When we started organising Queer Wave amidst the first Covid-19 lockdown, we never thought that this is where this festival would be in two years’ time. It gives me great pleasure to be welcoming you all to Queer Wave 2022: an edition where we can finally celebrate the queer community through cinema in person and with no measures in place to restrict us.

Our third edition has certainly been the most ambitious one to date. With a launch event in Limassol, and another 10 days in Nicosia lined up with 24 screenings in total, we are showcasing just under 70 Cyprus premieres of films from every inhabited continent of the world. The LGBTQIA+ community is strong, it has a voice that can crystallise through cinema, and it is everywhere.

It is inspiring to see that, for the second year in a row, Queer Wave is able to showcase five works by Cypriot filmmakers, some of which will be joining us in person. For the first time this year, we are absolutely honoured to also be in the company of filmmakers visiting us from thousands of miles away to represent their films.

Following our collaborations this year with at least three other queer film festivals in Europe, I hope it is fair to say that this queer wave’s disturbance is propagating well beyond any local boarders. And yet, the queer community in Cyprus is at the heart of everything we do. It’s you and all the cinephiles who comprehend and celebrate your worth that we are so excited to reunite with every year.

Renewing and strengthening our ties to artists in Cyprus – north, south, east and west – has also allowed our team this year to put together a whole lineup of parallel events for this edition, hosted at Sessions: a queer space we hope to see sticking around for a long while to come.

I cannot adequately express my full gratitude to everyone that has helped make this edition a reality, but I hope you know you have all been paramount in making it happen: volunteers, translators, technicians, festival partners, submission viewers, programmers, filmmakers, any and all contributing artists, and – above all – friends and family. Thank you all for being the vital ingredients that brought this edition to life.

I’m excited to see where your Queer Wave 2022 journey takes you.

Enjoy the festival!

Diego Armando Aparicio | Festival Director