All young finalists receiving a certificate for their participation in the competition

More than 400 people, including members of the diplomatic community, gathered Saturday October 27th to watch 13 short films made for the UNDP-ACT Young Filmmakers’ Competition. The premiere took place in the Ledra Palace parking lot, which was converted for the evening into a stylish outdoor cinema complete with a red carpet, big screen and concessions. The event marked the culmination of nine months of hard work by young people, (ages 20-30) from across the island, who were finalists in the Young Filmmakers’ project. Launched in January 2007, the project invited young people to submit their ideas for films which they felt would reflect the concerns of Cypriot youth.

A selection panel, made up of Cypriot educators and film critics chose the best ideas to be entered for the next phase of the project. Many of those selected had no previous film making experience, and in March 2007 the selected finalists started an orientation course on film production.

1st prize winner of the competition, Diomedes Koufteros receiving his award from Jaco Cilliers, Programme Manager of UNDP-ACT, accompanied by the 2 Executive Producers of the project, Yeliz Shukri and Spyros Plati

Over the next five months these young Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots worked together to develop their scripts and turn them into a series of short films.

The project gave an opportunity for artistic expression, encouraged collaboration and inter-communal understanding and explored the dynamics of contemporary Cypriot society from a youth perspective.

According to UNDP-ACT Programme Manager Jaco Cilliers, “This was a truly Cypriot venture. Cypriots selected the best film ideas, Cypriots worked together to create these high quality, thought provoking productions and Cypriots selected the best films.”