The work is inspired by the bombing of the Gaza beach on 16 July 2014, during which four children were killed while playing football by the sea. This event serves as the point of departure for a reflection on loss, memory, and the persistence of life. Through a combination of filmed footage from Cyprus, handcrafted animation, and manipulated visual material, the work traces a journey from innocence to rupture, silence, and transformation.

At its core lies play, the most universal expression of childhood: children running, laughing, and discovering the world. This everyday reality is abruptly interrupted by war, leaving behind the traces of a football match that was never completed. Developing a system of visual allegories, the work departs from linear storytelling and assumes the form of a visual poem. Its central symbol is the seed: a vessel of memory, continuity, and regeneration. A life that is interrupted does not disappear; instead, it takes root, transforms, and continues to exist in the earth, in people, and in their stories. The work establishes a dialogue between the memory of Gaza and the Cypriot landscape, not as an equation of distinct historical experiences, but as an encounter between two places that understand what it means to carry the traces of a violent history.

By relocating this story to the Cypriot landscape, the work seeks to reduce the distance between “there” and “here,” reminding us that war is not a distant event but a violent reality imposed by dominant powers upon all our lives. For this reason, presenting the work in the public space of Nicosia’s old city, close to the Green Line, forms an integral part of the narrative itself, activating collective memory and reminding us that war, and everything it leaves behind, belongs to the here and now.

*The exact location and screening schedule will be announced shortly.

CREATIVE TEAM

Eleonora Soteriou: filmmaker | photographer
Alexandra Pappa: visual artist | illustrator | maker | Archlab10
Demosthenes Choupas: architect | urban planner | Archlab10
Dimitris Chaliasos: graphic designer | illustrator | Archlab10
Sotiris Grivelas: graphic designer | editor | Archlab10

Running time: 7’

NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL

FESTIVAL IDENTITY

CO-ORGANISERS: Nicosia For Art Ltd, Nicosia Municipality
MAIN SPONSOR: Deputy Ministry of Culture, Department of Contemporary Culture
GOLD SPONSORS: VF Foundation, Allwyn
SILVER SPONSOR: PwC
OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR: Phileleftheros Media Group
SUPPORTERS: L’Oréal Paris, French Institute of Cyprus, The Classic Hotel, Ethimo
PARTNER: Press and Information Office
HOSPITALITY SPONSORS: Centrum Hotel, Altius Boutique Hotel
OFFICIAL FESTIVAL CAR: Pilakoutas Group
EXCLUSIVE TICKETING PARTNER: more.com