FILM AND THEATRE

I am a Set Designer/Stylist currently living and working in London. 
 

I started my career as a theatre and opera set&costume designer in Italy, Cyprus, Greece and London. I am highly experienced in developing projects from scratch to the very end. From the creative direction, image research and mock-up development to the supervision of the building team and collaboration with the sound and light designers at the end of the making process.
 

I like challenging myself accepting jobs from different backgrounds. I enjoy experimenting with scale and proportions, colours and different materials, light and shadow, observing and trying to create new worlds.
Storytelling and concept are very important in my work. 

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Contact details: mayaangeli677@hotmail.com 

Thomas Nicolaou is a British, Oxford based visual artist, graphic designer and tutor. Thomas studied printing, publishing and graphic design and worked for a number of years in publishing as a designer. The first book he made was the artists’ book Pensées with British artist Jeremy Deller. In 2008, his ‘Camden Chip Shop’ photograph was selected and screened as part of Street and Studio exhibition at Tate Modern. In 2016, he graduated from the MA Photographic Studies (now MA Photography Arts) course at the University of Westminster. His first London solo exhibition was at the Hellenic Centre, London, 2017. 

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Contact details: tom_nicuk@yahoo.co.uk 

"Elena Hadjifaxendi is a Greek-Cypriot actress and soprano. Elena studied Opera at the Conservatory Elefthero in Greece, acting at the Drama School of National Theatre of Northern Greece and musical theatre at the Associated Studios in London. She graduated from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with BA (Hons) Primary School Education and from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens with an MA in Drama and Education.
She has worked in the UK and Europe (Cyprus, Greece, Italy) with directors and musicians in classical and contemporary theatre, in musical theatre, operettas, cinema and television. These include but are not limited to Heinz-Uwe Haus, Fabio Tolledi, Mikis Theodorakis, George Hatzinasios, Spyros Evaggelatos, Alexandros Evklidis, Thanos Mikroutsikos, Elli Papakonstantinou.
Performance highlights include: EU IMMIGRANTS (Round House and Tate Modern, London), Cyprus’s Rhymes of Love (Paphos), Oedipus Rex and Women in Parliament ( Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus), The Daughter of the Storm (Athens Festival),  Axios Esti (Union Chapel, London), The Lady from the Sea (National Theatre of Cyprus - THOC)." 

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Contact details: ehadjiafxendi@yahoo.com 

Petros Kourtellaris is a Cyprus born, Wales trained and London based designer who works across the principles of set, costume and makeup. Upon finishing high school with distinction and completing his military service he enrolled at royal welsh college of music and drama. He graduated in 2020 with first class honours. In 2021, he was one of the 12 recipients of the Linbury Prize and has consequently showcased his work at the National theatre. He has worked both in theatre and film for prestigious projects  for netflix, disney, and the bbc. His most recent project “Boy with a thousand faces” was a performance artist for Sessions x spel, which saw the exploration of three archetypes, a soldier, venus and the lady of the lent.

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Contact details: kourtellarispetros@hotmail.com

George Rodosthenous is Professor of Theatre Directing at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries of the University of Leeds, UK. He is the Artistic Director of the theatre company 'Altitude North' and also works as a freelance director/composer for the theatre. 

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Contact details: rodis98@hotmail.com rodosthenous 

Panayiota graduated from the prestigious Screenwriting MA at the University of Arts London, London College of Communication. She has since been selected for the BFI Network Writer's Lab and the BFI Network Feature Treatment Lab at the AMPLIFY! Film Festival, London Playwriting Lab and most recently, BFI Network South East Short Film Development Programme. Her debut play, BACK TO HACKNEY, which she wrote, produced and directed received critical praise, with The Camden New Journal calling it "an important reminder of how the sick and disabled have borne the brunt of austerity." Panayiota is a second generation Greek-Cypriot based in the South East and is in post production on her first industry supported short film.

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Contact Details: museatmidnightltd@gmail.com

Daphne was born in Cyprus and trained at Oxford University and LAMDA. She started off as regular character Nadia Talianos on BBC’s iconic series “Casualty”. TV and film include: “House of Saddam” (HBO/BBC), “The Amazing Mrs Pritchard” (BBC), Polanski’s film “The Ghost Writer”‪, “Beckett” and “The Fourth Kind” with Universal Pictures. She played the lead female role in award-winning short film “The Palace” by Anthony Maras, and in Cypriot feature film “The Siege on Liperti Street” by Stavros Pamballis, which won five awards at Thessaloniki Film Festival. Recently she has taken part in “Smyrna my Beloved”, and stars in horror comedy feature “Minore”. Films “The Hunted”, “Loose Strands”, “Pomegranate “ and “A Night in Bath” are out next year. Stage highlights include City Stories at 59E59 in NYC and Hidden in the Sand (a play about Cyprus) at London’s Trafalgar Studios. She has also worked in Greece and has recently taken part in series Zoi for Antenna+ and the play Marshall Plan with the Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2023. Voice highlights include her portrayal of iconic heroine Modesty Blaise for BBC radio 4. 

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Contact Details: alexanderdaphne@gmail.com

RONIS VARLAAM has studied filmmaking at the London Film School and has produced and directed several documentaries, mainly for Channel 4 (Including ‘The Green Line – Cyprus' as Co-Director. It can be found on YouTube). Gradually his interests moved to art in general and now his practice includes painting, photography, videos and conceptual art. But he is primarily a painter. His series THE NATURE OF THINGS is an experimental series that started figuratively moved to abstraction and back to figuration. He now uses a new way of applying paint to figurative paintings. It is probably only the 5th way of doing so in the 50,000 history of painting. He has taken part in more than 30 exhibitions including the Jerwood Drawing Prize exhibitions, Creekside Open, Discerning Eye, National Open Art and at the Royal Watercolour Society, The Melina Mercouri Hall, Nicosia, Florean Museum in Romania, Scope Art in Miami and at events at the Venice Biennale and the Louvre. He is the Editor of a new online art magazine ART_LOVE. The link is https://bit.ly/ART_LOVE and is on Instagram as art_lovemagazine.

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Contact Details: ronisvarlaam@hotmail.com 

Daphne was born in Cyprus and trained at Oxford University and LAMDA. She started off as regular character Nadia Talianos on BBC’s iconic series “Casualty”. TV and film include: “House of Saddam” (HBO/BBC), “The Amazing Mrs Pritchard” (BBC), Polanski’s film “The Ghost Writer”‪, “Beckett” and “The Fourth Kind” with Universal Pictures. She played the lead female role in award-winning short film “The Palace” by Anthony Maras, and in Cypriot feature film “The Siege on Liperti Street” by Stavros Pamballis, which won five awards at Thessaloniki Film Festival. Recently she has taken part in “Smyrna my Beloved”, and stars in horror comedy feature “Minore”. Films “The Hunted”, “Loose Strands”, “Pomegranate “ and “A Night in Bath” are out next year. Stage highlights include City Stories at 59E59 in NYC and Hidden in the Sand (a play about Cyprus) at London’s Trafalgar Studios. She has also worked in Greece and has recently taken part in series Zoi for Antenna+ and the play Marshall Plan with the Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2023. Voice highlights include her portrayal of iconic heroine Modesty Blaise for BBC radio 4. 

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Contact Details: alexanderdaphne@gmail.com 

Born Perivale Hospital,Ealing,West London to Greek Cypriot parents who came to the UK in 1951 I attended Drayton Manor Grammar School where I was school Cross Country Champion,Chess Champion and played in the different age groups football team while I was local Under 18's Tennis Champion 2 years running.I started working briefly as a trainee Journalist ,then for Lloyds Bank for 4 years ,and worked for over 40 years in the Travel Industry starting at British Airways in Reservations,Sales and Marketing and then for American Express & Hogg Robinson in Business Travel.After COVID I changed direction to become a Cover Supervisor Supply Teacher for schools in various West London boroughs.I have always been an entertainer & performed comedy ,poetry, singing & acting also while I have 2 published Poetry books raising funds for different charities "100 POEMS TO MAKE YOU T.L.C (think,laugh or cry)" published 2017, HM Queen R.I.P had a copy & sent a thank you letter from Buckingham Palace about her poem, then "300 POEMS TO MAKE YOU T.L.C" published 2021 both available on Amazon,Foyles & Waterstones online .I am on Greenford 365 Website & ran 4 London Marathons for different charities. 

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Contact details: ArkleSupreme@hotmail.co.uk 

I'm a Cypriot actor, fluent in English and Greek, graduated from East 15's BA Acting(Ints) in 2021 and I'm based in London. Few things about me: - Recent credits: "Sappho" at Southwark Playhouse Elephant directed by Wendy Beckett, Bad Faith (short film) directed by George Coyne, "Lysistrata" (stage) directed by Marios Mettis a NT of Cyprus production, national commercial for ALFA beer in Greece - Flamenco dancer. 

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Contact details: ktekkis@gmail.com 

I have spent 12 years photographing thousands of abandoned places across the entire island of Cyprus and documenting their forgotten stories. A unique project like this has never been done before. From the snowy mountains to the urban jungles and the dry desert, I have captured various abandoned places in different landscapes across the island. In the summer of 2021 alone, I visited over 100 villages. Most places photographed revolve around when the conflict began in the 1960s to the present. Several trips were even conducted with the protection of the UN and British military on various occasions where I was given special access to restricted areas. I have documented all sorts, from abandoned mansions, military bases, hospitals, factories, the hostage city of Varosha, churches in the occupied areas, and the notorious UN Buffer Zone. Many of my photos are the only documentation that exists of these forgotten sites. They provide a unique and valuable record of a vanishing landscape, that within a few years, these ghosts of the past will either crumble to dust or get destroyed by bulldozers as part of the modernization of Cyprus, with many places already suffering this fate.

 

Contact details: andrewavraam@hotmail.com

I’m a British born theatre director with Turkish Cypriot (and Maltese) heritage. My work includes new writing, classical plays, musicals and opera and I’ve worked as Associate and Assistant Director for companies including the RSC, Complicité, Sheffield Crucible and Theatre by the Lake. I was artistic director of a female-led new writing company, Plain Heroines whose productions included SCRATCHES (Vault Festival) and THE 4TH COUNTRY (Park Theatre). 

 

Contact details: GabriellaBird@gmail.com 

Hello, my name is Giorgos Othonos, I was born in Limassol, Cyprus, and in 2018 I moved to the United Kingdom to study Film Technology and Visual Effects. With a strong background in virtual production, Unreal Engine, and motion capture technology.

I am currently based in London, England, where I work as a Junior Performance Capture Technician at Centroid Motion Capture. Previously, I worked as a Location Marshal at New Pictures, where I provided valuable support to TV production crews, including cleaning locations, moving video villages, and assisting actors on set.

My educational journey includes earning a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Film Technology and Visual Effects from Birmingham City University and in Multimedia from Cyprus University of Technology. Throughout my academic and professional career, I've been actively involved in various film-related roles, including producer, director, editor, and motion capture technician in student film projects.

In summary, I am deeply passionate about virtual production and technology, and my diverse experiences reflect my commitment to the field. 

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Contact details: giorgosothonosmart@gmail.com 

I am an actor, artist, and activist. I began acting with ACT (Anglo Cypriot Theatre) group in Cyprus. I went on to graduate in BA Drama with a First Class Honours degree from Queen Mary University of London, during which I undertook a semester abroad at Columbia University in New York.

I was co-founder, rehearsal director and performer at Stage 3 - an award-winning People Palace Projects participatory theatre experience that generates discussion about migration, discrimination, and belonging (Gate Theatre and UK tour).

Commissioned to create ‘Filo Pastry’; a dive into my great grandfathers experience of Cypriot migration to London in the 1930s, for ‘;an Ethnography’ and ‘Eyes Wide Open’ project.

As an actor, I recently returned to London after performing two plays with a touring theatre company based in France and Belgium.

As a performance maker, I have co-created ‘Safari’, a verbatim piece which touches on voyeurism, surveillance and the male gaze, performed at Theatre Deli as part of Shift and Space and showcased and supported by Camden People’s Theatre, Battersea Arts Centre, and Runt of the Litter.

My upcoming projects involve a hybrid residency with Theatre in Palm. 

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Contact details: Chrisanthi.l@hotmail.com 

I am an artist and theatre maker working at the intersection of live art, immersive experience and performance. I’ve worked as a director and maker in theatres and festivals across the UK and have experience working with artistic collaborators, professional actors, young people and different communities. At the heart of my work is the invitation to play, and in accepting this invitation, an audience forms a temporary community that thinks collectively about complex ideas through games and joyful encounters. I often focus on ‘small p’ politics and finding the grey in an attempt to resist binaries. My work is optimistic about the power and desire of people to imagine a better world and way of living. It can look very different every time, and I believe in creating transparent structures that openly declare how they work to make the work accessible and unintimidating. I am currently developing a series of work under the name Chatterbox, a standalone audio immersive experience tailored to a variety of topics that invites audiences into a sound world which can facilitate them slowing down and encountering ideas and each other in a new way. 

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Contact details: pavlos.c.artist@gmail.com 

Daphne was born in Cyprus and trained at Oxford University and LAMDA. She started off as regular character Nadia Talianos on BBC’s iconic series “Casualty”. TV and film include: “House of Saddam” (HBO/BBC), “The Amazing Mrs Pritchard” (BBC), Polanski’s film “The Ghost Writer”‪, “Beckett” and “The Fourth Kind” with Universal Pictures. She played the lead female role in award-winning short film “The Palace” by Anthony Maras, and in Cypriot feature film “The Siege on Liperti Street” by Stavros Pamballis, which won five awards at Thessaloniki Film Festival. Recently she has taken part in “Smyrna my Beloved”, and stars in horror comedy feature “Minore”. Films “The Hunted”, “Loose Strands”, “Pomegranate “ and “A Night in Bath” are out next year. Stage highlights include City Stories at 59E59 in NYC and Hidden in the Sand (a play about Cyprus) at London’s Trafalgar Studios. She has also worked in Greece and has recently taken part in series Zoi for Antenna+ and the play Marshall Plan with the Athens and Epidaurus Festival 2023. Voice highlights include her portrayal of iconic heroine Modesty Blaise for BBC radio 4. 

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Contact details: alexanderdaphne@gmail.com

Athena Mandis – Athena is a second generation Greek Cypriot award-winning filmmaker and a Lecturer in Film Practice at QMUL, whose journey began in theatre with the David Glass Ensemble. Her work has screened at festivals world-wide. Her feature film script XENOS won best script at Cyprus IFF 2018, selected onto the Torino Film Lab 2019 and shortlisted for Sundance Screenwriters Lab 2021. Losing Grace has been screened at over 60 IFFs and has won numerous awards and is being developed into a feature for 2023. Her short THE RETURN, was selected for last year’s Pitch Lab in Drama, Greece. She is developing a slate of feature projects focused on Greece and Cyprus. 

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Contact Details: athenamandis72@gmail.com

White Hope, a biopic of the first British Black cycling champion was awarded funded script development from Film Wales. It was selected for PFM (’23). Frontline Autos, is a part packaged feature film with LOI’s from notable cast including Javone Prince, Aaron Phagura and Mo Sesay. In June 2018, Alkin was the recipient of prestigious funding from Creative Europe for the feature film script Goats & Sheep, a foreign language film set in 1920’s Cyprus (optioned by Perfect Motion). Currently in post production on his 5th short film A Father’s Love is a proof-of-concept for a feature starring Mo Sesay. Alkin’s 4th short film as writer-director In Another Life (Sept ’22), is a 10 minute drama about profound love and the ultimate sacrifice, it won awards at Toronto Film & Script Awards, Boston Independent Film Awards, and Toronto Indie Shorts it also made official selection at Venice Shorts, California and Aladerri International Film Festival and BAFTA nominating Carmarthen Bay Film Festival. His previous short film, Our Cyprus, was a semi-finalist at the Sao Paolo Film Festival, secured distribution with Shorts TV and was selected as part of the Cyprus Short Film Day in Nov ’19. 

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Contact Details: alkin@btinternet.com

Talat Gokdemir (writer/director) is a Cypriot filmmaker. He has an interest in telling stories drawn from his experience of growing up in Cyprus and pursues this by making short films. He developed his screenplay Haftasonu at the IN_Script residential workshop in Lithuania and directed the film in 2016. His most recent film Konsomatris (2020) explored toxic masculinity in Turkish Cypriot culture. He developed his new short film Night Shift through the Midpoint Shorts programme and pitched it at the When East Meets West co-production forum in 2022. Talat currently works in Public Engagement at Imperial College London. 

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Contact Details: talat@talatgokdemir.com 

I trained at Rose Bruford School of Speech and Drama, London. I obtained a BA Degree. I have worked in both radio, voice, stage and screen in the UK and Cyprus both in Greek/Cypriot and English language. I was honoured to play the lead opposite the wonderful Paul Phaedro Stassino in a Cyprus TV series as well as featuring in various award winning feature films in Cyprus including, 'The Road to Ithaka' by Costas Dimitriou and Panikos Chrysanthou's 'Akamas'. In the UK, I have appeared on TV, music videos, feature films as well as many award winning short films. I can still be seen on TV in repeats of 'The Bill'! I have performed in many theatrical productions in English and Greek/Cypriot. I have been in one women shows, modern plays and the Greek Classics and Shakespeare plays. I have a long relationship with Theatro Technis in London having performed in many shows there. More recently I was a speaker for the first 'Cyprus Diaspora Forum' that took place in Limassol. 

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Contact Details: lucy_christy@yahoo.co.uk 

Alexis Andreou is a London based documentary photographer and visual artist whose work deals with contemporary matters of war aftermath and bordering practises. His work is an intersection of issues around the agency of memory, the narration of unbiased history, the experience of trauma, and the role that visual culture and photographic representation plays in relation to those. The main focus of his work looks at the aftermath of the 1964-1974 events of conflict that took place in Cyprus between Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots prior to the division of the island and the population exchange that took place as a result of that. 

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Contact details: alexis@andreoualexis.com

Kyriakos Georgiou is the founder and Managing Director of The South London Film Festival, renowned for its discerning selection of quality films, some of which have gone on to be selected and win at BIFA, BAFTA, and the Academy Awards. An accomplished actor, writer, and director with over a decade of experience, Kyriakos has a deep understanding of filmmaking and storytelling. His career began with a notable achievement in 2012, winning the BBC Best Entertainment Award at the Hertfordshire Visions Festival for his performance in the TV pilot “Doin’ the Rounds.” During the COVID pandemic, Kyriakos received multiple awards for his self-produced short film “When Life Gives You Lemons.” Following this success, he founded The South London Film Festival, which has partnered with notable organizations such as Raindance, Backstage, London Live, and more. Additionally, Kyriakos played a role in the organization of the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture 2022. He is passionate about capturing the beautiful obscurities of everyday life and sharing his unique vision with the world.​

Contact details: kgeorgiou101@gmail.com 

Sotiria is a Cypriot video editor, photographer, and producer currently living in the UK. She is renowned for her innovative approach to multimedia content. She has made significant strides in her career, with her work spanning from editing YouTube videos for global influencers to producing compelling social media content and TV ads for Fashion Heritage Network Cyprus. Her notable project includes co-creating an exclusive audio-visual installation for a major exhibition, which showcased her unique ability to blend visual storytelling with original sound design. Her freelance work as a videographer and photographer has seen her collaborating with small businesses, fashion designers, and artists, demonstrating her versatility and creative prowess. Sotiria has also been a pivotal part of the content creation team for Fashion Revolution Greece & Cyprus, where she curated and edited various social media videos. Moreover her films have been shortlisted at Cyprus Fashion Film Festival. Currently, she continues to explore diverse narratives in her work, pushing the boundaries of multimedia storytelling.

Contact details: sotiriadymiotis@gmail.com

I was born in London to Greek Cypriot parents and spent part of my childhood in Varosha, Famagusta, until the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus when my family were forcibly displaced. I’m currently a PhD student investigating displaced heritage in solo performance at Queen Mary University of London. My PhD is practice-based and my current project, The Suitcase (which sold out at Camden Fringe), is based on the original suitcase and items my parents and I took with us when we had to leave our town. My background is a career in journalism (under the name Lorna V) for national newspapers and magazines, which led to authoring three business psychology books for Psychologies Magazine. When I came across the MSc in Creative Arts and Mental Health at Queen Mary University of London, I never imagined it would change my life and lead me back to exploring my Cypriot roots, and a practice-based theatre PhD. I have been shortlisted for the Verity Bargate New Writing Award, completed the Soho Theatre One Year Writers’ Attachment Programme. Venues I have performed at include the Lion & Unicorn, Battersea Arts Centre, Winchester Discovery Centre, Oxford Fire Station and the Blue Elephant. 

 

Contact details: lornav.com@gmail.com 

Mahmut Yildirim is an experienced video producer and director with over 15 years in the industry. Originally from Cyprus, Mahmut has been living in the UK since 2016, where he has continued his passion for video production by collaborating with local businesses and artists. His work spans a variety of genres, from corporate videos to artistic projects, with a strong focus on storytelling and creative collaboration. Currently, Mahmut is working on a project titled This Is My Music, which aims to support musicians by providing a platform to showcase their talents. With a deep commitment to the arts, Mahmut enjoys working with artists from various disciplines, helping them express their unique visions through the medium of film. He is dedicated to fostering a dynamic cultural dialogue within the Cypriot and wider UK communities through his work. 

 

Contact details: Myildirimvideography@gmail.com