Cyprus Selects Drama for Oscars

Cyprus has submitted its first international feature film for Academy Award consideration.

The selection is Hold Onto Me, a drama written and directed by Myrsini Aristidou. The film previously premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it received the World Cinema Dramatic Audience Award.

The story follows Iris, an 11-year-old girl, who discovers her father Aris is visiting Cyprus for their grandfather's funeral. The pair has never met. Aris is a petty criminal who resists taking on parental duties, while Iris actively pursues a connection with him.

Aristidou describes the narrative as a love story between two strangers who slowly form a bond. The plot complicates this relationship as Aris's criminal past creates friction for the family unit.

The cast includes newcomer Maria Petrova as Iris and Christos Passalis as Aris. Passalis is known for his role in the film Dogtooth. The director noted that the actors share a physical resemblance that makes them appear related, a factor that aided the casting process.

Production was a co-production between Cyprus, Denmark, and Greece. Lasse Ulvedal Tolbøll served as the cinematographer. Editing was handled by Jenna Mangulad and Aristidou. The production team included Aristidou and Monica Nicolaidou as producers, with Thomas J. Mangan IV and Mark Hollinger serving as executive producers.

Aristidou stated that the father-daughter dynamic is a recurring theme in her work. She previously explored this subject in two short films, Semele and Aria. For this feature, she aimed to present the relationship as a slow connection between people who lack shared history.

The director shared that the story draws on personal experience. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she spent much of her childhood without a strong bond with her father. She noted that she and her father developed a close relationship in her early teens, a progression mirrored in the film.

Filming took place in Cyprus during the summer. The director emphasized the importance of shooting near the sea, a setting from her own childhood. She recalled using an older friend as a reference for the character of Danae, Iris's best friend.

Casting the lead roles required extensive preparation. Aristidou met with Passalis in April before the July shoot. The director tested Passalis with various children in Athens before bringing him to Cyprus to meet the final choice for the role of Iris. Passalis arrived on set just one day before filming began after contracting COVID-19. The team read the script once before starting production.

Cercamon is managing the film's sales. The movie is currently screening at the Just Film youth and children's event during the 30th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia.

Aristidou acknowledged the weight of representing her country in the Oscar race. She described the process as a new path for Cypriot cinema, noting that no prior film from the island had screened at Sundance. She expressed a sense of responsibility for the nation's film community while continuing to develop new projects, including a crime and spy thriller for television.