With the Monica Bellucci the Minister of Tourism met today, Olga Kefalogiannias stated in a relevant announcement.
The Italian actress is in Thessaloniki as his guest International Film Festival, on the occasion of her film about Maria Callas. At the same time, she was honored by the Festival with the “Golden Alexander” for her overall contribution to cinema. The two ladies discussed, not only about the film about Maria Callasbut also for its institution Thessaloniki Festival which, as they agreed, does an excellent job with extroversion and quality, being an important weapon in the city’s image and cultural identity.
Monica Bellucci reiterated that she especially loves Greece and that she visits it often. The minister, Olga Kefalogianni, invited Monica Bellucci to visit our country again and show her, as she characteristically said, the hidden beauties of Greece.
The “Golden Alexander”
“Thank you very much,” Monica Bellucci said in Greek, receiving the honorary Golden Alexander of the 64th Thessaloniki Film Festival, for her entire contribution to cinema.
“I am very honored to have received this award, I am very grateful and particularly moved”, were the few words she said, once again expressing her gratitude to Maria Callas for the inspiration she offered her.
Accordingly, the Regional Governor of Central Macedonia greeted her earlier in the Italian language Apostolos Tzizikostas, who awarded her the Golden Alexander on behalf of the Festival. “It is indeed a great honor to welcome today here in Thessaloniki, at the Film Festival, one of the most important actresses of the 7th art. She is one of those actresses who fills the big screen when they appear, they change the atmosphere of the movie sets,” he said. As he pointed out, Monica Bellucci has created dozens of characters in comedies, dramas, adventures, historical films and every time she knows how to transform, get into the essence of her roles and highlight their details. “After all, with these films he has traveled all over the world and I hope that soon there will be an opportunity to shoot a film in Thessaloniki, in Central Macedonia, which already has the infrastructure, rare locations, historical monuments, forests, mountains and sea , and – as the cinema experts say, a special cinematic light”, emphasized Mr. Tzitzikostas.
At the beginning of the event, the Artistic Director of the Festival Orestis Andreadakis, said that the event honors a great actress who has occupied a great place in world cinema for 30 years. “Starting with the films of her native Italy, she quickly became famous, performing roles in both English and French,” said Mr. Andreadakis, while speaking specifically about the film “Malena” he characteristically said: “In this an exemplar of period cinema that unfolds the brighter aspects of European history, Monica Bellucci delivers a monumental performance, shaping a multi-layered female character.”
Monica Bellucci is leaving Thessaloniki tomorrow.
