13th Countryside Animafest Cyprus - Views of the World

Countryside Animafest Cyprus- Views of the World, the official platform for the art of animation in Cyprus, returns this July, for its 13th edition, with international participants, an exciting screening program, as well as exhibitions, tributes and concerts.

This year the festival will take place at the Medieval Manor House at Palaipafos Kouklia, near the ancient place of worship of the goddess Aphrodite. This enchanting location, overlooking the coast of Kouklia, is a UNESCO world heritage site, dating from the time of the Lusignan Kings (13th c. AD): it is the ideal backdrop for one of the most renowned summer festivals on the island, an event celebrating the magical art of animation.

Like every year, the audience will have the unique opportunity to watch a selection of the best independent animated films from around the world, which are not normally distributed to commercial cinemas. This year our international competition program includes films from Italy, Esthonia, Germany, Belgium, China and Canada, among others. Furthermore, we are once more especially thrilled to be showcasing the work of Cypriot filmmakers, who will compete in the national competition program. The development of local production of animated film is one of the diachronic goals of the Festival and among its founding principles.

SIDEBAR EVENTS
During the festival audiences will have the opportunity to attend a variety of sidebar events, including workshops, exhibitions, special screenings and masterclasses by world-renowned artists. The children’s program, presented this year in collaboration with Kuki Festival of Interilm Berlin, one of the most prestigious short film festivals in the world, will take place at Columbia Hotels and Resorts at Pissouri Bay.

The Hambis Printmaking Museum, co-organizer and co-founder of the festival, will host a unique workshop on sand animation with Estonian artist Olga Parn.

OUR GUESTS-OUR TRIBUTES
We are honored to include among our international guests this year Chris Robinson(Ottawa International Animation Festival), Gerben Schernen (Holland Animation Festival) and Alex Stein (Kuki- Interfilm Berlin), whom the audience and the participants in the festival will have the opportunity to meet.

We are also thrilled to present a special tribute to honor the great Estonian animator Priit Parn, whose films have enjoyed international acclaim. An exhibition of Parn’s prints will be shown in the great hall of the Manor house for the duration of the festival. It will be accompanied by a screening of some of his most important films dating from the 70s to the present. Priit Parn will give a talk about his work and will also participate in the international competition section with his latest film, Pilots on their way Home, a co-production with the National Film Board of Canada.

We are especially happy and honored to continue a series of tributes to Cypriot pioneers in the art of animation. This year the festival will honor the filmmaker Kyros Rossides, with a screening of his first animated film and a presentation of his production drawings, which he created at the famous Royal College of Art in 1973.

COLLABORATION WITH RIALTO THEATRE - ETHNIC FESTIVAL: “MUSICS OF THE WORLD”
This year we inaugurate a new addition to the festival’s activities: the musical part of the festival, “Musics of the World”, which will be the result of a collaboration with Rialto theatre’s Ethnic Festival. This year on closing night, Saturday July 19, we will host a concert by Howa Jani project and Neta Elkayam, from Israel. This group of young musicians, who have enjoyed great international acclaim in recent years, revives the musical tradition of North Africa with emphasis on the music of Moroccan Jews.

COLLABORATION WITH PAFOS 17 - CULTURAL CAPITAL OF EUROPE
We are very happy to announce the beginning of a strategic collaboration with Pafos- European Cultural Capital of Europe 2017. This year the festival will be included in the institution’s cultural activities, while our continuing collaboration will be aimed at development projects and will culminate in 2017.