Editorial

110
The "Cyprus Film Days 2006" festival opened
as a sequence of the "Film Horizons 2001-
2003 ", an event greatly appreciated by the
Cypriot audience. Organised by the Cultural
Services of the Ministry of Education and
Culture in close cooperation with the Rialto
Theatre, the Cinephile Club and Media Desk
Cyprus, the Festival was held between January
8 – 14, 2006, with two venues, namely
the Rialto in Limassol and the Opera 1 cinema
in Nicosia.
The 12 films presented include top prize
and award winners at the Cannes and Karlovy
Vary festivals and were personally selected
by internationally acclaimed critic Nino Fenek
Mikellides, the Artistic Director of the Festival
and Director of the successful film festival
of the Athens daily Eleftherotypia, known
Cyprus Film Days 2006
as: "European Film Panorama".
In his address at the opening of the festival,
Nino Fenek Mikellides stressed the fact that
"at a time when audiovisual arts are rapidly
evolving, while American film industry continues
to expand at a dangerous pace, further
consolidating its dominance in the context
of the rapacious globalization, a festival
promoting national film industry is not
only necessary but also imperative".
"Especially in the case of Cyprus, considering
the role it can play in this area between the
east and west as a member of the European
Union, the cinema should have a significant
position in its cultural affairs," Mikellides
added. "As a means of artistic expression, and
also of contact and understanding amongst
people of different views, counties and reli-
My Nikifor, Director Krzysztof
Krauze, Poland 2005.