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Filming in Cyprus - Tax Incentives and Cash Rebates

Committed to boosting this highly promising sector, the government of the Republic of Cyprus introduced a package of incentives encouraging international producers to choose Cyprus as their next film destination. In specific, production companies that opt to film in Cyprus will be able to choose between cash rebate or tax credit and can also benefit from tax discounts on investments made on equipment and infrastructure, and VAT returns on expenditure in scope.

Qualifying production categories include, amongst others, feature Films (including animation), television Series or mini-series, documentaries for Theatrical or Television release, animation (digital or analogue), television research programs and natural history.

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Honorable Mention for Smuggling Hendrix at the 30th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival!

“This droll comedy captures the absurdity and tragedy of a complicated political situation”  

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THE GoE BRIDGING THE BORDERS AWARD 
At a time when physical, religious, racial, cultural, and economic borders divide the population of our planet, efforts to bridge those borders should be appreciated. In that spirit, Cinema Without Borders presents the GoE Bridging the Borders Award to a film that is most successful in bridging and connecting the people of our world closer together.

Honorable Mention: Smuggling Hendrix (Cyprus/Germany/Greece), directed by Marios Piperides. A down-on-his-luck Greek Cypriot musician must think creatively when his adorable dog accidentally crosses over to the Turkish side of Nicosia. This droll comedy captures the absurdity and tragedy of a complicated political situation.   

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SEE Cinema Network: AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map

AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map

AMP Filmworks Puts Cyprus on Film Map

Cypriot production house AMP Filmworks had a big break-through when its feature film Smuggling Hendrix directed by the company’s founder Marios Piperides had its world premiere and won the Best International Narrative Feature at the Tribeca Film Festival and was picked up by German sales agent The Match Factory. Now the 14-year-old company is developing a slate of four feature films to keep the momentum going.

As FNE write, producer Janine Teerling and director Petros Charalambous, who is attached to their next film Patchwork, following their presentation at the pitching forum Connection Cottbus, about the slate of films and the situation for filmmakers in Cyprus, Patchwork is likely to be AMP Filmworks’ next film to go into production, with 60% of the budget already in place.

With the introduction of a 35% cash rebate programme in October 2018, Cyprus is poised to join its EU neighbours on the film production scene. Applications for the rebate programme are now open to both film and TV projects with a minimum spend of 200,000 EUR and a cap of 1.5 m EUR. The rebate will apply to funds spent in Cyprus and is expected to increase domestic production, minority coproductions and production services on the island.

Funding is coming from the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture for production, and development funding from the SEE Cinema Network. The film has a Greek coproducer attached, Boo Productions, and is awaiting funding results from the Greek fund and ERT. The producers have interest from other producers from different countries from the Balkans and Western Europe, and it is likely to be a four countries` coproduction.

The film’s story, set in a patriarchal society, is the drama of a young mother troubled by her ambiguous feelings about motherhood and the broken relationship with her own mother. Patchwork, which will be Charalambous’s second feature, is scheduled to go into production in the second half of 2019 or early 2020.

Cypriot writer/director Kyros Papavassiliou is working on the final draft of his second feature film, Embryo, Larva, Pupa, Imago, which is scheduled to shoot in the spring of 2020. The Cypriot/Greek coproduction with a budget of 850,000 EUR is looking for a third coproducer for this surreal drama, a love story of a couple who live in a world where time is arbitrary. Kyros presented his short film in the Official Competition of the Cannes Festival in 2007, while his first film premiered in Rotterdam in 2016.

Writer/director Adonis Florides is working on his third feature film, Africa Star. The film will be a Cypriot production that tells the story of a family stigmatised by crime in the past. The company is also producing Spyros Charalambous`s first feature film Common Good. His latest short film premiered in Clermont Ferrand.

The company has other projects in scriptwriting stages, including Marios Piperides`s second feature film.

Source: Film New Europe

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American Film Institute: The 2018 European Union Film Showcase

"...it is easy to see this shaggy dog comedy as a political version of The Big Lebowski."

Smuggling Hendrix by Marios Piperides – Cyprus

If The Silent Revolution was a politicized version of Dead Poet’s Society, it is easy to see this shaggy dog comedy as a political version of The Big Lebowski. Adam Bousdoukos is Yiannis, a disheveled would-be rock star who is tired of trying to navigate the bizarre nature of his divided island, in which Greeks and Turks live in uneasy disharmony. Yiannis has decided to leave, but his plans are derailed when his mutt, Jimi, scampers across the neutral zone into Turkish territory. Yiannis is free to travel across the line and find Jimi, but he is not allowed to bring the dog back. Thus begins an often funny series of schemes carried out with the reluctant help of a few characters Yiannis meets along the way, each as oddball as Yiannis. The Dude just wants his rug. Yiannis just wants his pooch. Though not as involved or quite as outright funny as Lebowski, Piperides uses his premise to arguably more logical effect – pointing out the absurdity of political and social realities in Cyprus through Yiannis’ noble quest.

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Connecting Cottbus 2018: Patchwork

COTTBUS: Cyprus makes a rare appearance at the 20th edition of Connecting Cottbus, taking place 8-9 November 2018, with producer Janine Teerling of AMP Filmworks and director Petros Charalambous pitching the project Patchwork.

The film’s story, set in the patriarchal Balkan society, is the drama of a young mother troubled by her ambiguous feelings about motherhood and the broken relationship with her own mother.

The 800,000 EUR production has 484,000 EUR in place, coming from the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture for production, and development funding from the SEE Cinema Network. The film has a Greek coproducer attached, Boo Productions, and is awaiting funding results from the Greek fund and TV. The producers are seeking a third coproducer, possibly from the Balkans.

The film, which will be the director’s second feature, is scheduled to go into production in the second half of 2019.

Production information:

Producer: AMP Filmworks (Cyprus)

Coproducer: Boo Productions (Greece)

Credits: Director: Petros Charalambous Writer: Janine Teerling Producers: Janine Teerling, Marios Piperides

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