The Cyprus Institute’s short documentary “Kaimakli” has garnered significant international acclaim, recently winning the award for best short documentary at the International Short Film Festival in Bulgaria.
Additionally, the documentary has been selected for screening at the Berlin Lift-Off Film Festival 2025.
“Kaimakli” was created as part of the course DCH 403: Digital Innovation and Cultural Heritage, offered in the Master’s degree in Digital Cultural Heritage program at the Cyprus Institute.
The documentary was produced by students Nikandros Savvidis, Despina Stavrou, Antonia Agapiou, and Evagoras Krystallis, under the guidance of Associate Professor George Artopoulos.
The documentary explores the lives and thoughts of the current residents of the Kaimakli district in Nicosia.
Using ethnographic research methods and the study of cultural heritage, the film presents excerpts from the history and everyday life of a neighborhood that thrives despite its proximity to the Green Line and Buffer Zone.
The film introduces viewers to the feelings of people from various social groups and communities inhabiting these marginal spaces.
In the film, the city’s architectural heritage serves as a common point of reference for these individuals, who carry out their daily activities as part of a historical continuity that unites them and fosters a sense of belonging. Through these human stories, the film argues that re-evaluating and interpreting material cultural heritage can help us share it and therefore preserve it in more socially inclusive and resilient ways.