Nationalism and Reconciliation in Cypriot Documentary Film, 1976–1987

Abstract

This article examines the production of documentary films about the Cyprus conflict produced between the late 1970 and late 1980s. Two films have been selected for analysis: Cyprus: The Other Reality (1976, dir. Lambros Papadimitrakis and Thekla Kittou), an anti-nationalist documentary produced in the immediate aftermath of the Turkish incursion of the island, and A Detail in Cyprus (1987, dir. Panicos Chrysanthou), which looks back at the social effects of the incursion and the estrangement of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities. Based on original interviews with their directors, this article gives an account of the production histories of the two documentaries and looks at their means through which they were distributed to the public. The article also examines the ways in which these two films represent the Cyprus conflict, in particular their engagement with the prevailing nationalist ideologies at work in both Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities and the alternate concept of Cypriocentrism. Finally, this article examines the ways in which both films were politically suppressed following their release within the Republic of Cyprus.