Cypriot director Myrsini Aristidou’s feature film Hold Onto Me won the top fiction prize at the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, public relations and media strategy manager, Phoebe Miltiadous said on Thursday.

The film received the Orpheus Award for Best Feature Fiction following its screening at the festival’s closing ceremony at the Egyptian Theatre on May 31.

The jury praised the production as a “tender, deeply human film” exploring longing, connection and the need to be seen and loved.

The latest recognition continues a remarkable year for the film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition.

The film has since been screened at several major international festivals, including the Sydney Film Festival, the Seattle International Film Festival and the Istanbul Film Festival.

Its international journey continues this month with a screening at the Belt and Road Film Week of the Shanghai International Film Festival, one of Asia’s leading film events.

The festival, now in its 28th edition, runs from June 12 to 21 and is China’s only FIAPF-recognised A-list competitive film festival.

Hold Onto Me follows 11-year-old Iris as she struggles to understand her place in the world after learning that her estranged father has returned to town.

What begins as an attempt to get to know him develops into a moving story of family, belonging and reconciliation.

The film has also been shown at Cyprus Film Days, the Sofia International Film Festival and the Guadalajara International Film Festival, among others.

It is scheduled to screen next month at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic.

Shot entirely in Cyprus, the film was written and directed by Aristidou and produced by Filmblades and One Six One Films in collaboration with partners from Greece and Denmark.

It stars Christos Passalis and Maria Petrova and was supported by a number of cultural and film institutions in Cyprus and abroad.

The film is increasingly being seen as one of the most successful Cypriot productions of recent years, helping bring local cinema to audiences around the world.