Welcome! καλωσόρισμα! Hoşgeldiniz!
Dear friends,
You have found the IndieGoGo
campaign for the short film Our Cyprus. This is where you can make a
financial contribution at the click of a button to help bring our film to life.
We are here to raise £7,750 in total, but you can get involved for as
little as £5, that's less than the price of a cinema ticket! And we've devised
some great rewards, mementos and experiences in return for your participation,
but first things first.
Why should you get involved?
This is your
chance to join me in making something very special happen.
· We have a powerful untold story to tell;
· A brilliant lead actor already attached to the
film;
· A hand-picked crew of incredibly talented
filmmakers.
Our Cyprus -
The Story.
A story set in
modern-day North London; Our Cyprus explores what
happens when two opposing views collide.
An old Turkish
Cypriot man, MEHMET-ALI, remembers a beautifully mixed Cyprus before the island
was torn in two, a time when in his village, Lurucina, Greek and Turkish
Cypriots lived as friends, neighbours and compatriots. He meets a young UK born
Greek Cypriot man, ANDREAS who has been brought up with the pain and loss in
the aftermath of the Cypriot troubles. As far as he is concerned, Turkish
Cypriots are enemies.
For reasons
that will be very apparent in the film, Mehmet-Ali cannot walk away from
Andreas, but what will it take? What will be the personal cost to Mehmet-Ali to
try to prove to Andreas that they two could be friends and not enemies? Can a
single act of selfless courage overcome a lifetime of hatred?
To answer this
question would to be to reveal the ending… and that's something we just can't
bring ourselves to do.
What's it
about?
Our Cyprus is a
short drama about friendship. It reveals a human perspective that cuts
through the political terrain. Through the community-spirited Mehmet-Ali, the
culture and kinship, which Greek and Turkish Cypriots once shared, is
illuminated. He takes us back to a more innocent and beautifully ambiguous past
when it was far harder to see where Greek Cypriots ended and Turkish Cypriots
began.
Despite being about the Cypriot issue, this story could
easily have played out between a Palestinian and an Israeli or a Protestant and
Catholic in Northern Ireland. Sadly it explores an almost universal question...
How is it that neighbouring peoples throughout history
have regarded their points of difference as infinitely more important than
their great wealth of commonality, and taken up arms against one another?
Why do I want to tell this story?
The stories of a divided Cyprus remain largely untold.
My grandparents
left Cyprus for the UK in the early 50's, before the troubles that tore the
island in two. They were economic migrants who were looking for a better
life than the one afforded them as rural peasants from the village of
Lurucina.
I grew up hearing my grandparents speaking primarily Greek
Cypriot despite being Turkish Cypriots. I heard about my paternal Grandfather
and his drinking buddy the Greek Orthodox priest. I learnt that both my Grandfathers (Turkish Cypriots) were baptised in the church as well as
being circumcised as Muslims. My Grandmother told me how she was trained
as a seamstress by a Greek Cypriot neighbour. I learnt that Greek and
Turkish Cypriots would celebrate each other's religious holidays.
It seemed to me that these people were not just neighbours,
but such close friends that it was hard to see where one ended and the other
began. In a more innocent time it seems, Cypriots were one people sharing
a culture and a cuisine which was more to do with their island home and each
other than either mainland Greece or Turkey.
Our Cyprus
is my attempt to reconcile my family's experience of a beautifully mixed and
ambiguous Cyprus with the troubles that tore an island and a people in
two.
Peter Polycarpou to play the
lead in Our Cyprus!
If you've seen
the recorded rehearsal video on the Our Cyprus FaceBook Group (www.facebook.com/groups/OurCyprusFilm), we don't need to say anymore. If like us, you were moved by
what Peter did in the test-shoot/rehearsal, just wait until you see what he'll
do in the film proper! It's no surprise that he's worked with some of the best
on stage, in film and on television... he is one of the best.
http://peterpolycarpou.com
Beyond Our Cyprus.
Our Cyprus is a crucial
stepping-stone in my journey towards directing Goats & Sheep, a feature film I've
written that's inspired by real events that happened in my family's village of
Lurucina in the 1920's. Making Our Cyprus will be invaluable in securing
interest and investment in this much bigger project.
Why are we crowd-funding Our Cyprus?
At its heart, this film is about community and kinship, for that reason
it is very important to me that Our Cyprus gives the
community real involvement. By funding Our Cyprus in this way the film will be a
film for the community by the community. You the
community: Cypriots, the Cypriot diaspora and all those who love the beautiful
island get to decide whether this film happens or not. This is your chance
to contribute to an important cultural debate that's bigger than any one of us.
Like
most short films, Our Cyprus is a non-profit enterprise to open up the
possibility of making our feature film Goats & Sheep. We aim to involve you as fully as
we can in the journey of making Our Cyprus, and to share with you the
experience behind the production process right through to its completion and
travels to film festivals around the world. We will regularly update Facebook
and Twitter, so you are always in touch with our news.
What will we do with the money?
Our Cyprus - financial breakdown:
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As you can see from the above we are using the majority of the money to make and deliver Our Cyprus.
If we were fortunate enough to exceed our target
of £7750, anything up to £10,000 would be used to further enhance our
production values. As an example, we have a busy street scene to manage; more
money would enable greater control of one of the harder environments to film
in. If we exceeded £10,000 that additional money would go directly into the
further development of the feature film Goats & Sheep.
Our Cyprus - Meet The Team.
Alkin Emirali - Writer/Director.
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Currently Alkin is a screenwriter for Ardor, an
independent production company for whom he is writing an epic historical
feature film. He also wrote, directed and produced 'The Kindness of Strangers'
an ambitious short film which will be completed in June 2015. His previous
short film 'RUF 992M' secured distribution with Shorts International. In
addition he has written three other feature film scripts including Goats & Sheep and directed
numerous commercial projects for the likes of Sony PSP and BMW. In the past,
he's been a recipient of funding from Creative England, UK FilmCouncil and
Screen South.
https://vimeo.com/62596197
Rob Alexander - Producer.
A graduate of the prestigious EAVE organization; Rob has been a producer
for some two decades. He has worked for the BBC, Channel Four, RAI Italy,
SVT Sweden, The Open University, Arts Council UK and received support from film
funds including FVG Italy, MEDIA EU and Screen South UK. He recently
completed the 2014 Grierson nominated ‘The Man Whose Mind Exploded’,
broadcasting on FilmFour in 2015 and is currently producing 'Android in La La
Land' about the Godfather of electronic music, Gary Numan.
www.perfectmotion.tv
Ben Cole - Cinematographer.
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Ben's work has been awarded at festivals such as
the 'British Independent Film Awards' to 'LA Scarefest' and he's also a
previous 'Grammy' nominee, twice! A gifted visual story-teller, Ben
combines cutting-edge techniques and innovation with great feeling and
humanity.
www.bencolecinematographysite.com
David Wigram - Editor.
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David's work has been nominated for two BAFTAs, been selected for Cannes and won many awards besides. He's just as comfortable supervising big post-production teams as he is working as a stand-alone editor. He brings a profound understanding of the grammar and narrative of film combined with a great eye for performance.
http://www.davidwigram.co.uk
Kirstie Howell - Sound mixer & Sound designer.
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Kirstie is an excellent location
sound recordist and post-production sound editor and designer. Her credits
include; location sound recording for the BBC, 'The Day I got my sight Back', and sound editing and design
for the feature film 'Backtrack' (Substantial Films) and the feature film
sales trailer for Martin Scorceses' 'Tomorrow'.
http://www.elephantsounds.co.uk