The official Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Film Festival of Cyprus, (AEI Film Festival) is one of the best archaeological and ethnographic documentary film festivals within the Euro-mediterranean region. AEI Film Festival is a boutique film festival supported by the Ministry of Culture, Cyprus.

AEI Film Festival is a truly international thematic Film Festival. We are proud that the AEI Film Festival has been awarded once again with the EFFE Label which is Europe’s quality stamp for remarkable arts festivals. This confirms the Festival's engagement in the field of the arts, community involvement and international openness. We are aiming to attract both the local community and the international public who arrive to the island of Goddess Aphrodite to attend the 7th edition of the AEI Film Festival.

AEI Film Festival aims to raise awareness about the importance of heritage conservation, promote inter-cultural understanding and encourage sustainable tourism. These are achieved by introducing the public to important examples of archaeology and cultural heritage from Cyprus and around the world, through documentary films.

AEI Film Festival focuses on community, inclusivity and the value of entertainment. It aims to travel across borders in order to develop a spirit of friendship and cooperation with filmmakers from Cyprus and abroad. Cypriot and foreign filmmakers are invited to engage in discussions with colleagues and conversations with the audience. The AEI Festival further aims to encourage documentary filmmakers in documenting world heritage.  
The 7th edition of the AEI Film Festival will take place from the 8th until the 16th of June, 2024 at the Bank of Cyprus Cultural Center open air amphitheater, located at the heart of the historic center of Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus. At the same time, the virtual edition of the Festival will be available through our festival platform for the duration of one month from the start of the physical event. 

During the nine days of the Festival, the audience will enjoy a rich and diverse programme, consisting of daily screenings and parallel cultural activities (photography exhibitions, music performances, training programs, children's workshops, masterclasses, etc.). We aim to make the 7th edition of the AEI Film Festival one of the most attractive summer cultural events in Cyprus, which will showcase documentary films dealing with unique human stories, memory and culture from Cyprus, from the Euro-Mediterranean region and the rest of the world.

Awards & Prizes

If you have produced a documentary film within the last four years (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and its subject deals with archaeology, history and culture in the broader meaning, then it can be eligible for submission through our FilmFreeway platform until April 21st, 2024, into one of the below sections:

Official Competition Section
1] FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
2] MEDIUM LENGTH DOCUMENTARY

Educational Competition Section
3] "Neon Cinema"

Awards & Prizes for the Official Competition Section
Films submitted to the Official Competition Section for the professional films need to be either medium (30 – 60 minutes) or feature (60+ minutes) length and are eligible to compete for the following awards for each category:

Best Documentary Film Award:
It will be awarded to the documentary film in each category, that will receive the highest overall score from the Committee.

Best Director Award:

It will be awarded to the documentary in each category, that will receive the highest score from the Jury in terms of the directorial approach to the subject it deals with.

Best Screenplay Award:

It will be awarded to the documentary in each category that will receive the highest score from the Jury in terms of its structure and narrative approach.

Best Photography Award:
It will be awarded to the documentary in each category that will receive the highest score from the Jury in terms of the aesthetic value of the image.

In addition the Festival will offer the following special awards:

Cyprus 1974 Memorial Award
It will be awarded to a documentary produced by a Cypriot creator with a theme that best showcases the efforts of people from the two communities for peaceful coexistence and reunification of Cyprus.

AEI Special Award
It will be awarded to the documentary that, regardless of its duration, best presents its content in one of the three thematic sections: Archaeology, Ethnography, History.

Short Documentary Films submitted only to the Educational Competition Section Neon Cinema Award must have maximum duration 15 minutes and must be created by children (12 -15 years old) and youngsters (16- 22 years old) only.

Awards & Prizes for the Educational Competition Section

The short documentary films are eligible to compete for the following two awards:

Best Educational Documentary Film Award (for 10-15 years old)
Best Educational Documentary Film Award (for 16-22 years old)


The Festival Organisers will send the International AEI Film Festival 2024 laurel logo to all the filmmakers that their films will be selected.

Rules & Terms

Rules & Terms
Participation Terms:


1. The deadline for film submissions is 21, April 2024. The films that will qualify for the Festival will be notified electronically by 1st of May, 2024.


2. The films must be produced during the last four years (2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024).


3. World, European or Cyprus premieres will have precedence by the preselection committee.


4.The Festival also hosts a non-competitive section called SPECIAL SCREENINGS. This section concerns remarkable films from Cyprus and other countries selected by the Festival and are connected to the celebration of special anniversaries regarding the cultural heritage and historical events.

  
5. Nominations must be submitted through the FilmFreeway platform only. 


6. Participants are requested to complete all information of the candidates and the films to be evaluated.

  
7. All submitted films must have obtained necessary permissions for the inclusion of copyrighted music and/or images. 


8. Successful entrants will be notified of their inclusion in the festival's programme before the AEI Film Festival begins and not later than the 1st of May, 2024.  
 Specifically: 
Greek language films, where only Greek language is used:  
Copy of the movie file with hardcoded (burned) English subtitles. Individual file with synchronised English subtitles in .srt format.  
Copy with hardcoded English subtitles on the movie.  
Attention: the .srt files must keep up with the movie frame rate. If not so, the participation will be disqualified.  

Greek language films, where other languages are also used: 
«Clean» copy of the movie (no hardcoded subtitles). Individual file with synchronized English subtitles (for the whole movie) in .srt format.  
Individual file with synchronized Greek subtitles (for the parts where any other language than Greek is used) in .srt format.   
Attention: the .srt files must keep up with the movie frame rate. If not so, the participation will be disqualified.  
A trailer with English subtitles along with a set of electronic promotional kit  for promotional use through the Festival’s website and catalogue. 

Non-Greek language films: 
«Clean» copy of the movie (no hardcoded subtitles). Individual file with synchronized English subtitles in .srt format. 
A trailer with English subtitles along with a set electronic promotional kit  for promotional use through the Festival’s website and catalogue. 
A declaration form signed by the producer and the director is required.  
The final copy that would be screened should have the following format: 
• File: mp4 
• Encoding: H.264 
• Resolution: 1920x1080 
• Aspect ratio: 16:9 
• Scan type: Progressive 
• Bitrate: 10 – 12 Mbps 
• Frame rate: 25fps 
. Audio: AAC, Bit Rate: 256 – 320 Kbps, Sample Rate: 48 kHz 



9. Files should be sent to the link you will receive from the Festival. 


10. Qualified participants can send material such as photos, posters, press releases, etc. electronically, for promotional purposes.


11. The films that will be selected must be sent by May 10th, 2024 


12. The submission fee for each participant via FilmFreeway is set as follows: 
For Short educational films at 5 euros  
For Medium length films at 15 euros 
For Feature length films at 25 euros


13.The Festival does not provide screening fees for the final film selections.

 
14. Juries made up consisting of established film/television industry professionals will decide and award the following awards: 
- Best  Documentary for feature and medium length films
Best  Director award for feature and medium length films
Best  Documentary award for feature and medium length films
Best  Screenplay award  for feature and medium length films
Best  Photography award  for feature and medium length films
Cyprus 1974 Memorial Special award  
AEI Special Award
Best Educational Documentary Film Award (for 10-15 years old)
Best Educational Documentary Film Award (for 16-22 years old)


15. Due to the fact the AEI Film Festival is an hybrid Festival, the Organisers reserve the right to screen the selected films through its Virtual Film Festival platform for a limited period and (not exceeding the one month from the official event).  


16. The Festival reserves the right to screen the awarded and nominated films two more times after the end of the official event, within the framework of the promotional development of the Festival in Cyprus.


17. The Festival reserves the right to reject any application if it is not completed correctly or if the material does not arrive within the deadline at the Festival offices.


18. The Festival has the exclusive authority to determine the schedule of film screenings (day and time) and may organise screenings of the films at any venue during the Festival. 


19. The Festival reserves the right to reject any material that is not relevant to the nature and purposes of the Festival’s programme.


20. The final selections should be escorted by a complete package of promotional material (press kit).


21. To help promote the festival, we reserve the right for the reproduction of stills from submitted films for festival publications, flyers, and programme, online and print press and the Cyprus Archaeological, Ethnographic and Historical Film Festival website: aei-filmfestival.org


22. We also reserve the right to broadcast clips of all films submitted to the festival, on the AEI-Film Festival website, Vimeo channel and in the AEI festival trailer.


23. Filmmakers maybe required to give interviews to media sponsors and be photographed for promotional purposes of the Festival. 


24. Part of the Festival will be filmed for the purpose of preserving archive material of the AEI Film Festival and for its promotion to the general public. The audience or the participants whose presence will be visible in these parts do not have the right to raise any demands from the organising company.


25. Parallel cultural and educational activities will take place during the AEI Film  Festival. 


26. The organising team of the AEI Film Festival reserves the right to cancel the Festival, if this is deemed necessary. 


27. All decisions by the organisers regarding the program are final. By submitting your film, you agree to these conditions and the acceptance of all above articles. The AEI Film Festival is organised by the AEI AUDIOVISUAL FORUM non profit cultural organisation since 2018, and is being supported by the Deputy Ministry of Culture of The Republic Of Cyprus, the Public Broadcaster of Cyprus (CyBC), the Cyprus Radio-television Authority, the Cyprus National Committee for UNESCO, as well as from many other local organisations, foreign cultural centers and embassies.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Pandeli Ceco

    We're truly honored to have received Best Cinematography for our film "Zoje" at the Archaeological, Ethnographic, and Historical Film Festival of Cyprus. Huge thanks to the amazing staff for their dedication and professionalism. Highly recommended!

    December 2024
    Helpful
  • George Kasdaglis

    An honor working with professionals!

    August 2023
    Helpful
  • Fredie Chan

    I submitted my film The Dispute to the festival, the festival director Stavros emailed me his decision to select my film and quickly emailed me their thorough and serious jury procedure as well as promotion catalogue. AEI is an intellectual and up-and-coming leading Documentary Film Festival in Europe, I recommend filmmaker to submit their film to AEI, they respect filmmakers and hopefully they will grow big enough to support award winning filmmakers to visit Nicosia to meet with Cypriot talents.

    August 2023
    Helpful
  • Valentin ANGHEL

    First time they demand some materials for the Competition, then nothing happened; I saw the day/hour of the projection on the Facebook page.

    July 2023
    Helpful
  • Rod Sáez Chávez

    thnak you very mch for everything

    July 2023
    Helpful