Three evenings, ten countries and 15 films. This is what an upcoming event series brings to Nicosia, a multilingual short film festival spread around the city. The Languages on Screen – Europe Speaks Cinema programme will unfold across September 22, 23 and 24, marking the occasion of the European Day of Languages.

“What happens when cinema speaks many languages?” ask organisers, “but through the unique lens of short films tells stories we all share?” Organised by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Translation, in collaboration with the European Commission Representation in Cyprus, the Centre for Social Innovation, and the Film Festival on Diversity, the event series has free entrance to the cinema nights.

Kicking off next Tuesday, September 22 at 6.30pm at the EU House (Byron Avenue, Nicosia), the opening night will feature four short films from Spain, France, Italy and Ireland. Admission is free yet this night requires registration.

The selected films of the night are Luso Martínez’s inventive Céntrico, in which an apparently haunted apartment in Madrid conceals a thoroughly contemporary story about housing and tourism; the award-winning comedy Les Mystérieuses aventures de Claude Conseil by Marie-Lola Terver and Paul Jousselin; Matteo Memè’s moving Tempi Supplementari, about a father and son confronting everything that was left unsaid; and Daniel O’Hara’s beloved Irish-language comedy Yu Ming Is Ainm Dom, a clever and tender look at language, identity and the feeling of belonging.

On the following night, stories from Poland, Italy, Finland, Greece and France will arrive at Eleftheria Square’s open-air amphitheatre. The evening features Education by Emi Buchwald, Bianca Bertini’s multilingual Purgatory, Magdaleena Jakkila’s Astro TV, Incidentally by Konstantinos Oikonomou, and Montsouris by Guil Sela.

Gardens of the Future will host the final evening hosting six short films from Greece, Germany, France, Romania, Hungary and Spain. The programme includes Ismini Daskaroli’s multilingual 9BED(s), Betina Kuntzsch’s Sky Like Silk. Full of Oranges, Alfredo Soderguit’s Carpinchos, Vlad Popa’s political satire Pană de vulpe, Barnabás Tóth’s bittersweet My Guide, and José Antonio Gutiérrez Bustos’ warm and humorous Tumbas vecinas.

Languages on Screen – Europe Speaks Cinema

Three nights of free film screenings in various languages. September 22-24. EU House, Eleftheria Square, Gardens of the Future, Nicosia. 7pm (except for September 22 at 6.30pm). With subtitles in English. Free admission