AGORA Historical drama set in 4th Century Alexandria, by Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside) July 23, 2010

AGORA
Historical drama set in 4th Century Alexandria, by Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside)
Opens Friday, July 23, 2010 in the Bay Area

Landmark’s Clay Theatre, 2261 Fillmore Street, San Francisco (415) 267-4893
Tickets are $10.50 for general admission and $8.00 for seniors, students, and children
Showtimes (valid 7/23-7/29): Fri-Sun at 2:20, 5:10, & 8:00 and Mon-Thur at 5:10, & 8:00

Landmark’s Shattuck Cinemas, 2230 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley (510) 464-5980
Tickets are $10.00 for general admission and $8.00 for seniors, students, and children
Showtimes (valid 7/23-7/29): Daily at 1:20, 4:10, 7:00, and 9:45

Landmark’s Aquarius Theatre, 430 Emerson Street, Palo Alto (650) 266-9260
Tickets are $9.75 for general admission, $7.00 for seniors, and children, and $8.00 for students (Tues only)
Showtimes (valid 7/23-7/29): Daily at 2:30, 5:30, and 8:30

Advanced tickets available at: http://www.landmarktheatres.com/tickets and theatre box office.

Also opens on 7/23 at Camera 3 in San Jose, and 7/30 at Nickelodeon in Santa Cruz.

http://www.agorathemovie.com/

Winner of 7 Goya Awards (Spain’s equivalent of the Oscar), AGORA is a breathtaking, English-language historical drama directed and co-written by Academy Award-winner Alejandro Amenábar (The Sea Inside). The film is set in ancient Egypt under Roman rule, where violent religious upheaval in the streets of Alexandria spills over into the city’s famous Library. Trapped inside its walls, the brilliant and beautiful astronomer Hypatia (Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener) and her disciples fight to save the wisdom of the Ancient World. Among these disciples are two men competing for her heart: the witty, privileged Orestes (Oscar Isaac) and Davus (Max Minghella), Hypatia’s young slave, who is torn between his secret love for her and the freedom he knows can be his if he chooses to join the unstoppable surge of the Christians.

Chilean-born Spanish director Alejandro Amenábar’s career has been truly meteoric, gaining international prestige with every film. His second film Open your Eyes, was a huge box office hit in Spain and was released worldwide, later remade as Vanilla Sky, starring Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz and Cameron
Diaz. The Others, starring Nicole Kidman, was his first English language film, and a critical and audience success. The Sea Inside, starring Javier Bardem, won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film as well as 58 other international film awards.

“Four years ago, after The Sea Inside, which was such an intimate experience for me, I would never have imagined that my next film would be about Romans and Christians in Ancient Egypt. But that’s the beauty of this profession: you can let your curiosity run free and explore worlds as fascinating as 4th century Alexandria; imagine its streets, temples and people. And find the passion – and the money – to bring it all to life.” - Alejandro Amenábar

“Hypatia, the brilliant, beauteous, avowedly virginal fourth-century philosopher, mathematician, astronomer… Weisz is an excellent Hypatia.” – David Edelstein, New York Magazine

“It's a fascinating film, crammed with both stirring visual images and intellectual ideas…. A great example of bravura filmmaking by a gifted young international filmmaker.” – Patrick Goldstein, Los Angeles Times

“Mr. Amenábar, working from an insightful script that he wrote with Mateo Gil, focuses on two moments when the ancient culture war reached a fever pitch and shows that no group is entirely innocent of violence and intolerance.” – A.O. Scott, New York Times

“A visually imposing, high-minded epic.” – Todd McCarthy, Variety

The film’s running time is 126 minutes; it is not rated.