Images and Views of Alternative Cinema

«Images and Views of Alternative Cinema» film festival is an initiative of the Cultural Services of the Ministry of Education and Culture in collaboration with Brave New Culture; a festival that continues to bring its alternative content to audiences in Cyprus, showcasing the vast possibilities and boundaries of the cinematic medium.

Being the only festival of its kind on the island, IVAC presents a programme defined by a search for non-narrative forms of cinematic expression and the indulgence of the viewer in a world that is born out of twists and experimentation.

The screenings will take place at Book Club "Yfantourgeio", close to Faneromeni Square in the old town centre of Nicosia.

This year's programme showcases a number of important films, created by various directors deriving from different cultural backgrounds, historic and social life experiences. All of the films attempt to show - via the immersive viewpoints of their directors, the dilemmas of the societies and eras that produced them.

Like in past editions, the Festival is aiming at becoming a discussion and lecture forum that will compliment the screenings, while attempting to bring together film professionals, critics and film theorists, artists, art lovers and friends of alternative cinema.

The 2017 edition showcases the following programmes:

Nicos Nicolaides, The Raging Balkan
Nicos Nicolaides created chaotic stories of multiple symbolic layers, in an atmosphere of damned works. Fantasy, grotesque, violence, romance and black humour constitute his cinematic universe. There live the characters of his films. Babies in adult bodies, amongst emotional and social deadends that at the same time mock with a nihilistic joy, while walking towards their natural death, the biggest expression of their personal self-determination. Nicolaides's cinema would not compromise with the traditional theories of "hellenism" and his most important influences were independent American cinema, in particular film noir, Rock n' Roll culture and anti-establishment ideology. All of these formed his original signature.

The following four films by this important Greek director will be screened:
- Singapore Sling (1990)
- Morning Patrol (1987)
- Sweet Bunch (1983)
- Euvridiki BA2037 (1975)
Research and presentation by Neilos Iacovou, Director and Programme Curator

D.I.Y. [Dutch It Yourself] Experimental Cinema in The Netherlands
In collaboration with the EYE Filmmuseum Netherlands, D.I.Y. [Dutch It Yourself]—Experimental Film in The Netherlands embarks on a ‘road trip’ or ‘bicycle tour’ through the eclectic landscapes of Dutch experimental cinema. The Do-It-Yourself attitude, elevated by the Dutch experimental filmmakers to a way of being, has resulted in a wide array of radically liberating approaches to the moving image and to an unshakeable commitment to the art of experimentation. The two programs in Dutch It Yourself open complementary journeys (of the body in motion in ‘Perpetuum Mobile’ and of the mind and subjectivity in ‘Mindscapes’) through this fragmented, yet fierce Dutch scene and its history. The IVAC curators will be joined by Simona Monizza (Curator, EYE Filmmuseum) to introduce the programs and engage in discussions after the screenings. All films have been selected from the EYE’s Film Archives.

Research and presentation by Christopher Zimmerman and Pascal Richard, Programme Curators

Seijun Suzuki: Creating Art out of Absurdity
The Images and Views of Alternative Cinema Festival (IVAC) presents four cult masterpieces by Seijun Suzuki, one of the most radical Japanese filmmakers and one of the protagonists of the country's New Wave. Tokyo Drifter (1966), Branded to Kill (1967), Gate of Flesh (1964) and Youth of the Beast (1963) are prominent samples of Suzuki's diverse filmography, as they highlight the combination of absurdity and high art, and the presentation of sociopolitical comments through the extremity in theme and image, that characterized his work. At the same time, they stress, in the best way possible, Suzuki's influence on contemporary filmmakers, like Takeshi Kitano and Takashi Miike, Quentin Tarantino and Jim Jarmusch.
Research and presentation by Doros Demetriou, Film historian and Programme Curator

Phanos Kyriacou: Digital Οccurrences
Visual artist Phanos Kyriacou, a multidimensional creator amongst the most representative of his time, with an important career in Cyprus and abroad participates in the festival with three video documentations made in 2011 and 2012. The artist will be present for a discussion after the screenings.

Presentation by Doros Demetriou, Film Historian and Christopher Zimmerman, Art Critic

General Information

Like every year, the programmes are accompanied by a series of short lectures and specialist discussions, and q&a sessions follow after the screenings

Screenings Start at: 20:30

Venue: Book Club "Yfantourgeio",

Address: Lefkonos 67 - 71, Nicosia

FREE Entrance

All films are suitable for over 18s

For more information please contact 99 517 910 or visit the festival's facebook page, Images & Views of Alternative Cinema Film Festival