AEI Film Festival

ABOUT THE AEI FILM FESTIVAL 

The AEI Film Festival (Cyprus Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Film Festival) was held for the first time in 2018 and is organized annually by the non-profit cultural organization A.E.I. AUDIOVISUAL FORUM. 

The institutional sponsor of the Festival is the Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture of the Ministry of Culture, through the funding programme POLITISMOS. 

Each year the AEI Film Festival screens remarkable Cypriot and international documentaries that aim to disseminate the historical and cultural richness of each participating country through the telling of unique anthropocentric stories from all corners of the world, tracing the course of global human civilization through the eyes of the creators, as the AEI Film Festival slogan: “Human Journeys in Time and Space” aptly suggests.

AEI Film Festival is a hybrid festival. This means that alongside its physical realization, the documentaries participating in the Festival are screened online on a global scale through the Festival’s digital platform. Through its online platform, audiences living far from Nicosia or in other countries are given the opportunity to watch the films and some parallel events streamed.

Among the priorities of the AEI Film Festival is the establishment of relationships and partnerships with  international film festivals and cultural institutions within and outside the borders of Cyprus that share the same vision and philosophy. 

The AEI Film Festival, now enjoys international recognition. It is listed among the internationally recognised festivals by the European Festivals Association (EFA) and is also included in the website of internationally recognised film festivals of the specific theme. It is the only film festival of its kind from Cyprus.

Along with the screening of the films, and always within the framework of the Festival, other cultural activities are organized such as: master classes, tributes, discussions, photo exhibitions and experiential workshops for children on cultural, environmental and scientific topics.  

Our aim is to encourage contemporary creativity, to build bridges of communication and to establish partnerships with those who have an interest in topics that fall under the pillars of history, archaeology, ethnography and culture, seen through a contemporary perspective. 

The AEI Film Festival is aimed at the general public, especially those who have a particular interest in documentary as a film genre, but also a love for archaeology, ethnography, history and cultural heritage. 

The Departments of the AEI Film Festival are the following:

Official Competition Department.

It includes selected documentaries created in the last three years and will be screened at the Festival. These documentaries are competing for the following Awards:

Best Documentary Award 

It is awarded to the documentary film that, with a minimum duration of 30 minutes, receives the highest overall score from the Jury.  

AEI Award 

Awarded to the documentary film which, regardless of its length, best presents its content in one of the three thematic sections: Archaeology, Ethnography and History. The Prize is accompanied by a cash prize of 300 Euros, sponsored by the non-profit cultural organisation A.E.I. AUDIOVISUAL FORUM. 

Best Director Award 

Awarded to the documentary that, regardless of its length, receives the highest score from the Jury in terms of the directorial approach to the subject it deals with. 

Best Screenplay Award  

Awarded to the documentary which, irrespective of its length, receives the highest score from the Jury in terms of structure and narrative approach. 

Best Photography Award 

Awarded to the documentary which, irrespective of its length, receives the highest score from the Jury in terms of the aesthetic value of the image. 

Memory Award – Cyprus 1974  

Awarded to a documentary by a Cypriot filmmaker on a subject that best illustrates the efforts of people from the two communities for peaceful coexistence and the reunification of Cyprus.

There will be other awards to be announced at a later date. 

Non-Competitive Section

Includes tributes to Cypriot and foreign filmmakers as well as screenings of unpublished historical documentary films from Cyprus.   

Honorary Award  

The AEI Film Festival annually awards an honorary plaque to a Cypriot filmmaker for his/her overall work in documenting the history and culture of Cyprus through the cinematic lens. 

To date, the following Cypriot filmmakers have been honoured:

2018 – Paschalis Papapetrou and Nikos Avraamides

2019 – Michalis Georgiadis

2020 – Dr. Maro Theodosiadou

2021 – Andreas Konstantinides

2022 – George Koumouros

2023 – Panicos Chrysanthou

On the occasion of the very successful educational action CINeDUCATION and the hosting of children’s films from the educational action “Record the Memories” of the Cyprus Pedagogical Institute, at the AEI Film Festival, it was decided that from 2024 the Festival will be expanded in order to embrace even more the children and youth audience. 

As a result, the Educational Section of the Festival was created under the name: Edu AEI Film Festival which includes short documentary and fiction films created by children and young people from 12 to 20 years old.

Our multidisciplinary parallel actions, the continuous upgrading of the applications we use and the enrichment of our activities demonstrate our zeal and belief in our vision. Our purpose is twofold: on the one hand, we encourage film literacy and contribute to the cultivation of creativity, critical thinking and film literacy among the young people of Cyprus. On the other hand, we expand our activities and partnerships at European and global level and introduce Cyprus to the list of countries that are model film destinations. 

With all of the above it becomes clear that our constant effort is to enrich the activities of the AEI Film Festival in order to make it competitive in the international festival scene. This, among other things, will strengthen the effort to make Cyprus a pole of attraction for artistic and film tourism.

Film submissions for the 7th AEI Film Festival through Film Freeway