Αλεξάνδρεια
Alexandria

Jean Pierre Lorit stars in this nostalgic, romantic film about love, life and truth. It follows Elena and her daughter Nina on their journey along the sandy stretches of Egyptian coast to the mythical city of Alexandria where Elena grew up. The quiet journey becomes a turbulent sojourn into the past when Nina unravels the true story behind the 'great love' of her mother's life.

2002/ Drama / Romance / Rating:R18 / Director: Maria Iliou

Full Detail:

Elena, age 60, and Nina, 24, mother and daughter, decide to go on a journey to the mythical city of Alexandria, in Egypt. Elena, an opera singer, spent her youth in Alexandria, but left in 1956 for reasons she would never tell. The quiet journey becomes a turbulent sojourn into the past, and Nina discovers that her mother had played the main part in a tempestuous love affair. She asks Elena to tell her the details of this obscure episode. The mother consents and tells her daughter that her father, Nina's grandfather, was responsible for her disillusion in love, in that he was a conservative and authoritarian man who had prevented her from having a relationship with someone foreign and older. Nina is to discover that she has not been told all of the truth and, while she seeks to go back over her mother's past, she becomes involved with young seducer Yusri Davis. She is fearful of assuming the relationship and knows that on her, Nina's, decision will weigh the tortuous paths that her mother, even today, regrets she took.
Source: Sao Paolo Film Festival 2001

"Alexandria adroitly questions the bonds of family and the untold complications to be found on the path of love." - Foundation of Hellenic Culture website

Jean Pierre Lorit stars in this nostalgic, romantic film about love, life and truth.
It follows Elena and her daughter Nina on their journey along the sandy stretches of Egyptian coast to the mythical city of Alexandria where Elena grew up. The quiet journey becomes a turbulent sojourn into the past when Nina unravels the true story behind the 'great love' of her mother's life.

Winner - Four International Awards and one Greek State Film Award, Thessaloniki International Film Festival

Starring Jean Pierre Lorit from Three Colours Red

 "There is much beauty in Maria Iliou's second feature: the sandy stretches of Egyptian coast, the meticulous recreation of a bygone Alexandria, the faces of the cast and the herione's increasingly lucid versions of the love story of her life." Derek Elley - Variety.com

For more Information on the film and TO VIEW TRAILOR try this link…
http://www.gfc.gr/3/31/film.asp?id=402

Cast:

Jean Pierre Lorit (A Matter Of Taste; Three Colours Red), Camille Panonacle, Sylvia De Santis, Salvatore Lazzaro, Michelle Valley, Angelos Antonopoulos, Irene Iglessi, Dioni Kourtaki

Other credits:

Script: Maria Iliou
Cinematography: Yannis Drakoularakos
Music: Ludovico Einaudi
Editing: Giorgos Triantafilou
Sound Mix: Costas Varibopiotis
Art Director: Agni Doutsi, Dimitris Ziakas
Costume Design: Miranda Theodoridou, Agni Doutsi
Sound Recording: Frederic Ullman
Production Manager: Nikos Nikolettos
Make-up artist: Daniele Vuarin
Optical Effects: Harold Herbert
Constructions: Nikos Triantafyllopoulos
Producers: Maria Iliou, Sylvain Burzestein, Sandro Parenzo
Co-production: Poli Plio Films (Greece), Rosem Films (France), Videa SpA (Italy)
With the support of: Greek Film Centre
With the support of: Accelere, PPV Productions, Alpha TV, The Eurimages Fund of the Council of Europe and Media, Strategics, Cyprus Advisory Council, MINISTERIO PER I BENI E LE ATTITIVA CULTURALI, Roma, IF COSTOPOULOS FOUNDATION, MEDIA: ARISTA, MEDIA DEVELOPMENT FUND, MEDIA BUSINESS SCHOOL

Awards/Festivals:

Platinum Romance Special Jury Award, Best feature film for the Romance category, WORLDFEST HOUSTON, USA 2002

Audience Award, SAO PAULO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Brazil 2001
3rd Best Film Award, Wurzburg International Film Weekend, Germany 2002
Best costumes by Miranda Theodoridou & Agni Doutsi, Thessaloniki International Film Festival, 2002

Best Actress Award to Camille Panonacle (young Elena), 3rd Las Palmas International Film Festival, 2002

Screened also at 33rd International Film Festival of India, 2002
Maria Iliou

Born in Athens in 1960. Graduated from the University of Padova where she majored in "Lettere e Filosofia". Studied film directing at the Stavrakos Film School in Greece and at the Ipotesi Film School in Italy. In 1988 she won a scholarship to continue studying film in Rome. Worked as first assistant director in many feature films in Italy. She now lives and works in Athens, Greece.

Filmography:

1987 THE ENCOUNTER, fiction film, 16mm, 30'
1991 SEAWARD WINDOW, feature film, 16mm, 60'
1996 THREE SEASONS, feature film, 35mm, 90'
1997 AEGEAN, documentary, 55'
1999 STOP THE BOMBS, documentary, 30'
2001 ALEXANDRIA, feature film, 35mm, colour, 115'

Reviews:

"When I went to the Worldfest, I got to see some amazing movies. The second one I saw, Alexandria by Maria Iliou, has become one of my favorite movies of all time," Langam said. 

"It was in Greek, Italian and French, and despite having to read the English subtitles, the whole time it really touched me."
Jennifer Langam, attended the Worldfest Film Festival after Film Studies 201.