Dreams

In 2018, Cyprus Invest agency (CIPA) sent invitations to hundreds of producers from around the world, and paid to fly and host these producers in the island of Cyprus, to introduce them to their new film 35% Film Cash Rebate program, so Cyprus could entice the producers to bring their production money and spend it in Cyprus. This CIPA program was dubbed Olivewood. 

Launch of Olivewood aroused huge public enthusiasm, dreaming to promote Cyprus in movie industry, many cypriots imagining to make star carriers in filming and government booking fat profits - it was calculated that each euro spent for film production should return 7 euros of income for Cyprus.

Apart from incentives to the filmmakers committed to production on the islands, such as cash rebates, tax credits and deductions, the CIPA promoted unique features of Cyprus for instance the advantages that Cyprus can provide as a shooting destination, including the short distances between filming locations, the good weather, the long days allowing for the decreased number of days needed to shoot a film, as well as the variation in cultural or archaeological sights on the island. “You can easily go from the mountains to the sea, so you can theoretically shoot scenes in a mountainous region in Europe and then shoot at the beach in the Caribbean.” so Dionysios Manganis, Executive Producer at Green Olive. 

24 June 2019 the Academy Award winner Nicolas Cage, 55, arrived on Cyprus for the start of the shooting of "Jiu Jitsu", his new film. The €24.6m film would be produced by Martin J. Barab and Dimitri Logothetis. The latter will also direct the movie, with cast members including Frank Grillo, Alain Moussi, Rick Yune, Marie Avgeropoulos and JuJu Chan.

The villages of Mammari on the outskirts of Nicosia and Lympia would host the crew of the production team, and their surrounding landscapes would provide the entire backdrop of the movie. The area of Mammari is home to some breathtaking limestone caves, something that makes it ideal for shooting this type of movie, with its dramatic themes of an alien takeover.

“Jiu Jitsu,” a science fiction movie, where at some point Nicolas Cage will have to fight against a super-strong alien which comes to Earth on a mission to destroy. IMDB: When Jake Barnes, a master Jiu Jitsu fighter, refuses to face Brax, an indomitable alien creature, the future of humanity hangs in the balance. Injured and suffering from severe amnesia, Jake is captured by a military squad unequipped to fight the merciless intruder who has descended upon the planet. Jake is rescued by Wylie, and an ancient order of Jiu Jitsu fighters who must help him recover his memory and regain his strength in order to band together and defeat Brax in an epic battle that will determine the fate of mankind.

“This was a huge project. The biggest one in Cyprus in recent times. It involved a great deal of people from abroad, as well as many Cypriots. The crew and cast was nearly 200 people, and though this was a major challenge on its own for all of us, I can say that we managed to deal with it, despite the various issues that arose along the way, be it in terms of human resources or in terms of equipment,” local Production Manager Costas Pitsillides said. 

Reality

“Jiu Jitsu” was released in November 2020 and a cumulative worldwide gross of $99,924 against a budget of $25 million. The film has IMDB rating of 2.9 and was ranked 7 in 20 Most WTF Movie Moments Of 2020. 

No matter how questionable the quality of the film may be seen by  some spoiled viewers, the hearts of Cypriot residents and island’s lovers sweetly freeze at the sight of shots with typical landscapes of Cyprus. Even if some buddhist temple can be suddenly found in Mammari neighbourhood. "This is just the beginning…"

Meanwhile in 2021 and 2022 the producers and the director of Jiu Jitsu filed several lawsuits against the members of the Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency as well as against the secretary general of the Finance Ministry. According to their lawyer Giannos Georgiades, the one lawsuit is for defamation against the Auditor General and the other one seeks compensations of more than 30 million euros for alleged violations of the terms of the Plan promoting productions of audiovisual content in Cyprus. According to Georgiades, the above persons handled the requests for cash rebate of his clients both for the Jiu Jitsu film that has been very successful as well as about the film Man of War which was going to be filmed in Cyprus but due to the alleged defamation of the Auditor General and the handling of the other relevant officials collapsed together with other four movies the producers were ready to film in Cyprus.