Ant1’s new television drama series called ‘That Summer’ started airing on TV this October. Its story is based on the tragic events that happened in Cyprus in 1974. Its aim seems to be to show people the pain, suffering and struggle the tragic events triggered throughout the life of a 7 year old girl that had to live through it and unfortunately was left without a father. She is reminded of the Turkish invasion every year on the 20th of July when she hears the civil defence sirens, and this is where her story begins. It is a very emotional series that awakens the past for many Cypriots that lived through those events but it also recreates events for many Cypriots who were not yet born when they actually happened.
In my opinion it is not necessary for such a series to exist. In my opinion it is a very vulnerable part of history to be watched again and again and it is a topic that a lot of Cypriots are very sensitive about. I would like to think, at least for me that the purpose of television is to entertain rather than expose healed wounds that survivors and refugees of the invasion have spent many years trying to heal. To me it also feels like through this series they are trying to show the audience “exactly” what happened during that period of time and more specifically the younger generation that may have no idea of what happened, and even possibly be ignoring it because they think it does not concern them. What disturbs me the most is that when people close to me watch the show and talk about it they do get very emotional and upset.
The series has been cast very well, the actors are great at portraying the roles as they are dedicated to it, but it would have been nice for a change if Cypriot actors , scriptwriters, producers etc, worked together to create a variety of genres for Cypriot audiences (especially young people), whereas most of the time ‘Drama series’ take the lead, plainly manipulating people’s emotions.
Let’s hope Cypriot TV viewers will find a more pleasant, carefree, interesting and entertaining way to take their mind off their everyday problems and to escape into another wonderful world they can be a part of; even for a small period of time each day.
Julia Antoniou – Tv / Audio MZ Lab Assistant
