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Cyprus likes to get involved in all kinds of schemes that enables it to believe it is making a meaningful contribution to the planet.
As a smallish island, Cyprus tries to make itself look bigger by virtue of its geographical location as a bridgehead between Europe and the Middle East.
Nicosia likes to envisage itself as a peace broker for instability in the region even though it has been unable to make a dent in 44 years of division closer to home.
Joining the European Union was another way of making its voice heard as part of a larger family, although most of the time it’s a one-way street as Cyprus is required to nod its head at the EU table while the grownups speak.
Another big idea the government supports is for Cyprus to be an energy player in the East Med to give it influence and respect for playing a part in Europe’s energy security. This entails entering a risky game with major oil companies that play hardball.
The energy focus is part of a renewed effort to network alliances in the region that would make it harder for Turkey to play bully boy with its rather archaic version of gunboat diplomacy.
Cyprus is looking to lead the line and find itself a place in the international order of things, but the Cypriot government is not great at thinking out of the box – it likes to pay lip service to a carbon-free new world order without believing in it.
Attracting foreign investment is another pathway used to improve the landscape by upgrading the infrastructure and the way we do business.
Again, we don’t seem to be too good at pushing investment where it is needed in say research and technology, instead Brussels is on our case about selling EU passports on the cheap and missing emissions targets.
A property for passports scheme is fertile ground from which the myriad high-rise luxury apartment blocks are sprouting up along the coast of Limassol. But has any thought been given to the island’s cultural heritage, uniformity of architecture and whether Cypriots would be better served with more affordable housing.
By all means, build plush office buildings but there has to be some method in the madness.
These projects can hardly be described as sustainable development or the fruits of well-considered urban planning for the future – it’s rather a more elaborate version of a supermarket piling stock high and selling it cheap.
Big ideas usually turn into headaches a little further down the road, never get completed or rarely materialise into something loveable.
It would be fair to say that a majority of the world’s population have never heard of Cyprus or know where it is – just ask an American for example.
When it comes down to it, Cyprus is famous for halloumi, having one of the world’s most intractable political problems, being the birthplace of Aphrodite, Ayia Napa beaches…then we begin to struggle.
But maybe not for much longer, as the state-backed investment agency, Invest Cyprus, has launched a scheme to promote the local film industry, through an online platform (film.investcyprus.org.cy).
Visiting the website, you will be told that Cyprus straddles three continents, has 300 days of sunshine and most people speak English – Hollywood come on down.
More importantly, the government has introduced a package of incentives to encourage international producers to choose Cyprus as their next filming destination.
The Scheme provides film industry professionals with cash rebates and/or tax credits of up to 35% on qualifying production expenditures while providing tax allowances of up to 20% for investments on infrastructure and equipment.
I’m sure this will have every top-notch producer rushing to Cyprus to film the next blockbuster after visiting the website and being totally impressed.
The tricky part comes when they need to talk to someone who makes the decisions.
Easy, Mr Hollywood mogul can send an email. We all know they will discover life on Mars before that gets answered.
If Cyprus is really serious about being on the film industry map it should go out of its way to sell itself to be a location in blockbusters and then advertise the fact.
Cyprus should be paying film producers to use the island as a location – a bit like product placement – because it would benefit from the spin-off. Nobody is going to visit a naff website with some glossy pictures and a few production companies listed.
A website is no substitute for a coherent policy on creating a film industry in Cyprus while being able to attract investment from European or American cinema. Bollywood was also interested in coming to town but where are the people trying to get that idea over the line – most probably stored in bubble wrap at customs.
Having a proper film industry needs investment while providing an infrastructure to encourage films to be made on the island – Cyprus isn’t even close.
Quite frankly, Cyprus feels like a place where cinema goes to die, especially if anybody seeking incentives needs to abide by “specific cultural criteria” evaluated by officials from the Cyprus Tourism Organisation, Finance Ministry and Ministry of Education and Culture.
That doesn’t sound like Avant Garde cinema is making a comeback.
So, unless you’re pitching a Disney remake of Bambi on Ice to be filmed on Nissi beach or a politically correct Cyprus problem epic, forget about Cyprus cinema.
Joking aside, I’m sure if you wanted to get funding for a controversial film – let’s say about same-sex marriage between a Greek and Turkish Cypriot – the committee would jump at the chance to back it with taxpayer’s money. CUT
