Premieres October 5
JERICHO, NY, July 10, 2003 – Legendary actress Sophia Loren appears in her 100th film when she stars in WE: WOMEN'S ENTERTAINMENT's first original feature film BETWEEN STRANGERS. Directed by her son Edoardo Ponti, BETWEEN STRANGERS is the first collaboration between Loren and Ponti. The film also stars Academy Award®-winning actress Mira Sorvino, Gérard Depardieu, Malcolm McDowell, Deborah Kara Unger, Klaus Maria Brandauer and Pete Postlethwaite, and will premiere on WE: WOMEN'S ENTERTAINMENT on October 5.
BETWEEN STRANGERS is a drama that interweaves the stories of three women of different generations whose lives radically change when they confront their past, and in the process, embrace life's possibilities for the future. The emotional mysteries of the women gradually unfold, shedding light on each of their relationships and providing insight into long-buried secrets.
Sophia Loren portrays a housewife trapped in an unhappy marriage to her wheelchair-bound husband; Mira Sorvino is a photojournalist who receives acclaim for a magazine cover but must deal with the consequences of how she was able to take the photo; and Deborah Kara Unger plays a talented musician who is alienated from her husband and child by her obsession to track down her ex-convict father. Although they are strangers, there is a common thread that binds them.
Olivia (Sophia Loren) had stopped sketching years ago, but because of a recurring dream, she has started drawing again. Her dream instantly brings back awful memories of her past. Natalia (Mira Sorvino) has just landed her first magazine cover, but her desire to know what happened to the Angolian girl who was the subject of the cover prevents her from celebrating. Natalia is constantly seeking the approval of her father, a renowned photographer, but must learn to follow the path that's right for her. Catherine (Deborah Kara Unger), an accomplished cellist, is consumed with lingering pain and has shut herself off from her husband and daughter while she attempts to take revenge on her father. As each story unfolds the women find themselves entranced by the vision of a young girl who represents a bygone childhood. The girl acts as a catalyst inspiring each woman to become liberated and follow a new course in life.
BETWEEN STRANGERS is written and directed by Edoardo Ponti. Ponti began his career in theatre in 1995, producing and directing the Eugene Ionesco play, "The Lesson" in Los Angeles, which also played in Boston. In 1996, he produced, directed and adapted for the stage Nick Bantock's best-selling epistolary trilogy "Griffin & Sabine", which performed at the Spoleto Theatre Festival in Italy. Ponti's first short film entitled Liv was presented at the 1998 Venice International Film Festival to rave reviews. Also in 1998, Warner Bros. awarded Ponti with a platinum record in recognition of his stage adaptation of the music for world-renowned Polish composer Zbibniew Preisner's Requiem for my Friend, which premiered at the National Theatre in Warsaw.
BETWEEN STRANGERS marks Sophia Loren's 100th film in a long and distinguished career. Considered one of the best-loved actresses in history, she became the first actor in a foreign film to be honored with a Best Actress Academy Award for Vittorio De Sica's Two Women, in 1962. Altogether, she won 21 awards in the same year for Two Women. As one of the premier leading ladies of film, Loren received an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1991, an Honorary Golden Berlin Bear in 1994 and a Cecil B. De Mille Golden Globe Award in 1995. In addition, Loren has received acclaim from all over the world including the French Victories, the German Gold Bear and Bambis, the Italian Donatellos and Silver Ribbon and the Japanese Samurais.
WE: WOMEN'S ENTERTAINMENT is a service of AMC Networks. WE: WOMEN'S ENTERTAINMENT gives women a chance to relax and a way to recharge through entertainment that connects them on an emotional level. WE: Women's Entertainment features the largest collection of women's interest films, inspiring original series and topical specials. The network is currently available in over 52 million homes.