Best Cypriot documentary movies
A curated collection of popular documentary movies from Cyprus.
Grigoris Afxentiou, the Cross Eagle of Machiras (1973)
Grigoris Afxentiou, the Cross Eagle of Machiras (1973)
Documentary on the battle in Cyprus between English soldiers and EOKA insurgent Grigoris Afxentiou.
Beautiful Mistake (2000)
Beautiful Mistake (2000)
This documentary film follows a group of Welsh musicians interacting and playing in the studio. Combining shots of the city with the music of John Cale as performed by Welsh stars such as Catatonia, Big Leaves and Manic Street Preachers.
Every Sunday (2021)
Every Sunday (2021)
“Every Sunday” follows a group of Filipino domestic workers in Cyprus getting ready for a beauty pageant organised by their local community. The organizers and the participants use it as an opportunity to gather once a week - their only day off - as well as to redefine their position as migrant working women in Cypriot society and reclaim their individuality. Meanwhile, an unprecedented case of a serial killer targeting foreign female workers and their little daughters comes to the surface. With 4 of the victims being Filipino, the community, including the pageant’s participants and organizers, come together to react to the crime and pay their respects to the victims.This documentary examines gender, race, class and power relations that permeate Cypriot society, through a celebration that empowers the migrant working woman but also the horror these crimes and the institutional gaps that have allowed them.
This Is Not a Coup (2016)
This Is Not a Coup (2016)
"This Is Not a Coup" describes ECB's financial interventions in states like Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece. Featuring well known academics, politicians and journalists, it analyses the relation of EU institutions with big corporations and banks. In order to guarantee full independence from private companies and interests, the project is financed through crowd-funding - namely donations from citizens, trade unions and independent organizations and foundations across the globe.
Attila 74: The Rape of Cyprus (1975)
Attila 74: The Rape of Cyprus (1975)
An indictment of the protagonists in the Cypriot civil war.
Tongue (2020)
Tongue (2020)
Tracing the life of activist Costis Achniotis, the film develops within the history of the Cypriot radical Left and the bicommunal movement for reunification. In parallel quests between the past and present and with an auto-ethnographic approach, the filmmakers bring together personal artifacts, new and archival material, exploring the dialectics and poetics of the ethnic clash and division in Cyprus.
Walls Like Windows, Windows Like Walls (2020)
Walls Like Windows, Windows Like Walls (2020)
Introspective films processing both found and archival personal materials became almost a subgenre of their own during the pandemic lock-down. The sensitive diary collage focuses on exploratory attempts to retrace the path to one’s own identity.
Our Wall (1993)
Our Wall (1993)
This documentary includes archive footage and memories told by Cypriots from both sides of the island of Venus. It is first attempt to reconsider memories of the period before and after the 1960s in Cyprus, while looking from both ethnic angles and bringing artistic and academic critique together.