Cyprus has submitted a film for Oscar consideration for the first time, and the country's choice is a small, deeply felt father-daughter drama built around two performances that could hardly be more different in origin. "Hold Onto Me," directed by Myrsini Aristidou, pairs eleven-year-old newcomer Maria Petrova with Hristos Passalis, an actor familiar to international audiences from "Dogtooth." The film, which runs 102 minutes, had its release on January 26, 2026.
At its center is Iris, an eleven-year-old girl played by Petrova, who discovers that her estranged father, Aris, has returned to town for his own father's funeral. Rather than wait to be introduced, Iris goes looking for him, eventually finding him at a rundown shipyard where he has been keeping to himself. What starts as a determined, almost stubborn campaign to know the man slowly turns into something more delicate: a bond that forms gradually and never feels guaranteed. Passalis plays Aris, and the role asks him to carry much of the film in silence and retreat, a sharp turn from the heightened family satire that first brought him wider attention.
Aristidou directs from a script that keeps the story close to its two leads. The supporting cast includes Jenny Sallo as Danae, Aulona Lupa as Stella, Achilleas Grammatikopoulos as Elias, Giorgos Kyriacou as Costas, Andreas Koutsoftas as a police officer, and Loukas Zikos as a boat owner. The shipyard setting, described in the film's synopsis as dilapidated, gives the reunion a physical backdrop that mirrors the distance between father and daughter: a place of work and neglect rather than warmth.
The film's classification is straightforward drama, and the Academy's language rules mean it competes in the international feature category on the strength of its original language, Greek. That detail matters less to the viewing experience than the intimate scale of the story, which unfolds over a short runtime and concentrates on the slow, uncertain work of two people learning how to be family.
A First for Cyprus, and a Test of a Newcomer
Cyprus has never before put a film forward in the Oscar race, which makes "Hold Onto Me" a milestone regardless of how far it travels through the season. For a film industry of that size, a submission is as much about visibility as competition, and choosing a title this personal rather than a broader crowd-pleaser signals something about the kind of cinema the country wants to be known for.
Just as significant is the casting. Petrova, in her first screen role, carries the film's emotional engine as Iris, a girl whose determination to reach her father drives nearly every scene. Acting opposite an experienced performer like Passalis puts unusual weight on a young, untested lead, and the film's structure depends on her holding the audience's sympathy through frustration and disappointment as much as tenderness.
Passalis, meanwhile, arrives with a very different résumé. His work in "Dogtooth," the Oscar-nominated Greek film that introduced many viewers to a colder, more unsettling strain of contemporary Greek cinema, established him as an actor comfortable with restraint and unease. Aris gives him a chance to apply that quality to a character who is grieving rather than menacing, a man hiding in a shipyard because he does not know how to be present.
A Personal Story, Told Small
The premise of "Hold Onto Me" is deceptively simple: a child finds an absent parent, and the two circle each other. Aristidou's film does not appear to reach for grand reconciliations. The synopsis describes what develops as a fragile bond, and that word choice sets expectations for a drama about proximity and patience rather than catharsis.
That approach fits the current appetite for modest, character-driven international films that travel on festival word of mouth and critical attention. A 102-minute runtime and a two-hander at its core make the movie easy to program and easy to talk about, advantages that matter in a crowded awards field where a submission from a first-time entrant needs a distinct identity.
The film's ensemble fills out the world around Iris and Aris, with Sallo, Lupa, Grammatikopoulos, Kyriacou, Koutsoftas and Zikos in supporting parts. Their presence suggests the story is rooted in a community rather than sealed off in a private confrontation, and the funeral that brings Aris home supplies the occasion for old relationships to resurface.
What Comes Next
With a January release already behind it, "Hold Onto Me" now moves into the phase where a submission either builds momentum or quietly recedes. Cyprus has no track record in this race, so there is no precedent to measure against. What the film does have is a clear identity: a first-time director, a first-time lead, a returning actor with art-house credentials, and a story small enough to be told in close-up.
For audiences outside Greece and Cyprus, the film offers a look at a national cinema stepping into a global spotlight for the first time. For Petrova, it is a debut that will be judged against the company she keeps. For Passalis, it is a reminder that the actor from "Dogtooth" can play tenderness as convincingly as chill. Whether the Academy's voters follow Cyprus this far remains to be seen, but the submission itself has already made a statement about where the country's filmmakers want to go.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
