EDEN IS WEST (Eden à l’ouest) Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival (2009), Rendez-vous with French Cinema (2009) West-Coast Premiere Drama France/Italy/Greece, 2009 In French with English subtitles 35mm/Scope 2.35:1/Color/Dolby DTS SRD/110 min Directed by: Costa-Gavras Written by: Costa-Gavras, Jean-Claude Grumberg Cinematography: Patrick Blossier Editing by: Yannick Kergoat Original Music by: Armand Amar Produced by: Michèle Ray-Gavras Production Company: KG Productions Co-produced by: Pathé, France 3 Cinéma, Odeon, East Media, Novo RPI International Sales PATHE DISTRIBUTION 2 rue Lamennais 75008 PARIS Tel : +33 1 71 72 30 00 www.patheinternational.fr With: Riccardo Scamarcio (Elias), Juliane Koelhler (Christina), Ulrich Tukur (Nick Nickelby), Éric Caravaca (Jack), Anny Duperey (the lady with a jacket), Bruno Lochet (Yann), Konstantinos Markoulakis (Yvan), Florian Martens (Gunther), Antoine Monot jr. (Karl), Léa Wiazemsky (Nina) www.edenalouest-lefilm.com Starring Italian actor Riccardo Scamarcio (Now or Never, Go Go Tales), Eden is West follows the trials and tribulations of Elias, a young man immigrating to Europe from an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean. Consciously avoiding treating the topic in a factual manner, Eden is West is less a film about immigration than a universal parable about a man trying to find a home in an unfamiliar and hostile land. As he eventually makes his way to Paris, helped by some and rejected by others, Elias is confronted with violence, humiliation, cruelty but also kindness, empathy and compassion. His journey brings to mind images from Homer’s The Odyssey, Voltaire’s Candide or The Stranger by Camus. ABOUT COSTA-GAVRAS After studying at the IDHEC film school, Costa-Gavras worked with Henri Verneuil, René Clément, Jacques Demy and Jean Becker as an assistant before writing and directing The Sleeping Car Murders (COL•COA 2009) in 1965. He quickly established a personal style with his trilogy Z (1969), The Confession (1971) and State of Siege (1973), winning two Oscars® (Best Film Editing and Best Foreign Language Film), as well as a Best Actor and Jury Prize at Cannes for Z. Confirming this success with Missing (Palme d’Or at Cannes and Oscar® for Best Screenplay), Music Box (1989), Amen (2002) or The Ax (COL•COA 2005), Costa-Gavras has become a household name in politically engaged cinema. Through genres as varied as thrillers, war films or dark comedies, he has produced an impressive body of work exploring History, politics and social issues. Costa-Gavras is currently President of the Cinémathèque Française and Honorary President of the Franco-American Cultural Fund. PRESS "Greek-French vet Costa-Gavras' "Eden Is West" is a playful modern fairy tale about a serious subject: illegal immigration into the "paradise" of West Europe. The perfect closer to a Berlin official selection focused on issues such as globalization and the north-south divide..." (Variety) "The gripping film gives you a double vision; it puts you in the shoes of a fugitive outsider chasing a dream that is thwarted at every turn, and forces you to imagine your own reaction when faced with such desperation." (The New York Times) "Turning the drama of illegal immigration into a bittersweet comedy sounds like a foolhardy enterprise, but Costa-Gavras mostly gets away with it, thanks largely to this unsentimental film's faith in humanity and a deft mix of allegory and realism." (Screen International) Followed by a discussion with Co-Writer/Director Costa-Gavras