Eden Is West (2009) Eden à l'Ouest (original title)

Director:

Costa-Gavras

Writers:

Costa-Gavras (writer)
Jean-Claude Grumberg (writer)

Release Date:

11 February 2009 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A drama centered around the illegal immigrants living in the EU. |

Plot Keywords:

Illegal Immigrant | Paris Opera | Place Name In Title | Paris Metro | Cardinal Direction In Title

Cast

Riccardo Scamarcio	...	Elias
Odysseas Papaspiliopoulos	...	L'ami d'Elias
Léa Wiazemsky	...	Nina
Tess Spentzos	...	Un amie de Nina
Kristen Ross	...	Une amie de Nina
Stella-Melina Vasilaki	...	L'hôtesse
Gil Alma	...	Bob
Eric Caravaca	...	Jack, le directeur de l'Eden Club
Marissa Triandafyllidou	...	La directrice de l'Eden Club (as Marisha Triantafillidou)
Constantine Markoulakis	...	Yvan (as Konstantinos Markoulakis)
Mona Achache	...	Marie-Lou
Alexandre Bancel	...	Bernard
Juliane Köhler	...	Christina Lisner (as Juliane Koehler)
Igor Raspopov	...	Leonid
Ina Tsolakis	...	La femme de Leonid
Vitalyk Field	...	Le fils de Leonid
David Lowe	...	Fred
Ana Paula Aurijo	...	Elena
Ulrich Tukur	...	Nick Nickleby
Dylan Talleux	...	Assistant Nick Nickelby
Arto Apartian	...	Le commerçant du bazar
Tasos Kostis	...	Le chauffeur voleur
Dina Mihailidou	...	Sofia, la paysanne
Manolis Psychogioudakis	...	Le fils de Sofia
Konstantina Hamalaki	...	La fille de Sofia
Ieroklis Michaelidis	...	L'homme du couple dans la Mercedes (as Ieroklis Mihailidis)
Anny Loulou	...	L'épouse du notable (as Annie Loulou)
Florian Martens	...	Günther, le premier routier
Antoine Monot Jr.	...	Karl, le second routier (as Antoine Monot)
David Kruger	...	Le premier rabatteur de l'usine
Bruno Paviot	...	Le deuxième rabatteur de l'usine
Marcel Mankita	...	Le contremaître de l'usine
Ahmed Elkourachi	...	Un ouvrier (as Ahmed El Kourachi)
Jian-Zhang	...	Kim
Jean-Pierre Gos	...	Franz
Jean-Christophe Folly	...	Le chanteur / musicien
Alain Aithnard	...	L'Africain
Guerassim Dichliev	...	Le type dans la douche
Juliette Galoisy	...	La caissière
Olivier Chenevat	...	Un garde
Sophie Parel	...	La jeune femme qui distribue dss mouquettes
Isabelle Dunatte	...	La dame pipi
Dennis Rezard	...	Le contrebassiste de l'orchestre
Costel Mirol	...	Le chef gitan
Justin Blanckaert	...	Basile, le conducteur de la Jaguar (as Justin Blankaert)
François Criqui	...	Salem, le garagiste
Zirek	...	Le compatriote d'Elias (as Ahmet Zirek)
Cyrille Dobbels	...	Le voisin à l'asile de nuit
Alexandra Riegel	...	Une dame dans le TGV
Alexandra Skira	...	Une dame dans le TGV
Antoine Kakou	...	Un étudiant dans le TGV
Jean-Benoît Terral	...	L'homme de la gare de l'Est
Alain Dzukam Simo	...	Le balayeur africain devant la gare de l'Est
Djiby Badiane	...	Le marchand d'objets africains
Murali Perumal	...	L'Hindou
Frédéric Chau	...	L'Asiatique
Aymen Saïdi	...	Le petit basané qui donne un coup de boule
Gil Demurger	...	Un C.R.S.
Christophe Roblin	...	Un C.R.S.
Bonnafet Tarbouriech	...	Le serveur de la brasserie
Vincent Andrieu	...	Monsieur métro
Emmanuel Ambroise	...	Le mendiant aux gobelets
Anny Duperey	...	La dame qui offre une veste à Elias
Christophe Dru	...	Le policier en rollers
Bruno Lochet	...	Yann, un SDF
Yves Alion	...	Un SDF
Martine Demaret	...	Une SDF
Xavier Maly	...	Un policier chez les SDF
Clara Schwartzenberg	...	La jeune fille du métro
Jean-Claude Grumberg	...	L'homme à la sortie du métro
Michel Robin	...	Le portier du Lido
Julie Gavras	...	La dame à la poussette
Elias Hamon	...	L'enfant dans la poussette
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eric Wagner
Mark Antoine	...	Man in sportscar (uncredited)

Directed by
Costa-Gavras

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Costa-Gavras		writer
Jean-Claude Grumberg		writer

Produced by
Salem Brahimi	....	co-producer
Costa-Gavras	....	producer
Nikos Doukas	....	executive producer
Léonard Glowinski	....	co-producer
Manos Krezias	....	producer
Kostas Lambropoulos	....	executive producer
Michèle Ray-Gavras	....	line producer
Dionyssis Samiotis	....	co-producer (as Dionysis Samiotis)
Jérôme Seydoux	....	producer

Original Music by
Armand Amar

Cinematography by
Patrick Blossier

Film Editing by
Yannick Kergoat

Casting by
Sotiria Marini		(Greek actors)
Marie-France Michel
Sabine Schroth		(German actors)

Production Design by
Alexandre Bancel

Art Direction by
Konstadinos Papageorgiou		(as Konstantinos Papageorgiou)

Costume Design by
Mathé Pontanier
Ioulia Stavridou

Production Management
Nikos Doukas	....	production manager
Restaki Elena	....	assistant production manager
Christina Katsiadakis	....	assistant production manager
Laurence Lafiteau	....	unit production manager
Florence Masset	....	production manager
Maxime Tellier	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Léonidas Arvanitis	....	third assistant director
Véronique Bréchot	....	third assistant director
Victor Holl	....	additional assistant director
Joseph Rapp	....	first assistant director
Dylan Talleux	....	second assistant director

Sound Department
Thanassis Arvanitis	....	sound
Guillaume D'Ham	....	dialogue editor
Thomas Desjonquères	....	supervising sound editor
Assia Dnednia	....	foley assistant (as Assia Zipper)
Michel Filippi	....	adr supervisor
Jonathan Gargui Dit Marco	....	assistant sound editor
Thomas Gauder	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jose A. Manovel	....	spanish sap mixer

Visual Effects by
César Chiffre	....	visual effects
Erwan Davigano	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Frédéric Vallet	....	stunt coordinator
Alain Vilain	....	stunt driver
Henry Villain	....	stunt driver

Camera and Electrical Department
Eric Blanckaert	....	first assistant camera
François Criqui	....	grip
Maéva Drecq	....	video assistant
Cyril Girard	....	additional electrician
Bakogiannis Kostas	....	electrician
Michael Tsimperopoulos	....	Steadicam operator
Michael Tsimperopoulos	....	aerial camera operator
Michael Tsimperopoulos	....	camera operator
Michael Tsimperopoulos	....	director of photography: second unit
Didier Versolatto	....	gaffer
Panagiotis Vougioukas	....	Steadicam assistant
Irini Zevgoli	....	second assistant camera

Casting Department
Emmanuela Fragiadaki	....	casting
Victoria Trzeciak	....	casting
Victoria Trzeciak	....	extras casting (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Ornella Del-Vecchio	....	digital conformation
Sophia Del-Vecchio	....	digital conformation
Frederic Jupin	....	digital conformation
Yorgos Lamprinos	....	assistant editor
Raymond Terrentin	....	colorist
Philippe Tourret	....	digital intermediate coordinator

Music Department
Camille Adrien	....	composer: additional music
Sylvain Morizet	....	musician: pianist
Emilie Ruby	....	pianist

Other crew
Angeliki Arvanitis	....	script supervisor
Stéphane Boulay	....	travelling car
Nicolas Boulenger	....	helicopter pilot
Grégoory Malheiro	....	press attache
Dominique Segall	....	press attache

Production Companies

• K.G. Productions (co-production)
• Pathé (co-production)
• France 3 Cinéma (co-production)
• Canal+ (participation)
• CinéCinéma (participation)
• France 3 (FR 3) (participation)
• Région Ile-de-France (support)
• Novo RPI (support: Italy)
• Medusa Film (support: Italy)
• Greek Film Center (support: Greece) (as Centre du Cinéma Grec)
• Hellenic Radio & Television (ERT) (support: Greece) (as ERT Télévision)
• Odeon (support)
• East Media Services (support)
• Finos Film (support: Greece)
• Greek National Tourist Office and Ministry of Culture, The (support: Greece) (as Office du Tourisme Grec)
• Nova

Distributors

• Pathé (2009) (France) (theatrical)
• Fox Pathé Europa (2009) (France) (DVD)
• Alternative Films (2009) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Bir Film (2009) (Turkey) (theatrical) (limited)
• Europa Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Jump Street Films (2009) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Lusomundo (2009) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Medusa Distribuzione (2009) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Monopole-Pathé (2009) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2009) (Romania) (theatrical)
• Scanbox Entertainment (2009) (Denmark) (theatrical)
• Cinemax (2009) (Hungary) (TV)
• Odeon (2009) (Greece) (all media)
• Zon Lusomundo Audiovisuais (2009) (Portugal) (all media)

Special Effects

• L'Etude et la Supervision des Trucages (L'E.S.T.) (visual effects supervision)

Other Companies

• Le Vestiaire  costume rental
• Maratier  costumes
• Medusa Distribuzione  publicity: Italy
• Moteur!  public relations

Also Known As:

"Eden à l'Ouest" - France (original title)

Runtime:

Argentina:110 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | France:110 min

Country:

France | Greece | Italy

Language:

French | German | Greek | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Greece:K-13 | France:U | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Denmark:11 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8, Paris, France

Company:

K.G. Productions

Trivia:

The girl riding the white horse in the dream sequence was recruited from a local riding stables. The talent scouts had visited the stables near Heraklion in search of a white horse but none were considered suitable. They did, however, spot the girl and cast her on the spot. She was Australian and on a gap year at the time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)

A well directed Film and important Story

I believe this is one of the most poetic ways to talk about a Social problem that his hurting both Africa ,East Europe and the Western World. As a writer for African refugees(but at the end all Refugees carry the same Problems) I believe that Costa Gavras have not only pointed out the negative aspects but also the good. The film also shows the Sexual Exploitation that many young men have to face in order to survive their Clandestinity. In many occasions we see also the Work Labour Exploitation and the prejudice against the Newcomers., but at the same time there are also some "Mother Teresa" Elias played by Scarmacio portrays the struggle the refugees have to undergo not only in-front of the People but the awkward Laws the EU have set out ,giving them the Status of Law Offenders because without Documents. The Film is masterly Directed by Mr. Gavras who he himself found himself to be an Immigrant but in a different time when man was respected as Human Being. African Refugees News The story of Elias can with a bit of Fanthasy be compared to Ulisses Journey.The Eden, I may say was the Island were Ulysses first met his Troubles but gave him the Strenght to fight for his life. I recommend this Film to Sociolgists and People who want to know more about The Boat people and their Journey of Hope to a better Life