Tamer Hassan says people “just have to believe” Cyprus could be the next Cannes, Berlin or Venice
(left to right) Actor Tamer Hasan, Baroness Hussein-Ece, festival coordinator Yeşim Güzelpınar and Turkish Cypriot film director Erim Metto
A film festival in Cyprus will boost homegrown talent and bring the best of world cinema to the island, organisers told a London audience last week.
The Golden Island International Film Festival, scheduled for to take place for the first time in November 2014, is intended to be the first in an annual event.
Yeşim Güzelpınar, the festival director, and its two patrons, actor Tamer Hassan and Baroness Meral Hussein-Ece OBE, were part of a briefing event that launched the new festival to British Cypriot and Turkish filmmakers.
The inaugural festival will run from 7 to 13 November this year, screening a combination of shorts, documentaries and feature length films from around the world.
At a launch briefing at the Turkish Cypriot Community Centre in Harringay, Ms Güzelpınar explained that the festival had six strands this year: Cypriot Cinema, UK Cinema (guest country), Environment, Human Rights, Journeys, and Women. Films related to the country strands must have been mainly produced by film-makers or largely shot in Cyprus or the UK.
Baroness Hussein-Ece and actor Tamer Hassan were present to support the opening
To support local filmmakers, Ms Güzelpınar said they were holding a competition for shorts and documentaries in the Cyprus strand. Overseen by two separate juries, prizes of €2,000 will be awarded to the best film and best newcomer.
Also speaking was Baroness Hussein-Ece, who commented on the significance of film in society both culturally and economically.
She said that in spite of the recession, the latest figures show film contributed £4.6bn to the British economy in 2011 and employed some 44,000 people. A fraction of this, she said, could make a massive difference to the depressed economy in Cyprus.
The festival is supported by the Turkish Cypriot actor Tamer Hassan, who appeared in many films and television programmes in the UK.
He argued that a new studio on the island and tax incentives would help entice major productions, citing his experience on the multi-million pound Clash of the Titans, which had been filmed on location in the Canary Islands.
Among the attendees on the night were Ivor Benjamin, Chair of the Directors Guild, Aysin Yilmaz, chair of the Council of Turkish Cypriot Associations (KONSEY), Selcuk Can, Turkey’s Culture & Tourism Attache, Enfield Councillor Tahsin Ibrahim, and numerous filmmakers, actors, media, UK Turkish, Greek and Cypriot community members.
The TRNC Representative Oya Tuncalı, Turkish and Greek Cypriot ambassadors, Abdurrahman Bilgiç and Euripides L Evriviades, were among those who could not attend, but had sent their apologies and best wishes for the UK launch and festival.