Abstract
This article examines the production of documentary films about the Cyprus conflict produced between the late 1970 and late 1980s. Two films have been selected for analysis: Cyprus: The Other Reality (1976, dir. Lambros Papadimitrakis and Thekla Kittou), an anti-nationalist documentary produced in the immediate aftermath of the Turkish incursion of the island, and A Detail in Cyprus (1987, dir. Panicos Chrysanthou), which looks back at the social effects of the incursion and the estrangement of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. Based on original interviews with their directors, this article gives an account of the production histories of the two documentaries and looks at their means through which they were distributed to the public. The article also examines the ways in which these two films represent the Cyprus conflict, in particular their engagement with the prevailing nationalist ideologies at work in both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and the alternate concept of Cypriocentrism. Finally, this article examines the ways in which both films were politically suppressed following their release within the Republic of Cyprus.
Highlights
MethodThe documentaries Cyprus: The Other Reality and A Detail in Cyprus will be studied using the following techniques: analysis of production history, textual analysis, and analysis of distribution
There is a long history of documentary production in Cyprus
In A Detail in Cyprus, the portrayal of Turkish Cypriot participants resulted in the film being banned and branded as a politically provocative piece of work
Summary
The documentaries Cyprus: The Other Reality and A Detail in Cyprus will be studied using the following techniques: analysis of production history, textual analysis, and analysis of distribution. Fikriye’s statement “we protected them (Greek Cypriot neighbours) from being arrested” highlights good relations of two ethnic communities in the village before partition In his first postwar documentary, Panicos Chrysanthou shows how the former villagers of Ayios Sozomenos came to the ruins and each of them narrates a personal story of the conflict in the village, an event that can be accepted as a tragedy. Her presence in the film suggests that ethnic differences between the main communities of Cyprus have not always been a cause of social division. The depiction of dusty images and villagers eating dinner in the ruins of this village all act to sustain the good memories of the past
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