Motherwitch, Cyprus’ first folk-horror feature, opens in local cinemas on Thursday

Nicosia, Cyprus. Motherwitch, described by its director Minos Papas as the first folk-horror feature film made in Cyprus, reaches local cinemas this Thursday. Papas co-wrote the screenplay with Nikolas Kouroumtzis and Euripides Dikaios.

Folklore not seen on screen before

According to Papas, the story is rooted in Cypriot folk tradition that has never been shown in cinema. It features the kalikantzari, mischievous goblins that appear throughout the Christmas season’s 12 days. They are sometimes said to be the spirits of lost children returning to haunt their parents. The creatures were earlier immortalised in silkscreen prints by Hambis Tsangaris.

Real locations and a wintry landscape

The film was shot at actual sites in Cyprus. These include the abandoned 15th-century village of Parsata, which the production team spent a month restoring, and the ruined monastery of the Holy Cross, known as Timios Stavros, in Anogyra.

Papas notes that the picture shows a side of Cyprus rarely seen onscreen, a winter setting with a palette of grey, green and brown. Green fields and layered purplish hills stretching to the horizon often make the scenery look more Balkan than Mediterranean, which deepens the foreboding mood.

Period dialect and subtitles

Dialogue is delivered in Cypriot dialect of the late 19th century, or at least the director’s best assumption of how it sounded. The film is being released with both English and Greek subtitles. Papas said he went back and forth on the Greek option. The archaic speech lets modern Cypriot audiences follow the drama without grasping every word, which he finds adds a strangeness, “an arcaneness”, that he considers interesting.

Practical effects

The effects are almost entirely practical rather than computer-generated, which is a major source of pride in the horror-fantasy world. The director says the team used the Schüfftan effect from the original Blade Runner to produce glowing eyes. This intricate technique involves mirrors placed beside the camera. For the dreamy skies, a cloud tank was filmed in his apartment in LA, and the footage was then composited onto the skies shot in Cyprus.

Emotional response from audiences

The film has also drawn strong emotional reactions. Papas recalls that after a screening in Malta, a woman approached him in tears. She had recently lost her mother, and she responded with a profane insult, telling him to go and harm himself, because the film had struck such a nerve. Papas laughed as he told the story and called the moment “Which was really touching…”