Cinema of Cyprus

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]

• 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