CyFi film festival returns after eight years
Cyprus’ film festival dedicated to science fiction, fantasy, horror, thriller and cult classics from the Mediterranean and beyond is making its comeback. Its first edition was held in 2018, and now, eight years later, it returns to Nicosia.
The three-day film festival will unfold from Friday to Sunday at Pantheon Cinema, presenting exclusive film screenings, national premieres, talks on storytelling, Q&As with filmmakers and directors and a video game tournament.
With the aim to be a meeting point for filmmakers, audiences and dreamers who believe that genre storytelling is one of the most exciting and expressive forms of contemporary cinema, CyFi 2026 has a packed agenda for this weekend.
“From visionary new voices to iconic cult films,” says the team, “CyFi brings bold stories back to the big screen and places them at the heart of cultural life in Cyprus. It is where filmmakers experiment, where new audiences are born, and where our fears, hopes and myths take cinematic form. CyFi exists to showcase this cinema, to support emerging voices from the Mediterranean region and to connect Cyprus with the international genre film community. Our goal is to make CyFi a permanent home for fantastic, daring and visionary storytelling in Cyprus.”
Organised by GeekOtopos Collaborative Hive, a non-profit organisation, the festival has multiple local partners, including Styx Film Encounters, Geek Mania and Brave New Media.
The festival opens with an iconic film that celebrates its 25th anniversary screening: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. On Friday night at 7pm, the festival kicks off by embarking on a journey through Middle-earth.
Then, a Near Midnight screening will continue the night as Nosferatu is presented at 11pm. FW Murnau’s haunting 1922 film shaped the DNA of horror cinema for over a century and will gather Cyprus fans for this special occasion.
Saturday’s screenings begin with the award-winning animation Flow. This touching story about a cat is the first European animated feature ever to win the Academy Award and will be presented on Nicosia’s big screen. CyFi will welcome the film’s key animators Konstantins Visnevskis and Mārtiņš Upītis for a Q&A with the audience after the screening at 3pm.
Up next is the 2006 Paprika, screened at 5pm this Saturday and suitable for those aged above 16. Presented in collaboration with Styx Film Encounters, this screening celebrates the 20th anniversary of one of the most visionary anime films ever created. Paprika dissolves the boundary between dreams and reality, and changed animation forever.
Two more screenings are on Saturday’s agenda. The Crow, a 1994 film by Alex Proyas and starring Brandon Lee is a gothic masterpiece, which will be screened at 7pm. It will be introduced by its legendary director Alex Proyas.
Saturday’s Near Midnight screening is Ioakim Mylona’s Detached House at 10pm. Considered to be one of the most provocative Cypriot films ever made, the film is described as tense and gleefully uncomfortable. Strictly for above 18-year-olds.
CyFi’s last two films are Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) by Werner Herzog, screened on Sunday at 5.30pm and introduced by Evi Hadjipieri and Infinite Summer at 7pm. The latter will be the Cyprus premiere of the Spanish-born director Miguel Llansó’s film. After a wildly successful international festival run, it is Cyprus’ turn to experience this visually explosive journey that moves between body, technology and emotion, wrapping up the festival in the best possible way.
CyFi Fest
Three-day film festival focusing on science fiction, fantasy, horror, thrillers, and fan films. February 20-22. Pantheon Cinema, Nicosia. €10 day pass, €25 weekend pass. www.cyfifest.com, www.soldoutticketbox.com