Creative [Space]

Film Etc. Creative Space is housed in the former Panorama Cinema in Engomi, a venue that for decades stood at the heart of the neighbourhood. It was here that generations gathered to watch Hollywood classics, children's films and comedies, turning every screening into a shared cinematic experience.

During the anti-colonial struggle, when a curfew prohibited men from being outdoors after 7 p.m., screenings were held exclusively for women. Savvas Mamantopoulos, the son of the cinema's owner and its future manager, quite literally grew up inside the theatre. From the age of seven, he assisted in the projection booth, adding subtitles to the films—a child who learned to read the world through the beam of a projector.

His grandmother ran the small concession stand, serving chocolates, sweets and soft drinks, while the intervals were filled with music from a gramophone or live performances by small local bands. After the screenings, women would remain in the theatre, dancing hand in hand, as if reluctant to let the magic of the screen come to an end. During those difficult years, when the curfew made returning home impossible, young Savvas, his grandmother and the projectionist would spend the night inside the cinema, sleeping beneath the silent screen and the dimmed lights—an image that evokes the timeless spirit of Giuseppe Tornatore's Cinema Paradiso.

Following 1959, Panorama Cinema entered its golden years, welcoming as many as 600 spectators for a single screening. Beyond film exhibitions, its stage hosted theatre companies, musicians and even acrobats suspended from the roof trusses, transforming the venue into a vibrant cultural landmark.

In 1980, however, the cinema closed its doors for good as television entered Cypriot homes and fundamentally reshaped the way audiences experienced entertainment. Once described as an "ark of dreams," Panorama Cinema ceased to be the centre of the community's cultural life, as the shared ritual of gathering before the silver screen gradually gave way to the private glow of the television at home.

Today, the space begins a new chapter as Film Etc. Creative Space, carrying forward the memory of a place where stories, images and communities have come together for generations.      [Written by Christiana Stylianou].