The ratification of the agreement between the governments of the Republic of Cyprus and Israel for co-producing films is condemned by 100 individuals from the Cypriot film industry.
People from the Cypriot film industry and the arts of moving images, of various professions and specializations, condemn the agreement ratified by the House of Representatives on February 29. The call for condemnation was made by the network Film Workers for Palestine – Cyprus.
The call is titled “No to the exploitation of cinema as an alibi for whitewashing the genocide of Palestinians.”
“As filmmakers, as workers in the field of cinema, and as members of the film community in Cyprus, we cannot remain silent in the face of the incredible barbarity we have witnessed in recent months. We cannot continue to make films about racism, discrimination, post-colonialism, migration, to speak about human pain, human drama, to touch on the most sensitive aspects of human existence, and remain silent in the face of real horror,” the call states.
Filmmakers question the motives of the MPs who approved – by voting in favor or abstaining from the vote – the ratification of the agreement “in this period that history will record with the darkest colors; let them not tell us that they are concerned with ‘the development of cinema,’ which they always interpret only in economic terms, as if cinema is only ‘business,’ ‘exploitation,’ or something offered as yet another means of submission to a state that commits murder. A submission we have called collaboration,” it states.
It is also added that “since cinema is, above all, the concerns of concerned people of this country expressed through it, we, the undersigned, workers in the field of cinema, express our absolute opposition to this decision and unequivocally condemn any attempt of ‘whitewashing’ through cinema and the culture of the heinous acts committed by the state of Israel and the far-right government of Netanyahu against the people of Palestine. Not in our name.”
The call is signed by:
IPHIGENEIA ABRAHAM – Set Designer
ARSENIO AGISILAOU – Film Composer
ELENA ALEXANDROU – Director / Editor
CLEO ALPHA – Costume Designer
IOANNA AMERICANOU – Director
ANDREAS ANASTASIADIS – Documentary Filmmaker
SOPHIA ANASTASIOU – Director
PANAGIOTIS ANDREOU – Visual Artist
STEPHANIE ANDREOU – Director
ANTONIS ANTONIOU – Musician / Composer
MARINA ASSIOTI – Film Critic
PANOS ACHNIOTIS – Documentary Filmmaker
AYDIN MEHMET ALI – Writer / Subtitle Translator / Subject of Documentaries
DIEGO APARICIO – Festival Director
ELLEANA AVOURI – Curator
MARIOS VIOLARIS – Sound Engineer
ELENA GAVRIIL – Dance Artist
GAVRIELA GEROLEMOU – Camera / Editing
MICHALIS GEORGIADIS – Director
EDWARD GEORGIOU – Production Design
ANDREAS DEMETRIOU – Cinematographer
STELIOS DEMETRIOU – Cinematographer
FEMIA DEMOSTHENOUS – Cinematographer
PARIS EROTOKRITOU – Director
UYGAR ERDIM – Cinematographer
SOSSE ESKIDJIAN – Production Design / Art Direction
KESTREL FARIN LEAH – Actress
TALAT GOKDEMIR – Cinematographer
ADNAN HAMMAD – Electrician / PM
POLYMNIA HERZBERG – Freelance Videographer
POPI IAKOVOU – Academic / Architecture Filmmaking
DIMITRA IGNATIOU – Curator
EVITA IOANNOU – Director / 1st AD & Production Manager
MARIOS IOANNOU – Actor / Director / Producer
ELENA KALLINIKOU – Actress
STELIOS KALLINIKOU – Visual Artist
NAGIA KARAKOSTA – Actress / Performer
NICOLAS KARATZAS – Camera Operator / DOP
DAFNI KARLETTI – Director
NICOLAS KASINOS – Director
OLGA KOURELOU – Academic in Film Studies
MARILENA KYRIAKOU – Actress / Drama Teacher / Youth Worker
ANNIE HURI – Actress
ANDRIANA LAGUDI – Documentary Filmmaker
IOANNA LAMPROU – Writer
MARIOS LIZIDIS – Cinematographer
MARLEN LOIZIDOU – VFX Artist
DIMITRIS LOUKAS – Camera Operator
LYDIA MANDRIDOU – Production Designer / Art Director
MARIOS METTIS – Director / Actor / Producer
NICOLA MITROPOULOU – Curator / Writer
DIMITRIS MICHAELIDES – Artist / Sculptor / Set Designer
STEPHANIE MOUROUZI – Prop Master / Art Direction
EVAGORAS BEKIARIS – Sound editor and Mixing Engineer
DIYALA MUIR – Animation Director
SHONA MUIR – Wardrobe Stylist
ANDREAS NICOLAIDES – Actor
ARGYRO NICOLAOU – Director / Academic
ELENI NICOLAOU – 1st AD & Production Manager
MARINA XENOFONTOS – Artist
MYRTA OIKONOMIDI – Production & A.D.
ANDREAS PANAYIOTOU – Associate Professor in Media Studies
CHRISTOS PANAYIOTOU – Camera Operator
BELINDA PAPAVASSILIOU – Artist
MARIA PAPAGEORGIOU – Dance Artist
KATIE PAPADIMA – Cinematographer
MARIA PAPAKOSTA – Actress
LOUKIA PIERIDOU – Actress
ALEXANDROS PISSOURIOU – Photographer / Videographer
CHRISTIANA PYRISI – Visual Anthropologist
KOULA SAVVIDOU – Visual Artist
MELINA SOFOCLEOUS – Dance Artist
LOUKAS STAVROU – Director
SAVAS STAVROU – Writer / Director
MELANI STELIOU – Actress
ARIS STEFANI – Filmmaker
PETER STEFANOU – Filmmaker
MARINA SYMEOU – Actress / Director
MIKE TELEBANTOS – Actor and Counseling Psychologist
JULITA TOUMAZI – Curator
LEONTIOS TOUMPOURIS – Artist and Educator
GEORGIOS TSAGARIS – Filmmaker
KATERINA TTAKKA – Costume Designer
ADONIS FLORIDIS – Director / Screenwriter
IOULIA CHARALAMBOUS – Visual Artist / Director / Screenwriter
CHARALAMBOS CHARALAMBOUS – Academic / Filmmaker
KYRIAKOS HATZIHILIAS – Photographer
EVI HATZIPIERI – Location Scout
NAUSICA HATZICHRISTOU – Filmmaker / Cinematographer / Director
DIMITRIS HIONAS – Artist / Director
MANOS HOUTRIS – Artist
YANNIS HRISTIDIS – Academic
