The Palace (2011 film)

The Palace
Directed byAnthony Maras
Written byAnthony Maras
Produced byAnthony Maras
Kate Croser
Andros Achilleas
StarringErol Afşin
Kevork Malikyan
Tamer Arslan
Daphne Alexander
Christopher Greco
CinematographyNick Remy Matthews
Edited byAnthony Maras
Music byArgyro Christodoulides
Production
companies
AntHouse Films
Cyan Films
SeaHorse Films
Release date
Running time
17 minutes
Countries
  • Cyprus
  • Australia
LanguagesTurkish, Greek

The Palace is a 2011 Cypriot–Australian thriller short film, written and directed by Anthony Maras. It premiered on 1 March 2011 at the Adelaide Film Festival, and won short film awards at the Sydney Film Festival, Adelaide Film Festival, and Melbourne International Film Festival, among others.

Synopsis

The film is set during the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus,[1] focusing on a Greek family's attempts to hide from the Turkish forces.[2]

Cast

  • Erol Afşin as Private Ömer Argun
  • Kevork Malikyan as Sergeant Kerem Akalın
  • Tamer Arslan as Private Mehmet Evgin
  • Daphne Alexander as Stella
  • Christopher Greco as Taki
  • Monica Vassiliou as Eleftheria
  • Vrahimis Petri as Haydar
  • Kyriakos Theodossiou as Andreas
  • Maria Marouchou as Anna

Production

The Palace, described as a drama and thriller, was produced by Ant House Productions, Cyan Films,[3] and SeaHorse Films.

It was filmed in 2010.[1][3] Cinematography was by Nick Matthews and Julie Ryan executive produced the film.[3]

The "palace" scenes were filmed at the Hadjigeorgakis Kornesios Mansion, a landmark Ottoman era residence that now serves as a museum administered by the Department of Antiquities in the southern Greek part of Nicosia.

Release

The Palace premiered on 1 March 2011 at the Adelaide Film Festival.

Reception

The Palace received strong critical and audience acclaim.

At the 2011 Melbourne International Film Festival Morgan Spurlock, American director of the acclaimed 2004 documentary film Super Size Me, called The Palace "One of the best short films I've ever seen..."[1]

Peter Krausz, chair of the Australian Film Critics Association, wrote "This is pure film-making to the highest degree..."[2]

Blake Howard from The Co-Op Post called the film "one of the most emotionally affective and powerful short films that I’ve ever seen".[4]

Lukey Folkard at Australian Film Review praised the film as "one of the most impressive and ambitious Australian shorts I've seen at the Sydney Film Festival so far. Or ever."[5]

Box Office magazine's Pete Hammond called the film riveting, suspenseful first class filmmaking".

Cine Outsider's Timothy E. Raw wrote "Director Maras' choke-hold on the audience only tightens, suspense building not to a point of release, but asphyxiating hysteria ... sixteen minutes of non-stop action that rivals the highest Hollywood standards and on more than one occasion surpasses them with blitzkrieg duck n' cover staging".

Filmoria's Richard Lennox wrote "What’s so special about The Palace is its ability to show both sides of the horror of war and at an essence the spirit of humanity against the atrocities of war ... an outstanding film which echoes a quality set by war films such as The Hurt Locker in style. Thought provoking, tense and thoroughly recommended".

Awards and nominations

The Palace won Best Short Fiction Film and Best Screenplay in a Short Film in the 2012 AACTA Awards. It also won top honours at a number of other film festivals and awards, including the 2012 Beverly Hills Film Festival and 2012 Flickerfest International Festival of Short Films (Best Australian Short Film).

Awards

Nominations

Official selection – film festivals

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Fenton, Andrew (1 August 2011). "Movie gets one super-sized rave". The Advertiser. Adelaide. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d "Melbourne International Film Festival 2011". Australian Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on 22 August 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Palace (2012)". Screen Australia. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  4. ^ Howard, Blake; Goodwin, Tom (11 July 2011). "SFF: Dendy Short Film Competition - Part II". castleco-op.com. Archived from the original on 25 August 2011. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
  5. ^ Folkard, Lukey (12 June 2011). "SFF 2011: The Palace (Short): A Short Sad War Song". Australian Film Review. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
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