"...it is easy to see this shaggy dog comedy as a political version of The Big Lebowski."

Smuggling Hendrix by Marios Piperides – Cyprus

If The Silent Revolution was a politicized version of Dead Poet’s Society, it is easy to see this shaggy dog comedy as a political version of The Big Lebowski. Adam Bousdoukos is Yiannis, a disheveled would-be rock star who is tired of trying to navigate the bizarre nature of his divided island, in which Greeks and Turks live in uneasy disharmony. Yiannis has decided to leave, but his plans are derailed when his mutt, Jimi, scampers across the neutral zone into Turkish territory. Yiannis is free to travel across the line and find Jimi, but he is not allowed to bring the dog back. Thus begins an often funny series of schemes carried out with the reluctant help of a few characters Yiannis meets along the way, each as oddball as Yiannis. The Dude just wants his rug. Yiannis just wants his pooch. Though not as involved or quite as outright funny as Lebowski, Piperides uses his premise to arguably more logical effect – pointing out the absurdity of political and social realities in Cyprus through Yiannis’ noble quest.