Aiming to explore the intersections between crip and queer, the Beyond DisDance festival presents two events from this year’s programme in collaboration with Queer Wave.

On Tuesday 9 December 2025 at Synergeio Performing Arts Centre in Limassol, audiences will have the opportunity to attend at 20:30 the screening of Sylvia Robyn, a documentary by Panayotis Evangelidis, in the presence of its titular protagonist. Earlier the same day, from 18:00 at the same venue, the exhibition Seeing (Me) Through will be hosted, thematically accompanying the screening with works that explore the lived experience of autism.

The sensitive gaze of Panayotis Evangelidis touched hearts and sparked long discussions with the director at this year’s Queer Wave, with Sylvia Robyn taking home the Audience Award for Best Documentary. The film explores the ongoing transformation, discovery, and redefinition of the self through a caring and intimate portrayal of the everyday life of Sylvia Robyn Gionti—an autistic, non-binary trans artist living in Greece.

The screening at Beyond DisDance will take place in the presence of the protagonist, who will join an open discussion with the audience and share some personal objects from her everyday life. These objects will form part of the parallel exhibition hosted at Synergeio, and will also be included in a tactile tour before the screening for visitors with visual impairments.

The documentary will be presented in the context of a relaxed screening, creating a comfortable and welcoming environment adapted to the needs of neurodivergent individuals as well as people who feel more at ease with a viewing setup that is less “formal”. Among other features, it will include: lower sound volume, soft lighting (as opposed to a total blackout), and more freedom for movement and authentic expression within the space.

Seeing (Me) Through is a triptych of portraits that explores autism through moments of everyday presence. Featuring works by Maria Philippou, Sylvia Robyn Gionti, and Mel Baggs, the exhibition challenges ableist expectations of what visibility should look like. Rather than dramatizing or explaining autism, these artists reveal small, intimate moments and objects - details that might appear ordinary or insignificant to others, yet hold power as acts of resistance to imposed norms. In this anti-spectacular space, the exhibition invites viewers to approach the notion of identity on its own terms: not to be decoded, but to be wit(h)nessed.

Beyond DisDance is a performing arts festival dedicated to inclusive and accessible works, showcasing both international and local creations. It began in 2022 with the support of the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture and returns in December 2025 for its fourth edition.

Queer Wave, the Cyprus LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, had its first edition in 2020. In just over five years, the festival has presented more than 250 Cyprus premieres of queer films from the international scene, while also supporting the works of Cypriot filmmakers and a wider range of local artists.

Free Entry. Screening Duration: 91’ + Discussion Time

Accessibility Information:

• Tactile tour

• Live audio description

• Subtitles in Greek and English

• Relaxed screening

Facebook Event: https://fb.me/e/8lL19U4hK 

Websites: Queer Wave | Φεστιβάλ Beyond DisDance

Social Media: @queerwavecyprus | @polyxoros_synergeio