Alice is a Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 film directed by Marco Martins

Marco Martins

Marco Martins is a Portuguese film director, best known for his 2005 film Alice, which premiered at Cannes and won the Best Picture Award at the Directors%27_Fortnight.-Biography:...

, released in 2005. Alice stars Nuno Lopes

Nuno Lopes

Nuno Lopes is a Portuguese actor. Awarded, in 2006, with the Best Actor Globo de Ouro for his performance in Alice, he also took the Best Actor prize at the Festival de Cinema Luso-Brasileiro and the Shooting Star award at the Berlin International Film Festival.-Training:He graduated from the...

 as Mário, the father, and Beatriz Batarda

Beatriz Batarda

Beatriz da Silveira Moreno Batarda is a Portuguese actress named as one of European films 'Shooting Stars' by European Film Promotion in 1998. She studied Design at IADE Institute in Lisbon and trained in acting at Guidhall School of Music and Drama in London.She was born in London and grew up in...

 as Luísa, his wife, as well as Miguel Guilherme

Miguel Guilherme

-External links:...

, Ana Bustorff, Gonçalo Waddington, Carla Maciel, Laura Soveral and José Wallenstein. Alice was produced by Paulo Branco

Paulo Branco

Paulo Branco is a Portuguese film producer.-Selected filmography:* The Territory * Three Crowns of the Sailor * City of Pirates * Manoel's Destinies * Treasure Island...

. Music is by Bernardo Sassetti.

Shot in a dark, depressive undertone, Alice unveils a Lisbon whose mists, colours, alleys and moods are strangers, despite the familiarity of the locations. All seems odd, silently cruel, as cruel is the disappearance of a child from the path she'd traveled every day in (apparent) safety. The anguish is masterfully conveyed, and so is the loneliness of both parents.

Plot

It's been 193 days since Alice was last seen. Every day, her father, Mário, leaves home and follows exactly the same route the day Alice disappeared. In his quest, Mário creates a video surveillance network on the places she might walk, the airport, anything that may provide a clue.
Every day, he watches countless hours of surveillance tapes in fast-forward, expecting to get a glimpse of his child. Almost every day, hope is born. Almost every day, hope is extinguished - till one day, the search seems to be over.

Awards

An internationally acclaimed success, Alice won and received nominations for a number of awards, including:

• Cannes Film Festival
  Cannes Film Festival
  The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
  
   - Won Directors' Fortnight
  Directors' Fortnight
  Directors' Fortnight is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. The section was created in 1969 after the events of May 1968, in which the Cannes festival was canceled in solidarity with striking workers....
  
   Best Picture Award 2005.
• Cannes Film Festival
  Cannes Film Festival
  The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
  
   - Won Jeunes Regards Award 2005.
• Berlin International Film Festival
  Berlin International Film Festival
  The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
  
   - Won Shooting Star Award 2006 (Nuno Lopes).
• Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival
  Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival
  The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival is an international film festival that is held in Las Palmas in the island of Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. The festival takes place every year...
  
   - Won Best Director - 1st work 2006 (Marco Martins).
• European Film Awards - Nominated for the Fassbinder Award 2005.
• Mar del Plata Film Festival
  Mar del Plata Film Festival
  The Mar del Plata International Film Festival is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata, Argentina...
  
   - Won Best Director, Best Filmography and FIPRESCI Prize 2006. Nominated for Best Film.
• Raindance Film Festival
  Raindance Film Festival
  Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates from various cities including: London, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin and Brussels...
  
  - Won Best Director - 1st work 2006 (Marco Martins).

Alice was submitted for the 79th Academy Awards

79th Academy Awards

The 79th Academy Awards ceremony , honored the best films of 2006 and took place on February 25, 2007 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on ABC. Ellen DeGeneres hosted the ceremony for the first time. The producer was Laura Ziskin. The announcers were Don LaFontaine and Gina Tuttle.The nominees were...

 (2007) in the category Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

The Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film is one of the Academy Awards of Merit, popularly known as the Oscars, handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...

.

External links

• http://www.madragoafilmes.pt/alice/ (in Portuguese)
• Ficha do filme (Madragoa Filmes).
• Alice atEstreia Online.
• Alice at Cannes.
• Alice atCinema PTGATE.
• Alice at Público.