Cinema of Cyprus

Cinema of Cyprus
A cinema on Ledra Street in 2012

The cinema of the Republic of Cyprus came into existence much later than the cinema of most other countries, with the 1960s generally being accepted as its earliest notable history; it has since undergone extremely slow growth due to the island's small population, geographical location, a lack of interest, and more attention being given to local political tensions.

Michael Cacoyannis released the widely known film Zorba the Greek (1964) and became the most famous Cypriot director to date. Another filmmaker working at the same time was George Filis, who made the films Agapes kai kaimoi (1967),^[a] To teleftaio fili (1970),^[b] Gregoris Afxentiou – enas iroas me to mnimoskopio (1973),^[c] Etsi prodothike i Kypros (1974),^[d] and To mega dokoumento (1979).^[e] With the exception of Agapes kai kaimoi (a documentary about traditional Cypriot dances and music) and To teleftaio fili (a romantic drama), all of Filis' films were political works about either the 1955–1959 Cyprus Emergency or the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.^[1]

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,^[2] produced three films (two fictional and one documentary),^[3] sold 870,000 tickets,^[4][5] and grossed €7.11 million at the box office.^[4] At the same time, its three biggest distributors were (in order) Four Stars Films, Odeon, and Feelgood.^[6] Marios Piperides' film Smuggling Hendrix (2018) received acclaim at that year's Tribeca Film Festival,^[7][8][9] while Tonia Mishiali's film Pause (2018) also received positive reviews.^[10]

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 Cypriot 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.^[11] Hollywood producers nevertheless returned to the island to shoot the Netflix romantic comedy film Find Me Falling (2024), which was also set in Cyprus.^[12]

Cypriot co-productions are eligible for funding from the Council of Europe's Eurimages Fund, which has financed European film co-productions since 1989. To date, four feature films on which a Cypriot was listed as an executive producer have received funding from Eurimages: Hellados (scheduled for 1995 but unreleased),^[f] I sphagi tou kokora (1996),^[g] To Tama (1999),^[h] and O Dromos gia tin Ithaki (2000).^[i][13] There are government-backed initiatives for filmmakers to apply for funding from both the Invest in Cyprus scheme^[14] and Filming in Cyprus scheme.^[15] The island also hosts production companies such as Green Olive Films^[16] and Seahorse Films.^[17]

• Michael Cacoyannis (1922–2011), Greek-Cypriot filmmaker
• Elias Demetriou, Greek-Cypriot filmmaker
• Yannis Economides (born 1967), Greek-Cypriot filmmaker
• Nicolas Economou (1953–1993), Greek-Cypriot composer
• Peter Polycarpou (born 1957), English-Cypriot actor
• Derviş Zaim (born 1964), Turkish-Cypriot filmmaker

• Cinema of Greece
• Cinema of Turkey
• Culture of Cyprus
• Culture of Greece
• Culture of Turkey
• Cyprus International Film Festival
• List of cinema of the world
• List of Cypriot films
• List of Greek actors
• List of Turkish actors
• World cinema

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