Cyprus

the bad boy of British
cinema has been formative
to his decision not to
follow the road to Hollywood
and mainstream
production. His directing
was influenced by the
expression of the Ameri-
Derek Jarman can “underground”. Jarman
was an idiosyncratic
artist-cinematographer who managed to
translate into cinematic language the creative
teachings derived from his painting and
scenography experience. He always worked
in independent productions and has been one
of the most innovative representatives of the
new English cinema. The Festival presented
the following films: “Wittgenstein”, “Last of
England” and “The Angelic Conversation”.
There were introductions on this program by
Dr. Gabriel Coureas, art historian, and Rowland
Wymer, professor.
“Directing the Beat,
Howls on the Screen.”
The Festival also offered
a unique and original tribute
to the Beat Generation
through some screenings
of films (“Pull my
Daisy”, “Hallelujah the
Alain Ginsberg
Hills”, “William S. Burroughs’s
Tape cut up” and more) that related
to the specific artistic movement which mainly
took place in U.S.A. during the ’50s and ’60s.
Even though it was made up of a small-numbered
group, the Beat Generation’s influence in
American literature and the underground cinema
was quite significant. Leading figures of the
movement are considered to be Jack Kerouac
with his book “On the Road”, Alain Ginsberg
with “Howl” and William S. Burroughs with
“Naked Lunch”. The Beat Generation experimented
by pushing their minds to their limits,
mingling with the underground and shocking
the puritanical society of their era with their
lifestyle, their writing and their interviews. In
the film screenings there were audio samples of
Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, reading accordingly
excerpts from their aforementioned
books. There were introductions by Christopher
Zimmermann, program curator, and Costas
Reousis, poet.
Apart from the short lectures of specialists
which framed the programs, the visual artists
Costantinos and Demetris Taliotis had been
invited to alter the screening space with their
visual installations.
“Summer Movie Marathon”
The popular “Summer Movie Marathon”
has been held for the twelfth year in a
row at the “Constantia” open-air cinema in
Nicosia. This series of movies projections
has been organised by the Cultural Services
of the Ministry of Education and Culture and
Theatre Ena, in collaboration with Friends of
the Cinema Society. This year’s selections
were made, as always, having in mind the
quality of the movies as well as the pleasure
of the public. Thus, the spectators had the
opportunity to watch both classical and more
recent films over various genres. The film
selection belonged to Hyacinthe Pavlides
and the Friends of the Cinema Society. Mr.
Pavlides along with Elena Christodoulidou
supervised and coordinated the program.
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