After wrapping its shoot on location across Nicosia, Limassol and Larnaca, Worthy (Άξιος), the fourth fiction feature by award-winning Cypriot writer-director Christos Georgiou, has entered post-production. The film marks Georgiou’s return to comedy after his crowd-pleasing Small Crime [+leggi anche:
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The story begins when Elias, a cemetery caretaker, stumbles upon what he believes to be a weeping icon of Saint Anastasia while disposing of rubbish at a nearby dump. Moved by the discovery, he puts the icon on display at the cemetery. Soon, the site draws a diverse group of visitors, each bringing their own hopes, desires and frustrations, convinced that the icon may help them realise their wishes. At the same time, Elias struggles with the burden of being “worthy”, testing his faith, his self-belief and his ability to live up to the role he feels has been assigned to him as the icon’s chosen one.

The main role of Elias is played by well-known Greek actor Makis Papadimitriou (Suntan [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Argyris Papadimitropoulos
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According to Georgiou, who also wrote the script, Worthy uses a portmanteau structure to interweave the humorous and the poignant, offering a playful reflection on people’s universal need to wish for something and the often-complicated path towards making those wishes come true.

The cemetery, the film’s main setting, becomes more than just a backdrop. “People don’t realise how alive cemeteries are in Cyprus, with many of the graves acting as gathering points for friends and relatives of the departed, who need to either share their grief or feel the presence of those lost to them,” Georgiou tells Cineuropa. “At first, we were worried that our filming would be disruptive to them, but after a while, we got to meet the regular ‘visitors’, and some of them helped us with props and even feature in the film. In a strange way, it made us feel at home, and we would look forward to going to shoot at our cemetery.”

Worthy comes eight years after Georgiou’s last feature, the critically acclaimed Happy Birthday, while his debut, Under the Stars, won the Prix de Montréal in 2001. The new project reunites him with some long-time collaborators: cinematographer Yorgos Gianellis (Small Crime, Happy Birthday), production designer Sossee Eskidjian (Under the Stars), editor Aliki Panagi (Happy Birthday) and composer Kostantis Papakostantinou, a trusted creative partner on many of his films. Casting was handled by Greek casting director and co-producer Sotiria Marini.

Under the Stars was also shot in Cyprus 25 years ago, and Georgiou notes how significantly the industry has evolved since then. The growth of local productions and service work has provided steady employment for crews and strengthened the island’s infrastructure, creating a more sustainable environment for filmmaking. Local production on Worthy was overseen by Marios Piperides (AMP Filmworks), with additional support from Petros Charalambous (Films et cetera), and equipment was provided by Andros Achilleos (Seahorse Productions).

Worthy is a Cypriot-Greek co-production, staged by Christos Georgiou for Cyprus-based Lychnari Productions and Giorgos Kyriakos, Costas Lambropoulos and Sotiria Marini for Lesbos-based KPG Entertainment. The film is backed by the Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture, Greece’s public broadcaster ERT SA and Creative Europe – MEDIA. Worthy is expected to be completed in early 2026.