Iranian film production in Cyprus

Cyprus has been selected for an Iranian feature film production “Mastermind”.
The Canadian-Iranian film production company Aria Persys arrived in Cyprus to shoot a feature film, starting in the first days of October.

Famous stars of Iranian Cinema, and well-known Cypriot actors as well, are acting in the movie, while the production crew is also very notable with some of its members having in their portfolios the movie “A SEPARATION”, winner of Oscar 2012.

The film is called “Master Mind”, in the genre of Mystery, adventure and thriller, and has already started its shooting in Iran. The movie has scenes in Spain and Canada as well, but the majority of the film will be shot in Cyprus. The shooting in Cyprus will be started at the beginning of October, in Nicosia but it is not limited there, since it includes some of the most significant sights of the island.

The project has already attracted a lot of attention as it is supported by CTO (Cyprus Tourism organization), Cyprus Ministry of Culture & Education and IRAN Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Azita Mougouie, the director of the film has 30 years’ experience in different aspects of the film production industry in Iran. She chose Cyprus as the main location for her new movie after visiting several countries.

“This is the first Iranian feature film, which is produced in Cyprus and we hope that will enhance the bonding between the two countries in cultural and commercial aspects”, the producer, Pezhman Hadavi said.

Iranian films are known in the Middle East as they have a direct audience of 110 million Farsi (Persian) speakers and more than 410 million Arab speakers. It is worth mentioning that most of the Iranian box office films are dubbed in Arabic and English and broadcasted through satellite channels all over the world.

Recently, Cyprus Investment Promotion Agency (CIPA) has announced a new promotional plan aiming to attract foreign filmmakers to Cyprus. In addition to the direct investment through the promotional plan, the development of Cyprus in the international film-making industry, is one of the most efficient ways to promote and advertise indirectly Cyprus as a business, cultural and artistic destination in the region. Indicative of the size of the opportunity coming from the “Master Mind” movie production, is the fact that the Iranian Cinema, as a known and developed industry in the Middle East, is referring to a Market of 500 Million people. Utilizing effectively this opportunity can be a significant economic move for Cyprus towards attracting more similar projects.

The Storyline of “Mastermind”:

Iran and Cyprus made an agreement for establishment of a great project in South of Iran named Dream Land, which is the first modern fun fair.

Many companies and individuals participated in this great bid with the hope that they would win including Engineer. “Saeed Mavadat” (play by Bahram Radan), who divorced his wife “Roya Azodi” (play by Merila Zareie, photo above) some years ago. He is the head of one of the participating companies in this bid. His ex-wife, “Roya” is from a very wealthy family. She provided “Saeed” with proper social, financial and business situations during their joint life. After separation, Saeed lost all such situations, but he tried to gain a new position through perseverance, intelligent and of course new strong relationships.

With the help of “Laleh Beihaqi” (play by Hanieh Tavasoli), a woman with strong support from rich people and leading companies and “Nima Varaste” (play by Pejman Jamshidi), his old friend who has his own business in Canada, Vancouver, “Saeed” tries to win the bid for the modern fun fair between Iran and a Cyprus . He intends to be selected as a distinctive entrepreneur in the country besides gaining profit and credit. However, there are other people with other objectives who try to win this bid such as “Roya”, his main decisive and strong competitor.

(From the press release and website of Aria Persys Film Production Company)