Why does Cyprus remain a divided island?

If countries were able to forgive each other after WWII, we really should be able to believe Cyprus problem can be solved, says director of new documentary

From a deeply human perspective, a documentary premiering this week explores the island’s identity and political division over the last 50 years as seen by the people of the island themselves.

“This is not a historical or political documentary per se,” director of Cyprus: The Divided Island, David Castillo told the Cyprus Mail, “but rather one in which the facts are told by the people themselves”.

The film’s narrative is what sets it apart, he added.

The documentary’s goal, according to the director, is clear: It is time to call on politicians to act, and on the international community – especially Europe – to take concrete steps to support resolving the Cyprus problem. To explore this view further, his initial intention was to invite both leaders to a joint interview.

While President Nikos Christodoulides agreed, Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar declined. “Why? Only he knows,” said Castillo.

But, he was quick to point out that “this is the only documentary in the last 50 years to present an interview with both community leaders and the highest representative of the UN in Cyprus”.

Castillo arrived in Cyprus in 2016 and immediately fell in love with the island and its people at the first time he encountered the conflict, which he hasn’t stopped studying since. “For the most part,” he said, “Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots maintain excellent personal, social and professional relationships”.

But the documentary appeals to the EU and member states not to turn a blind eye to the reality of a divided island where people suffer its consequences daily. “Cypriots do not deserve to continue living under the status quo, and it is time to raise awareness beyond Cyprus, among those who truly have the power to make decisions”.

Castillo believes that there is no favourable time to begin negotiations, so now is the time to act. “I firmly believe that it is the time to start listening to one another and perhaps to forgive what happened in the past to move forward,” he said. “After all, if countries were able to forgive each other after what Germany did in the Second World War, are we really to believe that the Cyprus problem cannot be resolved?”

Cyprus: The Divided Island will be screened for the first time on Monday at the Ledra Palace to a bicommunal audience. After this, Castillo hopes for it to have wider distribution as he is in talks with Netflix and HBO.

“The Cyprus problem was incomprehensible to me when I first arrived, and it remains so until today,” he concluded, “50 years on, I believe that now is not the time to wait for the right moment, but to act.”