and the film has now been formally submitted to the Academy.
The cast includes Christos Passalis, Maria Petrova, Aulona Lupa, Jenny Sallo, Nikolas Metaxas and Achilleas Grammatikopoulos.
Festival recognition
The film has already won the Audience Award at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival and a special mention for actress Maria Petrova at the 2026 Sofia International Film Festival. It also took Best Film, Best Director and the Audience Award at the 2026 Cyprus Film Days festival, and Best Film at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival. Petrova received a further performance award at a 2026 international film festival’s Media Choice Award For Filmmaker.
The film follows 11-year-old Iris, who learns that her estranged father, Aris, has returned for his own father’s funeral. Her need to get to know him leads her to an old shipyard, where Aris lives alone. There, an unexpected relationship begins, one full of tenderness and conflict, that transforms them both.
