An EXILE in PARADISE
The Adventures of Edward Lear in Greece and Albania
presented by
Robert Horne
directed by
Derek Smith
executive producers
Finian O’Sullivan
Quentin Russell
A three part documentary series for TV filmed in High Definition to make the most of the spectacular mountain landscapes, rolling plains and vast horizons of sea and sky.
The series Sky Arts for two years for broadcast in the UK and Eire and is available for the world market through our distributors Electric Sky.
Programme 1 Into Ottoman Lands (59.02mins)
In the attractive setting of Corfu, Robert Horne outlines Lear’s background and some surprising connections with Greece and Athens before embarking on the journey proper from Thessaloniki to the Albanian border, taking in the breathtaking beauty of the mountain lakes, Prespa and Ochrid.
Programme 2 Albania: The Devil Draws (58.14mins)
As an artist Lear was attacked as Satan throughout Muslim lands, something that would not happen in modern Albania. Whilst exploring the remains of Albania’s rich heritage and the Ottoman past Robert Horne is intrigued by Albania’s recent history and how the eccentric rule of the communist dictator Enver Hoxha casts its shadow over the present.
Programme 3 Greece: Coast to Coast (58.57mins)
Lear was impressed by the legacy of the struggle of the local people against Ottoman oppression. Nowhere was this more exemplified than in the mountains of northern Greece. Robert finds that stories of those times are still celebrated, and Lear himself remembered, but the traditional way of life pursued in this breathtaking landscape is fighting to survive against encroaching modernity.
Credits
| The Owl and the Pussycat (extract) | Nicholas Parsons |
| The Voice of Edward Lear | Mike Dyer |
Mike is a singer, actor and songwriter who has played lead roles in Blood Brothers (narrator), Jesus Christ Superstar (Ciaphas, Pontius Pilot), Notre Dame de Paris (Frollo, Quasimodo)
Production team
| Co-producer | Marilena Dyranis-Maounis |
| Associate Producer | Milly O’Sullivan |
| Production Manager (Albania) | Gezim Sulaj |
| Research (Albania) | Petrin Tomori & Dorina Zarka |
| Research (Greece) | Dimitri Cassar |
| Translation (Albania) | Esen-Nikolas Gjylaci |
| Translation (Greece) | Eugenia Russel |
| Graphics | Jonny Halifax |
| Rostrum Camera | Ken Morse |
| Music Production | Fred Johanssen & Adrian Wyatt |
| Music | Eugenia Russell & Quentin Russell |
| Editor | Daniel Goddard |
Film Crew
| Sound Recordist (Greece & FYROM) | Stefanos Efthimiou |
| Sound Recordist (Albania & Greece) | Simon Reynell |
| Camera | Chris Sutcliffe |
We wish to thank:
Secretariat General of Communication and
Secretariat General of Information, Hellenic Ministry of Culture
Hellenic Ministry of Tourism
The Jewish Museum, Thessaloniki
Tourist Information Centre, Bitola
Balojani Tourist Services, Bitola
The Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports, Republic of Albania
Ethnographic Museum, Gjyrokaster
Holy Monastery of Roussanou (St. Barbara) and Holy Monastery of Saint Nicolas Anapafsas, Meteora
Archive:
National Galleries of Scotland
The National Portrait Gallery
Merseyside Museums
The Benaki Museum, Athens
The Gennadius Library, Athens
The Jewish Museum, Thessaloniki
The Marubi Collection, Shkodra
The Albanian Film and Television Archive, Tirana
The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia
With special thanks to
The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Mass.
© LEAR PRODUCTIONS 2009