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Cyprus has found its Oscar hopeful, and instead of hiding the island behind glossy resorts and postcard beaches, it shows a Cyprus that locals will instantly recognize.
Hold Onto Me (Krata Me), written and directed by Limassol-born filmmaker Myrsini Aristidou, has been selected as Cyprus’ official submission for Best International Feature Film at the 99th Academy Awards.
One important clarification: the film has not yet been nominated for an Oscar. It will now compete against submissions from around the world for a place on the Academy’s shortlist and, eventually, among the five final nominees.
Still, this is no hopeful shot in the dark. The film arrives in the Oscar race with an impressive passport full of festival stamps, and one particularly important trophy.
Earlier this year, Hold Onto Me became the first Cypriot feature film to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. It went on to win the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic competition, meaning it was ordinary filmgoers, not only critics and industry insiders, who fell in love with it.
At the heart of the story is 11-year-old Iris, played by first-time actress Maria Petrova. When her estranged father, Aris, returns for his own father’s funeral, she tracks him down to the old shipyard where he has been living alone.
Aris, played by Christos Passalis, initially wants little to do with her. But Iris is stubborn, curious and not easily sent away. The pair slowly form an unlikely partnership, complete with petty scams, trouble with the police and the fragile beginnings of a father-daughter bond.
It is a deeply personal story, but it also looks and sounds unmistakably Cypriot: dusty streets, tavli games, ageing shipyards, relentless summer heat and the constant hum of cicadas while sensible people hide beside the air conditioner.
Aristidou filmed the movie entirely in Cyprus, using locations in Limassol, Nicosia and nearby coastal areas. She has said the neglected Limassol shipyard was chosen deliberately: it is a place where boats are repaired, making it a fitting setting for two people trying, rather badly at first, to repair a broken relationship.
That may be what makes the film especially relatable. Almost every Cypriot family carries some unfinished story, a parent who left, a child who wants answers or relatives who love one another but have forgotten how to show it.
The Oscar journey will be difficult. Cyprus’ selection is only the first step, and the film must now win over Academy voters in one of the most competitive international categories.
But Hold Onto Me has already done something important: it has taken an intimate Cypriot story, filmed in places we drive past every day, and made audiences thousands of kilometers away care about it.
The film opens at K-Cineplex cinemas across Cyprus on Sept. 17. The 99th Academy Awards will be held in Los Angeles on March 14, 2027.
*With information from Film News Europe and CNA
