Cypriot thriller wins HBO award

A crime thriller produced by Cypriots has won the Midpoint TV Launch program’s HBO Europe Award at the Sarajevo Film Festival.

“The Midnight Shift,” a 2015 film by Andreas Kyriacou, Frixos Masouras and Haris Ayiotis, tells the story of a small-time crook who has been cursed to be a modern version of the ancient mythical ferryman Charon, who transports the dead from this world to the next. But instead of being a boatman on the River Styx, he is a taxi driver on the midnight shift.

The criminal is played by Christodoulos Martas, who is on the run and takes cover as a taxi driver after a failed bank robbery.

Tereza Polachova, executive producer at HBO Europe, and Steve Matthews, HBO Europe’s executive producer of drama development, said in statement that “The Midnight Shift” is a “a highly innovative concept – both commercial and deeply personal to the creators – professionally executed at every stage, from concept to script to industry presentation; a great story told with a distinctive voice and a big heart.”