Alps
Play with me. You have to pretend to be someone you’re not. Someone I love. You’ll make losing him easier. Maybe I won’t even notice he’s gone? You have to learn his moves and dress right. Remember to keep your distance! If you get close to me once, all is lost.
In Yorgos Lanthimos’s latest film, everything is a spectacle. The gymnast, her coach, the nurses are paid impersonators assuming roles of people who died. While they help families survive the grieving, what happens to their own identity? Who are they when they go back home? What happens if one of them breaks the rules and becomes overly attached to their roles in the anguished family?
awards
Venice IFF 2011 – Golden Osella for Best Screenplay; Sofia IFF 2012 – FIPRESCI Prize, Special Mention
Giorgos Lanthimos
Born in 1973 in Athens, where he studied directing for film and television. Since 1995, he has directed a series of videos for dance-theatre companies, television commercials, music videos, short films and theatre plays. In 2011, he staged Chekhov’s Platonov at the Greek National Theatre. His first film Kinetta (2005) screened at the Toronto and Berlin Film Festivals to critical acclaim. His sophomore feature Dogtooth (2009) won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, followed by numerous awards at festivals worldwide. It was also nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2011 Academy Awards. Alps (2011) is his third feature film.
Selected filmography
1995 O viasmos tis Hlois (short)
2001 Uranisco Disco (short)
2001 O kalyteros mou filos / My Best Friend (co-dir.)
2005 Kinetta
2009 Kieł / Kyodontas / Dogtooth
2011 Alpy / Alpeis / Alps