{ "id": "epn9x7rgz2", "slug": "alps-2011-film", "title": "Alps (2011 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "label": "Drama films 2010 to 2014", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films", "label": "Psychological and social drama films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020: Drama films 2010 to 2014", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001", "label": "Western Europe · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical", "label": "Drama and biographical films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014", "label": "Drama films 2010 to 2014", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Alps (Alpeis, Άλπεις) is a 2011 Greek drama by Yorgos Lanthimos, written with Efthimis Filippou, about a secret group impersonating the dead for grieving families; it won Venice's Best Screenplay Osella.", "snippet": "Alps (Alpeis, Άλπεις) is a 2011 Greek drama by Yorgos Lanthimos, written with Efthimis Filippou, about a secret group impersonating the dead for grieving families; it won Venice's Best Screenplay Osella.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.drama-biographical.drama-films-2010-to-2014.psychological-and-social-drama-films", "markdown": "# Alps (2011 film)\n\n**Alps** (Greek: **Άλπεις**, *Alpeis*) is a 2011 Greek drama film directed by [Yorgos Lanthimos](https://www.edgepedia.org/yorgos-lanthimos), in which a secret four-person group hires itself out to impersonate the recently dead for their grieving relatives and friends. Written by Lanthimos with Efthimis Filippou, it premiered in competition at the 2011 [Venice Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/venice-film-festival), where it won the Golden Osella for Best Screenplay.[1](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/) • [2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writers | Yorgos Lanthimos; screenplay by Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/) |\n| Year, country, language | 2011; Greece and France; Greek[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/) • [3](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2012/films/alps) |\n| Running time | 93 minutes[3](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2012/films/alps) |\n| Premise | A nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast and her coach form a company called Alps that stands in for dead people, hired by relatives, friends or colleagues of the deceased; the leader, the paramedic, calls himself Mont Blanc[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/) |\n| Principal cast | Angeliki Papoulia, Aris Servetalis, Ariane Labed, Johnny Vekris, Stavros Psyllakis[4](https://kinolorber.com/film/alps) |\n| Producers | Yorgos Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari; a Haos Film production co-produced with Marni Films[1](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/) • [3](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2012/films/alps) |\n| Major award | Golden Osella for Best Screenplay, Venice Film Festival 2011; also nominated for the Golden Lion[1](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/) |\n| Greek release | 27 October 2011[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot and premise\n\nThe film's central device is a service for hire. A nurse, a paramedic, a gymnast and her coach form a company they call Alps, whose members stand in for dead people by appointment, hired by the relatives, friends or colleagues of the deceased.[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/) For a fee they act the part of the missing family member, learning the person's hobbies and eccentricities to help the customer accept the loss; the distributor Kino Lorber's synopsis compares the arrangement to methadone as a substitute for heroin addiction.[4](https://kinolorber.com/film/alps) The substitutes do not take every offer: the rules require that they maintain emotional distance and neither identify with the deceased nor draw inspiration from their past lives, and the roles are researched, rehearsed and performed in minute detail.[5](https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/alps) • [13](https://www.the-match-factory.com/catalogue/films/alps.html?file=files%2Fdownloads-public%2Ffilms%2Fa%2Falps%2Fpressbook-alps.pdf)\n\nThe company operates illegally under a strict discipline regime imposed by its leader, the paramedic, who has reserved for himself alone the code name of the Alps' great pinnacle, [Mont Blanc](https://www.edgepedia.org/mont-blanc).[5](https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/alps) Members are forbidden to discuss their activities with non-members.[3](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2012/films/alps) The nurse, known as Monte Rosa, does not obey these rules: she takes on a client of her own, controls the rules of that performance and keeps the financial benefits, and becomes emotionally involved with one of her subjects.[1](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/) • [6](https://torch.ox.ac.uk/article/young-womens-deadly-rebellions-cultural-complacency-in-the-films-of-yorgos-lanthimos) When the leader discovers this, he beats her with a club and expels her from the group, and the project spirals into violence and confusion.[6](https://torch.ox.ac.uk/article/young-womens-deadly-rebellions-cultural-complacency-in-the-films-of-yorgos-lanthimos) • [4](https://kinolorber.com/film/alps)\n\n## Style and interpretation\n\nAs in Lanthimos's earlier films, the characters speak in a monotone. In *Alps* this flat delivery acquires a specific function: whether a character is playing a role or not, they speak the same way, so that as the film progresses it becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish performance from reality within the film's world.[6](https://torch.ox.ac.uk/article/young-womens-deadly-rebellions-cultural-complacency-in-the-films-of-yorgos-lanthimos) The International Film Festival Rotterdam program notes that everyone is always playing a role, a principle taken to its extreme here, and describes the film as commentary on Greek society in particular and human shortcomings in general.[3](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2012/films/alps)\n\nFrench critics grouped the film with the austere, absurdist manner of the new Greek cinema. *Les Inrockuptibles* suggested reading it as a deranged documentary on the condition of actors, while *Cahiers du Cinéma* called it an opaque, icy enigma of long static shots; AlloCiné's normalized press average was 3.2 out of 5 across 18 reviews.[7](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-191024/critiques/presse/)\n\n## Production\n\nThe film was produced by Lanthimos and Athina Rachel Tsangari, the Greek filmmaker who had produced Lanthimos's *Kinetta* (2005) and been an associate producer on his Oscar-nominated *[Dogtooth](https://www.edgepedia.org/dogtooth-film)* (2009), through her Athens-based company Haos Film, in co-production with Marni Films.[1](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/) • [8](https://www.berlinale.de/media/download/presse/pressemitteilungen/63_berlinale/48_pressrelease_international-jury_28_01_13.pdf) [Cinematography](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinematography) is by Christos Voudouris and editing by Yorgos Mavropsaridis; the film was shot on 35 mm.[3](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2012/films/alps) [Angeliki Papoulia](https://www.edgepedia.org/angeliki-papoulia), who plays Monte Rosa, had also appeared in *Dogtooth* as the older daughter.[4](https://kinolorber.com/film/alps) • [9](https://www.chelmsford-filmclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Alps.pdf)\n\n## Release and reception\n\n*Alps* premiered in official competition at the 2011 Venice Film Festival and screened at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), AFI FEST, the Busan and Reykjavik festivals in 2011, and the [Rotterdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/rotterdam) and Sydney festivals in 2012.[1](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/) • [10](https://fest.afi.com/2011/world-cinema-2011/alps-alpis/) • [5](https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/alps) It was released in Greece on 27 October 2011, followed by Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Poland, the United Kingdom, Belgium and France during 2012 and 2013, and Italy in December 2016.[2](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/)\n\nBeyond the Venice screenplay award and [Golden Lion](https://www.edgepedia.org/golden-lion) nomination, the film's festival record includes the Sydney Film Prize at the Sydney Film Festival 2012, a Special Jury Prize for narrative feature for Lanthimos at the Sarasota Film Festival 2012, a Special Mention for Ariane Labed in the Balkan competition at the Sofia International Film Festival 2012, and nominations at the Black Movie, Chlotrudis and International Cinephile Society awards.[1](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/) • [5](https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/alps)\n\n## Context in Greek cinema\n\n*Alps* belongs to the group of festival-oriented Greek films, alongside *Attenberg* (2010) and others, that came to international attention after *Dogtooth* won the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes in 2009 and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.[11](https://iris.unive.it/retrieve/3c01cfd8-827b-46a7-af7d-4dd3d197cde6/Reframing%20Film%20Festivals%20-%20Politics%2C%20Histories%20and%20Agencies%20-%20special%20issue.pdf) International critics dubbed this body of work, including *Dogtooth*, *Attenberg* and *Alps*, the \"weird wave,\" and it was frequently read as a response to the Greek economic crisis that began in 2009; Greek film scholars have observed that the connection between the label and the crisis is tenuous and a coincidence of timing, and the filmmakers themselves do not accept the idea of a movement.[12](https://www.ffzg.unizg.hr/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Homer_Awkward-in-Life.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [ALPS (2011), Marni Films](https://marnifilms.gr/portfolio/alps/)\n2. [ALPS, Cineuropa](https://cineuropa.org/en/film/208283/)\n3. [Alps, International Film Festival Rotterdam 2012](https://iffr.com/en/iffr/2012/films/alps)\n4. [Alps, Kino Lorber Theatrical](https://kinolorber.com/film/alps)\n5. [ALPS, Festival Scope Pro](https://pro.festivalscope.com/film/alps)\n6. [Young Women's Deadly Rebellions: Cultural Complacency in the Films of Yorgos Lanthimos, TORCH, University of Oxford](https://torch.ox.ac.uk/article/young-womens-deadly-rebellions-cultural-complacency-in-the-films-of-yorgos-lanthimos)\n7. [Critiques presse pour le film Alps, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-191024/critiques/presse/)\n8. [Berlinale Press Release, International Jury, 28 January 2013](https://www.berlinale.de/media/download/presse/pressemitteilungen/63_berlinale/48_pressrelease_international-jury_28_01_13.pdf)\n9. [Alps programme notes, Chelmsford Film Club](https://www.chelmsford-filmclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Alps.pdf)\n10. [ALPS (ALPIS), AFI FEST 2011](https://fest.afi.com/2011/world-cinema-2011/alps-alpis/)\n11. [Reframing Film Festivals: Politics, Histories and Agencies, special issue (Università Iuav di Venezia repository)](https://iris.unive.it/retrieve/3c01cfd8-827b-46a7-af7d-4dd3d197cde6/Reframing%20Film%20Festivals%20-%20Politics%2C%20Histories%20and%20Agencies%20-%20special%20issue.pdf)\n12. [\"Awkward in Life\": Greek Cinema in Times of Crisis, University of Zagreb](https://www.ffzg.unizg.hr/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Homer_Awkward-in-Life.pdf)\n13. [the-match-factory.com](https://www.the-match-factory.com/catalogue/films/alps.html?file=files%2Fdownloads-public%2Ffilms%2Fa%2Falps%2Fpressbook-alps.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Drama and biographical films (individual works) › Drama films 2010 to 2014 › Psychological and social drama films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/alps-2011-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/alps-2011-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Alps (2011 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/alps-2011-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Alps (2011 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/alps-2011-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/alps-2011-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/alps-2011-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Alps (2011 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/alps-2011-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Alps is a 2011 Greek drama by Yorgos Lanthimos, written with Efthimis Filippou, about a secret group impersonating the dead for grieving families; it won Venice's Best Screenplay Osella." }