Simon Farmakas

An award-winning Cypriot writer and film director. He has twice won the Best Cypriot film award and has flourished in Cypriot and international filmmaking since the participation of his first short film, "Airport for sale", at the 53rd Oberhausen Film Festival. Apart from directing 150 episodes of a daily drama series for the CyBC, the state national Broadcaster, in 2006 he directed the short film "Airport for Sale", for which the lead actor Antonis Katsaris, won the "Best Actor" award at the International Short Film Festival of Cyprus. It was later screened in multiple film festivals abroad, (Rome, Oberhausen, Seoul, Morocco and Los Angeles among others). In 2009 his second short film "Absent" premiered at the Rialto Theater in Limassol and was warmly received. The film tackled a distinctly arduous theme of modern Cypriot history, the people missing in the war of 1974. His third film, "Stahia" ("Rye"), a somber and intricate essay on a family's response to an expected death, won the "Best National Film" and "Best Cinematography" award at the 2011 International Short Film Festival of Cyprus and the Jury Prize at the Amsterdam Short Film Festival. "Sunrise in Kimmeria", won the "Best Cypriot Film Award" at the Cyprus Film Days International Festival in 2018, the "Best Film Award" at the 20th Lucania International Film Festival, the "Audience Award" at the Sacramento Film&Arts Festival and the "Best Director Award" at the 17th Nachalo Film Festival in St. Petersburg for debuting directors. He wrote and directed the film, produced with the support of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus.