Cyprus Film Incentives
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.
Cyprus Film Market Analysis
The Cyprus Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport and Youth (MECSY) made great efforts in 2019 to expand the country’s activities in various aspects concerning cinema, including film production, film education and film festivals.
The first international film exclusively shot in Cyprus using the 35% film incentive scheme, which was launched in 2018, was Jiu Jitsu directed by Dimitris Logothetis and starring Nicolas Cage. The film successfully completed shooting on the island in August 2019.
Patchwork, a fiction film directed by Petros Charalambous and Janine Teerling and produced by Cypriot AMP Filmworks in coproduction with Boo productions from Greece and Transfax Film Productions from Israel also completed shooting in Cyprus in 2019.
Chloe Mazlo Shooting Sous le ciel d’Alice in Cyprus
Monday 18 November saw Chloé Mazlo begin filming on her first full-length work: Sous le ciel d’Alice. Highly acclaimed for her short films, in particular the animated documentaries Deyrouth (selected in over 60 festivals across 2010-2011) and The Little Stones (2015 César for Best Animated Short), the filmmaker will this time be working on a fiction feature, traversed by animated, oneiric interludes.
Alba Rohrwacher and Wajdi Mouawad are leading the cast of this first feature film, a Moby Dick Films production sold by Charades and directed by the 2015 Cesar Award-winning director Chloe Mazlo.
More International Productions Expected to Shoot in Cyprus
The Cypriot film incentive scheme run by Invest Cyprus – CIPA (Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency) has an annual budget of 25 m EUR (initially 1.5 m EUR). The scheme provides Cypriot and foreign producers cash rebates and/or tax credits of up to 35% on qualifying production expenditures and it also provides tax allowances of 20% for investment in infrastructure and equipment on the Island.
The Cypriot film incentive scheme run by Invest Cyprus – CIPA (Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency) has an annual budget of 25 m EUR (initially 1.5 m EUR). The scheme provides Cypriot and foreign producers cash rebates and/or tax credits of up to 35% on qualifying production expenditures and it also provides tax allowances of 20% for investment in infrastructure and equipment on the Island.
Top 150 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2020: #147. Sous le ciel d’Alice – Chloé Mazlo
Sous le ciel d’Alice
For her directorial debut, celebrated short film director Chloé Mazlo will have Sous le ciel d’Alice (translated as Under Alice’s Sky) on hand for 2020. Produced by Moby Dick Films’ Frederic Niedermayer (Mademoiselle de Joncquières), Mazlo has nabbed Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher and Lebanese-Quebecois playwright Wajdi Mouawad (Incendies, 2009) to headline the production. Cinematographer Hélène Louvart (Happy as Lazzaro, 2018; Invisible Life, 2019) is lensing the Moby Duck Films production. Mazlo’s 2015 short “The Little Stones” received a Cesar while her animated 2010 short documentary “Deyrouth” was well-received and well-traveled on the festival circuit.
We are very happy that we shot part of the film in Cyprus from the talented Chloe Mazlo.
Looking forward to watching the final film soon...
Cottbus begins its 29th edition by Smuggling Hendrix
This year’s edition of FilmFestival Cottbus, starting on 5 November and accompanied by the industry event Connecting Cottbus, will immediately provide some laughs thanks to a dog that complicates its owner’s plans to leave Cyprus when it escapes to the Turkish side of the island. “Smuggling Hendrix [+], set in Cyprus, is a mirror image of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall: while we have been celebrating the fall of the Iron Curtain, the island in the Eastern Mediterranean has been divided by a heavily guarded border since 1974,” explained programme director Bernd Buder about Marios Piperides’ opening film. “Co-produced by Greece, Cyprus and Germany, it symbolises the expansion of the territory covered by FilmFestival Cottbus, which this year will also show feature-length works from Finland, Turkey and Greece.”
This year’s edition of FilmFestival Cottbus, starting on 5 November and accompanied by the industry event Connecting Cottbus, will immediately provide some laughs thanks to a dog that complicates its owner’s plans to leave Cyprus when it escapes to the Turkish side of the island. “Smuggling Hendrix [+], set in Cyprus, is a mirror image of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall: while we have been celebrating the fall of the Iron Curtain, the island in the Eastern Mediterranean has been divided by a heavily guarded border since 1974,” explained programme director Bernd Buder about Marios Piperides’ opening film. “Co-produced by Greece, Cyprus and Germany, it symbolises the expansion of the territory covered by FilmFestival Cottbus, which this year will also show feature-length works from Finland, Turkey and Greece.”
Torna a casa, Jimi! Press Releases and Reviews
https://www.zerkalospettacolo.com/torna-a-casa-jimi-recensione/
...una gran bella sorpresa, un film che lancia un messaggio profondo e serissimo attraverso la leggerezza di un’avventura paradossalmente rocambolesca.
… un piccolo e prezioso gioiello che invita ad abbattere i confini attraverso l’unione, la collaborazione e la coesistenza pacifica.
Una deliziosissima commedia, assolutamente da vedere, che mostra le assurdità delle guerre, delle invasioni, della politica degli umani, attraverso la storia di un cane che si perde a Cipro… Piperides, vincitore al Tribeca Film Festival per questa buffa, ingegnosa e arguta commedia, con ritmo, con un linguaggio chiaro e semplice scandito da dialoghi pungenti, è riuscito a catturare l’assurdità e la tragedia di una complicata situazione politica.
https://thespot.news/2019/04/torna-a-casa-jimi-un-allegro-paradosso-sullesistenza-dei-confini/
Decisamente un buon debutto nel mondo del lungometraggio per Marios Piperides... riesce a sfruttare in modo coinvolgente, e senza essere didascalico, la leggerezza della commedia per arrivare a fare della seria critica sociale.
Torna a casa, Jimi!
Reviews:
Cinema e spettacolo
https://www.cinematografo.it/news/torna-casa-jimi-nicosia-divisa/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQvg2hSWPBE
https://www.spettacolo.eu/torna-a-casa-jimi-festival-cinema-lecce/
https://www.kikapress.com/gallery/torna-a-casa-jimi-una-commedia-made-in-cipro-da-non-perdere
http://filmup.leonardo.it/sc_tornaacasajimi.htm
http://www.celluloidportraits.com/film/8056_1_Torna_a_casa,_Jimi!_10_cose_da_non.html
http://it.cinetrailer.tv/movie/Torna-a-casa,-Jimi!/117332
https://spettacolomusicasport.com/2019/04/04/torna-a-casa-jimi-10-cose-da-non-fare-quando-perdi-il-tuo-cane-a-cipro-opera-prima-del-cipriota-marios-piperides-sara-presentata-il-9-aprile-in-anteprima-italiana-al-20-f/ https://www.ilprofumodelladolcevita.com/torna-a-casa-jimi-di-marios-piperides-jimi-hendrix-la-musica-trova-sempre-la-strada-per-entrare/
News
https://stream24.ilsole24ore.com/video/lifestyle/torna-casa-jimi-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-ridere/AB8cnZnB (da Askanews)
https://ilmanifesto.it/la-fuga-di-un-cane-per-raccontare-la-divisione-di-cipro/
http://www.ilfogliettone.it/torna-casa-jimi-greci-turchi-nicosia-tutta-ridere/ (da Askanews)
Femminili e lifestyle
https://www.vanityfair.it/show/cinema/2019/04/10/torna-casa-jimi
Animali
https://amicidicasa.it/cane/il-18-aprile-film-imperdibile-torna-a-casa-jimi/
Portali
https://spettacoli.tiscali.it/video/articoli/torna-casa-jimi-greci-turchi-nicosia-a-tutta-ridere-00001/ (da Askanews)
Locali
https://tv.iltempo.it/tv-news/2019/04/11/video/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere-1134874/ (da Askanews)
https://corrieredellumbria.corr.it/video/tv-news/785707/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
https://corrieredirieti.corr.it/video/tv-news/785716/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
https://corrierediarezzo.corr.it/video/tv-news/785713/torna-a-casa-jimi-tra-greci-e-turchi-nicosia-e-tutta-da-ridere.html (da Askanews)
http://www.today.it/eventi/cinema/programmazione/torna-a-casa-jimi-1hpgsf.film
https://www.vivavox.news/mercoledi-10-aprile-in-anteprima-al-visionario-di-udine-torna-a-casa-jimi/
Menzioni
Variety: “Cyprus Joins the Battle for Foreign Filmmakers”
“Cyprus offers a cash rebate or tax credit of up to 35% on qualifying local spending for feature films, TV series, animation, documentaries and other projects that promote Cyprus and its culture, provided they meet certain financial criteria and pass a cultural test."