FNE Oscar Watch 2027: Hold Onto Me Is Cyprus' First-Ever Submission for Oscars

NICOSIA: Myrsini Aristidou's debut feature Hold Onto Me / Κράτα Με has been selected as Cyprus' first-ever candidate for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards in the Best International Feature Film category. The decision was made by a seven-member National Selection Committee for the Academy Awards, appointed by the Department of Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture. It's summer, and 11-year-old Iris is running wild through the streets with her older friend Danae when she learns her estranged father, Aris, is back in town for his own father's funeral. Determined to know him, Iris tracks him down to a dilapidated shipyard, where he's been keeping to himself. What begins as a stubborn attempt to reconnect slowly unfolds into a fragile bond - imperfect, yet poignant. 'Hold onto Me is a personal and emotionally layered story about a father and daughter rediscovering each other. The film captures both the beauty and the tension of reconnection, weaving moments of humour, defiance and tenderness through the eyes of 11-year-old Iris. As a Cypriot filmmaker, it was important to me to portray the richness and stillness of everyday life here: the worn-out backdrops, the sense of time standing still, the forgotten colliding with the new, and the raw emotional undercurrents that continue to shape us. At its core, the film is about the fragile beginnings of a bond, one that never quite had the chance to grow but might still find its shape', Myrsini Aristidou told FNE in 2025. The main cast includes Christos Passalis, Maria Petrova, Jenny Sallo and Aulona Lupa. Hold onto Me is a coproduction between Cyprus, Denmark and Greece made in joint participation with the United States. Filmblades (Cyprus) and One Six One Films (Cyprus) produced the film in coproduction with Fredo Pictures (Denmark), Graal S.A (Greece), with the support from the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, ERT (Greek TV Channel), the Danish Film Institute, the Greek Film Center, the Black Family Grant of NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Pleasant Bay Pictures, the Sam Spiegel International Film Lab - Emerging Filmmaker Award, and Mango Productions. Cercamon picked-up the film before its world premiere in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival (a historic selection for Cyprue), where the film received the Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic. Other awards include Special Mention for Maria Petrova at the 30th Sofia International Film Festival, Best Cypriot Film and Best Director in the Cypriot Competition section, as well as the Audience Award at the 24th edition of the Cyprus Film Days International Festival, and also the Orpheus Award for Best Film at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival. The 99th Academy Awards ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on 14 March 2027.