A FILM producer has vented his anger against the Ministry of Education and Culture over what he says are efforts to censor his film.
The executive producer of Akamas, Panicos Chrysanthou, protested outside a function yesterday, which saw film directors and members of the Cyprus film industry gather to discuss the state of modern European cinema.
Carrying a placard, which read: “The Cyprus Culture Ministry censors and discriminates against films because of their ideas”, Crysanthou said the film had faced a host of politically-motivated problems.
It has been at the centre of controversy since the summer, when the government pulled the plug on £130,000 worth of funding earmarked for it.
The Education Ministry, which initially backed the project to the tune of 20 per cent, was upset by Chrysanthou’s inclusion of a scene where an EOKA traitor is killed in a church. According to the contract the government had with the filmmaker, the traitor was to have been killed in a coffee shop. Since the breakdown in relations with Chrysanthou, the government has vowed to prevent the screening in Cyprus of the film, which features a love affair between a Greek and Turkish Cypriot.
“The Ministry demanded I cut the scene in question otherwise they would not approve any public screening, but they cannot ban the film because they only have a 20 per cent share in it,” he said, adding that because of this the government had nevertheless sought “indirect ways of banning it”.
He said he couldn’t understand why the Ministry had taken its stand, as back in 2003, a Cinema Advisory Committee declared that it found the scene historically correct.
Chrysanthou described as “absurd” government efforts last year to prevent his film being shown at the Venice Film Festival.
“The Ministry are currently refusing to subsidise copies of the film, but all of its post-production is based on their financial support.”
Six Members of the European Parliament, including Cyprus MEP Marios Matsakis, last month sent an open letter to the Ministry, voicing their concerns about freedom of expression.
“We are convinced that this movie makes a valuable contribution to understanding and learning about Cyprus’ history in a non-polarised way,” the letter stated. “We would like to indicate to Article 10 of the European Commission on Human Rights (ECHR), which is the basic framework for media pluralism on the European scale. Under its effect, States are under a duty to protect and, when necessary, to take positive measures to ensure diversity of opinion in the media. The ECHR has stated that without plurality of voices and opinions in the media, the media cannot fulfil their contributory role in democracy.”
The letter went on to say that film productions, “as long as they do not violate the principles of democratic and human rights, should not be under any censorship in the context of prohibiting freedom of expression. Rather, there should be the possibilities of an open mindedness required for a vibrant and critical engagement and discourse about our European history, to which Cyprus belongs too.
“For these reasons, we ask the Minister to support Mr Chrysanthou in his artistic work financially and to actively promote the film as a contribution to cultural diversity and freedom of expression.”
