Michael Papas is a Greek-Cypriot independent filmmaker working in England and
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...
. He is best known for writing, directing and producing ''The Private Right'', ''The Lifetaker'' and ''Tomorrow's Warrior''.
Career
''The Private Right'' (1966)
In 1966, Papas made his feature film debut as producer, writer and director of the politically controversial, critically acclaimed ''The Private Right''.
[Michael Kustow, "Festivals 66: London," '' Sight & Sound'', Winter 1966/67.][Katerina Georgiou]
“Filmmaker Minos Papas Debuts Shutterbug,”
''Neo'', May 2010.[P. Mudie, ]
Sydney Underground Movies: Ubu Films, 1965–1970
', University of New South Wales Press, 1997, p. 70. Set in Cyprus and London, it concerns a group of Cypriot
guerrilla
Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...
rebels engaged in the uprising against the British colonials. After being captured, a Cypriot guerrilla leader is tortured by a fellow Cypriot who is collaborating with the
British army
The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
. Years later, the victim travels to London to seek revenge against his torturer.
''The Private Right'' premiered at the 1966
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival held in London, England, in collaboration with the British Film Institute. Founded in 1957, the festival runs for two weeks every October.
In 2016, the British Film Institute, BFI estim ...
and opened at theatres in England in 1967. Papas withdrew the film from competition at the 1967
Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.
, the festival's director is Nashen Moodley.
Histo ...
because of cuts demanded by the Commonwealth Censor Board.
''
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' called the film "a striking debut." ''
Sight & Sound'' called it "astonishing for a first feature" and added, "Papas achieves a heraldic theatrical power."
The
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
's ''
Monthly Film Bulletin
The ''Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 until April 1991, when it merged with '' Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those wi ...
'' called Papas "a director eager to experiment with film form, and more important able to do it with authority." ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' said Papas "manages his box of tricks with striking skill and control, and the image he presents of a weirdly unfamiliar nightmare London… is powerfully haunting."
''The Lifetaker'' (1975)
Papas's 1975 English film ''The Lifetaker'' stars
Terence Morgan as a deceived husband who engages his wife (Lea Dregorn) and her young lover (
Peter Duncan) in a series of deadly games. It had its world premiere at the
International Film Festival Rotterdam
International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...
, where it was both lauded and criticised for its controversial themes of sex and violence and the corruption of youth. According to Papas, the film was scheduled to be released across the UK, but the managing director of
EMI distribution cancelled the release after viewing the completed film due to its controversial themes.
[Julian Upton, editor, ''Offbeat: British Cinema’s Curiosities, Obscurities and Forgotten Gems'', Headpress, 2013, pp. 311–13.]
In ''Offbeat'', a 2012 collection on British cinema edited by Julian Upton, ''The Lifetaker'' is called a “stylish and erotically charged tale of obsession” that is “not only the quintessence of the kind of film they don’t make anymore, but is also radically unlike the kind of film they made even then.”
The film is praised for its “consistent use of inch-perfect composition, bold camera moves, sumptuous colour schemes and daring set pieces.”
''Tomorrow's Warrior'' (1981)
Papas’s 1981 film ''Tomorrow’s Warrior'', shot in the UK and Cyprus and also known by its Greek title ''Avrianos Polemistis'', is based on true events from the 1974
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of Cypriot intercommunal violence, intercommunal violence between Greek Cypriots, Greek and Turkish Cy ...
and stars Christos Zannidis. The story concerns a young Cypriot boy and his family who flee their village in advance of a Turkish invasion, struggling to survive in a Greek refugee camp. ''The Sunday Times'' called the initial invasion sequence a "stunning, mind-bending centre piece" that "has few equals anywhere in the cinema." The ''
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
'' wrote that such sequences "portray man's reasonless inhumanity to man everywhere."
''Little Odysseus and the Cyclops'' (2011)
In 2011, Papas returned with ''Little Odysseus and the Cyclops'' and ''Secret Paths'', which were filmed one after the other. ''Little Odysseus and the Cyclops'' is a modern day retelling of a story from
Homer
Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
's ''
The Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
''. The fantasy
adventure film
The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...
premiered at Papas's Acropole Cinemas in Nicosia.
[Marianna Kourti]
“Cypriot Film Inspired by Greek Mythology,”
Greek Reporter
Greek Reporter is a news organization for Greek people around the world. It functions as a news agency and online portal consisting of a collection of internet news web sites for Greek people and people of Greek descent who live and work in and ...
, 4 March 2011.
Personal life
Papas was born in
Nicosia, Cyprus. His wife, Susan Papas, co-produced his later films with him.
Together they own and run the Acropole Cinemas in Nicosia, which they opened in 1995.
“Acropole Cinemas,”
cyprusnet.com. Accessed 5 July 2013. His son, Minos Papas, is a New York-based filmmaker who was the director of photography on ''Little Odysseus and the Cyclops'' and ''Secret Paths''.
Filmography
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papas, Michael
Living people
Cypriot film directors
Cypriot film producers
Cypriot screenwriters
People from Nicosia
Year of birth missing (living people)