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Cinema of Cyprus

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Cinema of Cyprus
A cinema on Ledra Street in 2012

The cinema of Cyprus[a] came into existence much later than the cinema of most other countries, with the 1960s generally being accepted as the industry's earliest notable history.

The Cypriot film industry historically suffered from extremely slow growth due to the island's awkward geographical location at the crossroads of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and the Middle East, as well as its small population and a general lack of interest due to most inhabitants being preoccupied with the Cyprus problem; however, since the late 2010s, it has progressed exponentially due to investment from Hollywood studios and local filmmakers receiving acclaim at festivals in Europe and North America.

Overview

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Michael Cacoyannis became the most famous Cypriot filmmaker to date when he wrote, directed, edited, and produced Zorba the Greek (1964). Another filmmaker working at the same time was George Filis, who made the films Loves and Woes (1967),[b] The Last Kiss (1970),[c] Gregoris Afxentiou: A Hero With a Memoir (1973),[d] This Is How Cyprus Was Betrayed (1974),[e] and The Mega Document (1979).[f] Loves and Woes is a documentary about traditional Cypriot dances and music, while The Last Kiss is a romantic drama, marking the only two films by Filis that are not political works about either the 1955–1959 Cyprus Emergency or the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.[1]

Since 1989, Cypriot co-productions have been eligible for funding from the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund. To date, four feature films on which a Cypriot was listed as an executive producer have received funding from Eurimages: Of Greece (scheduled for 1995 but unreleased),[g] The Slaughter of the Rooster (1996),[h] The Promise (1999),[i] and The Road to Ithica (2000).[j][2] There are also government-backed initiatives for filmmakers to apply for funding from both the Invest in Cyprus scheme[3] and Filming in Cyprus scheme.[4]

In 1994, Cypriot film production received a boost with the establishment of the island's Cinema Advisory Committee. By 2000, the annual amount set aside for filmmaking in the national budget was CYP£500,000 (approximately €850,000). Statistics showed that in 2011 the country hosted 30 cinema screens,[5] produced three films (two fictional and one documentary),[6] sold 870,000 tickets,[7][8] and grossed €7.11 million at the box office.[7] At the same time, its three biggest distributors were (in order) Four Stars Films, Odeon, and Feelgood.[9] Marios Piperides' film Smuggling Hendrix (2018) received acclaim at that year's Tribeca Film Festival,[10][11][12] while Tonia Mishiali's film Pause (2018) also received positive reviews.[13]

Since around 2018, Cyprus has attempted to market itself as a filming location and branded itself "Olivewood",[14][15][16] a portmanteau of "Olive" and "Hollywood".[17] The Hollywood action film Jiu Jitsu (2020) starring Nicolas Cage was shot in Cyprus, which doubled for Myanmar, but was a critical and commercial failure; it also became embroiled in a controversy when the filmmakers promised to sue the Anastasiades government for breach of contract due to the non-payment of the €8 million rebate outlined in their contract, resulting in the potential production of at least three more Hollywood films being moved elsewhere, which was estimated to have lost millions in expected revenue for the economy of Cyprus and took away many potential jobs for local film crew.[18] Hollywood producers nevertheless returned to the island to shoot the Netflix romantic comedy film Find Me Falling (2024), which made history as it was not only filmed in Cyprus but set there as well.[19]

Cyprus is home to production companies such as AMP Filmworks,[20] Bark Like a Cat Films,[21] and Seahorse Films,[22] as well as the Cypriot branch of Greek production company Green Olive Films.[23]

Notable people

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Including the Republic of Cyprus but excluding Northern Cyprus, which is not legally recognised by any country other than Turkey.
  2. ^ Greek: Agapes kai kaimoi.
  3. ^ Greek: To teleftaio fili.
  4. ^ Greek: Gregoris Afxentiou: Enas roas me to mnimoskopio.
  5. ^ Greek: Etsi prodothike i Kypros.
  6. ^ Greek: To mega dokoumento.
  7. ^ Greek: Hellados, also planned to be released under the English title And the Trains Fly to the Sky.
  8. ^ Greek: I sphagi tou kokora.
  9. ^ Greek: To Tama.
  10. ^ Greek: O Dromos gia tin Ithaki.

References

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  1. ^ "Georgios Filis | Director, Producer, Writer". IMDb.
  2. ^ "Film Birth – History of Cinema – Cyprus Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine".
  3. ^ CYPRUS A NATURAL FILM STUDIO
  4. ^ Filming In Cyprus All-In-One Filming Destination
  5. ^ "Table 8: Cinema Infrastructure - Capacity". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  6. ^ "Table 1: Feature Film Production - Genre/Method of Shooting". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Table 11: Exhibition - Admissions & Gross Box Office (GBO)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  8. ^ "Country Profiles". Europa Cinemas. Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
  9. ^ "Table 6: Share of Top 3 distributors (Excel)". UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  10. ^ "Smuggling Hendrix (2018)
  11. ^ "Variety: Film Review: 'Smuggling Hendrix'
  12. ^ "Cineuropa: Smuggling Hendrix
  13. ^ Franklin, Anna. "FNE at KVIFF 2018: Film in Cyprus is Blossoming - FilmNewEurope.com". www.filmneweurope.com.
  14. ^ Christou, Jean (October 10, 2018). "Cyprus 'Olivewood' officially launched as a film location".
  15. ^ Antoniou, Antonis. "After Hollywood And Bollywood It's Time For Producers To Discover Olivewood". Forbes.
  16. ^ "Move over Hollywood, tourist island Cyprus is ready to roll". The Jakarta Post.
  17. ^ Kampouris, Nick. "'Olive-wood': Cyprus' Plan To Develop Film Industry". Greek Reporter.
  18. ^ "Jiu Jitsu producers pulling out of Cyprus, second movie had been set to go | Cyprus Mail". 15 April 2021.
  19. ^ Grobar, Matt (April 28, 2022). "Harry Connick Jr., Mira Sorvino & Newcomer Ali Fumiko Whitney Board Rom-Com 'The Islander'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
  20. ^ https://www.filmworks.com.cy/
  21. ^ https://www.barklikeacat.com/
  22. ^ Seahorse Films
  23. ^ Green Olive Films
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