The film Dreams like Paper Boats, directed by Samuel Suffren, won the Best Short Film award in the International Competition section at the 14th Cyprus International Short Film Festival, which concluded on Friday at the Rialto Theatre in Limassol.

The award for Best Cypriot Film went to Chikitiklon: The Fairy and the Brave, directed by Marios Mettis.

According to a statement from the organizers—the Department of Modern Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture and the Rialto Theatre—the awards ceremony took place in the square in front of the theatre and was greeted by Deputy Minister of Culture Vasiliki Kassianidou.

The jury, chaired by Agron Domi and including members Denise Nikolakakou, John Canciani, Amos Geva, and Monica Nicolaidou, awarded the first prize for Best Short Film, which comes with a cash prize of €4,000, to Dreams like Paper Boats, directed by Samuel Suffren from Haiti. The second prize for Best Short Film, along with a €1,500 prize, went to Pena’s Special Hauling by Anssi Kasitonni from Finland.

The Best Director award, accompanied by a cash prize of €2,500, was given to Moara Passoni from Brazil for her film My Mother is a Cow.

The Best Documentary award, with a cash prize of €3,000, was awarded to White Cloud by Emmanuel Van Der Auwera from Belgium.

Honorable mentions were given to the documentary My Father (Czech Republic) by Pegah Ahangarani, the film A Summer’s End Poem by Lam Can-zhao (China, Switzerland), and the comedy A Beautiful Excuse for a Deadly Sin by Hashim Sharaf from Bahrain.

The jury also selected looking she said I forget (Netherlands, Switzerland), directed by Naomi Pacifique, as a nominee for the 2025 European Film Awards in the Short Film category.

In the National Competition section, the first prize for Best Cypriot Short Film, with a cash prize of €4,000, was awarded to Chikitiklon: The Fairy and the Brave, directed by Marios Mettis. The second prize went to Pink Moon by Meray Diner, along with a cash prize of €2,500.

The "Dinos Katsourides" Award for Best Direction was presented to Sylvia Nicolaidou and Nicolas Iordanous for their documentary Requiem in Salt. This award includes the provision of technical equipment for their next short film, offered by the family of Cypriot director and cinematographer Dinos Katsourides, and a €2,500 prize sponsored by the Deputy Ministry of Culture.

The Best Performance award, with a cash prize of €1,500 offered by the Municipality of Limassol, was given to Marios Ioannou for his performance in Chikitiklon: The Fairy and the Brave.

The Best Cinematography award was presented to Christos Zenios, photographer and director of the film Pakistani, sponsored by Stefilm, which includes post-production and DCP services.

The animated film Underground by Giannis Christoforou received an honorable mention, while the Amaze Me Music Video award went to Jump Cut by Winston Hacking.

The Cyprus Short Film Festival will return next October for its 15th edition.