Nicosia, Cyprus. The Images and Views of Alternative Cinema Festival will return to the old town from June 15 to 21, with screenings in the inner courtyard of the Hambis Municipal Printmaking Museum. The programme includes films by Béla Tarr, Arianna Economou, Boris Barnet and David Cronenberg, as well as a selection of early animation works.
Festival programme
The festival is an initiative of the deputy ministry of culture, in collaboration with the non-profit organisation Brave New Culture. Organisers said the programme is intended for lovers of alternative film and explores the possibilities and limits of cinema beyond conventional storytelling and traditional visual language.
Béla Tarr retrospective
The 2026 programme will feature three films by Hungarian filmmaker Béla Tarr, whose work is known for its flow of images and melancholic tone. The selection includes his student film Cinemarxisme (1979) and two later films made with Nobel laureate László Krasznahorkai: Damnation (1988) and Werckmeister Harmonies (2000).
Arianna Economou selection
The festival will also present the physical cinema of Arianna Economou, described as exploring the space where live performance, movement-based research and cinematic mediation meet. The works by the Cypriot artist, known for her role in contemporary dance, cross the boundaries between dance, theatre, video and cinema.
Boris Barnet tribute
A tribute titled Boris Barnet: Comedy and Revolution will highlight the Soviet filmmaker’s early period through three films: The Girl with the Hatbox (1927), The House on Trubnaya Square (1928) and By the Bluest of Seas (1935). The programme focuses on Barnet’s comic style, social observation and lyrical sensitivity.
Cronenberg in the 1980s
The tribute Cronenberg in the ’80s: Flesh, Paranoia and Technology will focus on the Canadian director’s work during that decade. It will include Scanners (1981), Videodrome (1983) and Dead Ringers (1988), films that reflect his blend of horror, science fiction and psychological tension.
Animation programme
The Breaking the Mold: Alternative Currents in Animation programme will present two early works of European animation outside the Disney tradition: The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) by Lotte Reiniger and The New Gulliver (1935) by Aleksandr Ptushko.
