EDUART in the press

THE GUARDIAN (UK)

This extremely powerful and moving film is not in any way as worthy or sentimental as it sounds; like its Dostoevskian hero, does it take the easy path to final redemption. It also manages to avoid most of the clichés of the brutal prison genre: instead of the documentary realism that is usual with these subjects, it is beautifully shot and framed with a discreet use of music. The film owes a tremendous amount to the central performance by Durmishi, an Albanian actor whose handsome, torture features dominate almost every scene. Both he and the film could go on to achieve international success.

Ronald Bergan

ELEFTHEROS TYPOS (GREECE)

A very forceful film, with dense content, clear logic, cinematic ability and inner tension. Apart from the power of the scenes and the way she handles the negative hero, an Albanian murderer, the manner in which she leads him to catharsis is devastating.

Panayotis Timogiannakis

www.hrono.ru (RUSSIA)

The ideas of Dostoevsky are on the base of the Greek film "Eduart" (director Angeliki Antoniou). The film is hard - the most time the hero is situated in the prison- but humanistic pathos is evident - only openhearted confession can soften the killer's suffering.

Lidia Sicheva

cinemaeteatro.com (ITALY)

The film is an excellent social document, partly dedicated to living in prison. From this point of view, it has some points in common with other works that dealt with the same subject. But the second part has an original expiatory-mystic cut. The best merit is the building up of the story: the director shows a great ability to keep the dramatic side of the events down and create passages whose development and conclusions are already clear, engrossing.

Umberto Rossi

VARIETY (USA)

Pic nicely captures the hopelessness of life in late 90s Albania and, as Eduart, relative newcomer Durmishi does a fine job conveying the surprise of a young man discovering he still has sensitive areas in his soul.

Jay Weissberg

FIPRESCI Moscow 2007

The difficult interrelation of "old" and "new" Europe were also illustrated in Angeliki Antoniou's virtuous Greek film Eduart, with the more prosperous nation proving unwilling to incorporate a young ambitious Albanian, also looking for his happiness across the border, into its environment.

Olga Surkova

KULTURE (RUSSIA)

When I was watching the film I forgot that I was a film critic. It was interesting to follow developments, disclosing of the character and how the director was leading us to its very interesting finale. It was so unusual, fresh and joyful in a contemporary film context. As it is perceived in "Eduart", when dignity was a rule in the good old days for every film.

Sergey Lavrentiev

HERALD TRIBUNE / KATHIMERINI - Greece's Leading Newspaper, English Edition

Film Director Angeliki Antoniou created savagely beautiful and heartbreaking images. Her hero passes from crime to punishment, crying out his guilt, as in a Dostoevsky novel. It is one of the exceptional films at Thessaloniki's grand festival this year.

Spyros Payatakis

MONTREAL WORLD FILM FESTIVAL 2007

This magnificent film is a treasure of emotions.

Richard Gervais

MIDI LIBRE (FRANCE)

C΄est un regard de femme très particulier sur le monde carcéral.

Jean Benguigi

AUSTRALIAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION (AUSTRALIA)

A compelling variation of "Crime And Punishment", this is an impressive, gloomy drama by Angeliki Antoniou about an Albanian man's search for meaning in his life, but encountering many blockages along the way. Recommended!

Peter Krausz

2007-8 ACADEMY FOREIGN FILM COMPETITION & AFI FESTIVAL JOURNAL (USA)

This is a very involving and impressively acted and directed film, based on a true story, mostly about third world prison life. Eshref Durmishi is quite good playing an unsympathetic anti-hero. This film should be a contender; but I suspect it is too bleak for this crowd. Rating: *** 1/4 (maximum rating is ****)

Ken Rudolph

Cineuropa.org

Cinematographer Jürgen Jürges brings an antiquated subtlety to the film that perfectly matches Antoniou's thematic thrust and the whole, despite its disturbing setting and content, is riveting.

James Drew

European-films.net

Rather than as a simple redemption drama, however, the true interest of Eduart lies in the way it offers an Albanian immigrant's point of view as presented through Greek eyes, with the Stockholm syndrome and Freudian and ancient Greek definitions of domination, exploitation and foreignness playing out in the background.

Boyd van Hoeij

ODYSSEY (Los Angeles Greek Film Festival)

Women directors stepped prominently into the spotlight: major talents including Angeliki Antoniou, writer and director of the powerful drama Eduart.

Penelope Karageorge

Chroniques Rebelles / Divergences Nr.12

Antigone d'or 2007 du Festival international du cinéma méditerranéen de Montpellier, Eduart est indéniablement l'œuvre d'une grande réalisatrice et d'une femme de convictions.

Christiane Passevant