Myrsini Aristidou
Directing
Biography
Myrsini Aristidou is a Cypriot writer, director, producer, and editor. Her award-winning films Semele (Toronto International Film Festival, 2015; Berlinale, 2016) and Aria (Venice, 2017; Sundance, 2018) have screened at major international festivals. A graduate of Pratt Institute and NYU Tisch School of the Arts, she has participated in the Cannes Cinéfondation Residence, TIFF Talent Lab, and the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film Lab. Her debut feature, Hold Onto Me, won the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at Sundance Film Festival 2026.
Known For
Eleven-year-old Semele unexpectedly arrives at her father's worksite in Cyprus with a note from school that needs to be signed. This is an astutely observed, ultimately heart-rending story about a youngster whose fierce longing to be noticed is matched only by her determination to make it happen.
Semele
11-year-old Iris 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.
Hold onto Me
Athens, today. Seventeen-year-old, Aria working at the local kebab place, is waiting for a driving lesson with her father.