BEYOND THE BARBED WIRE

The tale of a divided city, the last one in Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Thanks originally to the vision of two dynamic mayors, Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot, and the vital support of the UN, over the last 25 years, a dedicated team of architects, townplanners, sociologists and others have worked together discreetly to develop the Master Plan of a city ready to be united as soon as politics allow. Traditional neighbourhoods with distinguished architecture and monuments that lay along what was to become the dividing line were abandoned when the invasion took place. They are now being restored and given new life, in a project so complex and thorough that it is one of the most impressive in Europe today. Filmed on both sides of the dividing line, and using rare footage, Beyond the Barbed Wire reveals the concerns and thoughts of ordinary people. While candidly presenting the traumatic experiences of war and political expediency that have marked their lives, they express a longing for collaboration, for overcoming divisions both physical and mental. Thus, the restoration of the old city of Nicosia becomes a testament to compassion and humanity. Even across the barbed wire, Cyprus, as Seferis points out, is still capable of miracles.