The 3rd Cyprus Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Documentary Film Festival (AEI Festival 2020) will take place from 10 to 13 of September, at the Environmental Information CenterAthalassa National Forest Park, located between the Church of St. Barbara and the University of Cyprus in Aglantzia municipality.

The AEI Festival 2020 is a cultural activity organised by the not for profit Organisation A.E.I. AUDIOVISUAL FILM FORUM in collaboration with the Municipality of Aglantzia, the Department of Forests and TETRAKTYS FILMS.

This year’s Film Festival is supported by the Cultural Services of the Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Youth through the CULTURE Program, the Deputy Ministry of Tourism, the Department of Forests, the Cyprus Radio-television Authority, the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation, the Cyprus National Commission for UNESCO, the Creative Europe Desk Cyprus, the French Institute, the Embassy of Greece, the Embassy of Italy, the Australian High Commission in Cyprus and RIK (Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation) as the official Media sponsor.

The A.E.I. Festival 2020 also presents an innovation. It will be the first hybrid Film Festival in Cyprus. That is, except for the screening of the documentaries at the Environmental Information Center Athalassa National Forest Park, they will also be screened online, through a special platform that we have leased. https://watch.eventive.org/aei-filmfestival2020
In this way, the A.E.I. Festival 2020 obtains an International dimension since it will be possible for audience from all around the world to attend it virtually.

The programme of the A.E.I. Festival 2020 includes:
On Thursday September 10th, the opening ceremony will take place in the presence of the honourable minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr. Costas Kadis, the Mayor of Aglantzia, Mr. Andreas Konstantinou, and many other notable guests. During the opening ceremony, an honorary award will be presented to the familiars of the director/ producer of RIK Maro Theodosiadou, for her overall contribution to the recording of the archeology and history of Cyprus through the camera lens.

After the opening ceremony of the festival, a short presentation of the history of the Department of Forests will follow, through archive material and the screening of three documentaries, produced by the Department of Forests, concerning the natural cultural heritage of Cyprus.

During the remaining festival days,(11, 12 & 13/9), twenty archaeological, ethnographic and historical documentaries from Cyprus, Australia, Chile, Czech Republic, Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Lebanon, Turkey, Japan, Iran, the UK and Greece will be screened every night from 6:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m..

In addition to the screenings, the following cultural activities will also take place during the four days of the AEI Film Festival:
Two thematic excursions. The first one will take place on Friday 11/9 and includes a tour to five important geological points, that belong to Troodos Geopark accompanied by geological officials of the Geological Survey Department. The second thematic excursion, will take place on Sunday 13/9, includes a tour by licensed guides, to two archaeological sites and two cultural sites, that belong to the Aphrodite Cultural Route.

Three interesting photographic exhibitions will be open to the public during the Festival. The first, belongs to Mustafa Ongun, a Turkish Cypriot artist photographer, the second, to the Department of Forests, with archive photos. The third photo exhibition belongs to the iLife Troodos program, and includes beautiful landscapes of the Natonal Forest of Troodos.

After the screening of the 20-minute documentary GO, LOOK, LISTEN, by the Greek debutant director Mary Mpouli, dealing with the accessibility of people with disabilities in the Greek Museums, there will be a round table discussion about: “Accessibility of people with disabilities in the Cypriot museums.” Curators will be invited to participate in the discussion. The event is open to the public.

During the weekend 12/9 and 13/9, we will have four interactive workshops aimed to children between 6 to 12 years old and will concern the archaeology, the environment, the arts, and the musical tradition. The workshops are supported by Bank of Cyprus Cultural Foundation and the Pedagogical Institute.

This year’s Festival will of course include educational activities, aimed to film professionals, as it does every year.
On Saturday 12/9, there will be a master class, with the veteran, Greek director Dimitris Traggalos, on the subject “documentary editing”, a presentation by Dr. Stelios Stylianou, head of the Creative Europe Desk in Cyprus, of the MEDIA funding programmes of the CREATIVE EUROPE programme of the European Union, and a film workshop on the technique of pitching, with the distinguished Slovak screenwriter and producer, Michaela Sabo. As part of the workshop, Ms. Sabo, in addition to her presentation, will have half hour meetings with six directors-producers who have a project in development and which belongs to the categories of the documentaries, TV series or fiction, and who are interested in consulting it.

Participation in screenings and workshops is free. Attendance fees for the excursions, including a guided tour, bus transfer, lunch, and drinks, is 10 euros per person. Reservations are required. Maximum number of participant 50 people. A priority list will be kept.
All the necessary protection measures, provided by the decrees of the Ministry of Health, will be taken to protect the public from the COVID 19 pandemic.

For more information, please contact Stavros Papageorgiou at aei.filmfestival@cytanet.com.cy or call 99694407.
Stavros Papageorgiou
Artistic Director of the AEI 2020 Festival

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