Can a young woman forced to leave a divided Cyprus in the 1970s find belonging and even love in an arranged marriage in Apartheid South Africa, especially when a secret from her past threatens to change everything?
With Apart, South African Cypriot writer-director Stelana Kliris (Find Me Falling, Committed) has created a deeply personal film about displacement, belonging, borders, both the ones that are physical and those that are in our hearts, and human connections. And it is inspired by the real experiences of her refugee parents.
The movie, world-premiering at the 30th edition of the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF), stars Leem Lubany (Omar, Rock the Kasbah), Luca Pasqualino (Rivals, The Musketeers) and Girley Jazama (Under the Hanging Tree, The White Line).
“In 1974, when Turkey invades Cyprus, young Eleni (Lubany) leaves her homeland through an arranged marriage and finds herself in Apartheid South Africa, swapping one divided country for another,” reads a synopsis for the film. “There, a new life with Nico (Pasqualino) slowly turns into love, until an unexpected friendship forces her to confront a secret from her past.”
Shot in Cyprus with a story that goes between Cyprus and South Africa, Apart brings a turbulent time in the 1970s to life, with a focus on a female perspective. The filmmaker’s Find Me Falling became the first Cypriot film to premiere on Netflix.
Apart will open Tallinn’s Critics’ Picks section. “With this very personal and ambitious film, Stelana Kliris has delivered a deeply moving cinematic ode to humanity, a film that will stay with you long after the final frame,” the festival website teases.
With cinematography by Simon Sarketzis and editing by Emilios Avraam, Apart is being sold by Reinvent Yellow Sales. The producers are Kliris, Susan Simnett, Jamie Harvey and Ioanna Bolomyti.
“It has always fascinated me that people like my parents, who emigrated from Cyprus to South Africa, left one divided place for another, and I wanted to translate this into a film that challenges the idea of ‘us’ and ‘them,’ and, whilst the central narrative is fictional, the individual events around it are from real events,” Kliris says. “This is an intimate, character-driven film with a specific set of aesthetics that represents not just the two locations, but two distinct periods, 1970s South Africa interwoven with flashbacks to the Cypriot past, and while war and Apartheid serve as the backdrop, our story of love, friendship and identity provides for a more human, intimate experience.”
THR can now exclusively premiere the trailer for Apart. Prepare for a touching journey through time and across the globe to get a first glimpse of the challenges and emotions the protagonists experience.