The summer months always have plenty of cinematic evenings. This June, the screening series Europe in Cinema kicks off in Nicosia as a joint effort between the European Union National Institutes for Culture in Cyprus and the Friends of Cinema Society.

The upcoming film nights aim to showcase films from a wide array of genres and languages throughout 2025 – from thought-provoking dramas to heart-warming comedies. On June 12, the Cypriot drama Smaragda – I Got Thick Skin and I Can’t Jump will be screened at Pantheon Cinema, with free entry.

The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the director of the film Emilios Avraam. This is the debut narrative feature by the Cypriot director, starring Niovi Charalambous and produced by Tonia Mishiali’s Bark Like A Cat Films. It explores themes of existence, companionship, legacy and the pressure to conform to societal norms.

The film premiered at the 2024 Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival and received the Best Cypriot Film Award and the Best Performance in a Cypriot Film Award at the 23rd Cyprus Film Days International Festival.

It centres around Smaragda, a middle-aged single woman, who moves into her late mother’s house in Ayia Napa while taking on the care of Bella, her mother’s guide dog. With environmental sensitivities, ineffectual relationships, single and professionally stagnant, she contemplates her legacy. As a former children’s TV show host yearning to return to the industry and facing rejection, she explores social media, encountering both fame and backlash.

Financially strained, she takes a job as a kids’ entertainer at a tourist resort, a far cry from her previous aspirations. Despite the challenges and fears she faces, Smaragda realises that, with the support of her friends and her own resilience, she can handle whatever life throws at her.

Smaragda – I Got Thick Skin and I Can’t Jump

Cypriot film screening, directed by Emilios Avraam and starring Niovi Charalambous. Followed by Q&A. Part of the Europe in Cinema series. June 12. Pantheon Cinema, Nicosia. 8.30pm. Free admission. In Greek with English subtitles. Tel: 22-895136