Eyes of Exodus

The heartbreak behind one island's attempt to help refugees.

  • Alexandra Liveris
    Director
    Maria of Many, Nocturnity, Santiago Calatrava
  • Alexandra Liveris
    Producer
    Maria of Many, Nocturnity, Santiago Calatrava
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Runtime:
    28 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    December 30, 2016
  • Production Budget:
    150,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    Arabic, English, Modern Greek (1453-)
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Aspen ShortsFest
    Aspen
    United States
    April 5, 2017
    North American Premiere
    Audience Award
  • Thessaloniki Documentary Festival
    Thessaloniki
    Greece
    February 5, 2017
    International
    Jury Award
  • Palm Springs Shortfest
  • Nantucket Film Festival
  • Newport Beach Film Festival
Director Biography - Alexandra Liveris

Alexandra Liveris is a documentary filmmaker (Director, Producer) based between New York City and London. Her most recent work, Eyes of Exodus, won the Special Jury Award at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival and the Audience Award at Aspen ShortsFest. Her films have exhibited at premiere festivals, such as the Tribeca Film Festival and through online platforms, such as National Geographic, PBS, and Nowness.com. Alexandra holds an MFA in Documentary Film and Video from Stanford University. She is a Flaherty Film Seminar Fellow and holds a BA in International Relations from Tufts University. She was a producer at the Charlie Rose Show, the Multimedia and Special Projects Manager for the Clinton Foundation, and the co-founder of the Young Leaders project at the Clinton Global Initiative.

Alexandra is currently in pre-production on a documentary about the contemporary art movement and creative scene in Saudi Arabia, a docu-fiction about narcissism, and she is producing the narrative feature adaptation of Eyes of Exodus.

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Director Statement

I started filming EYES OF EXODUS while visiting my ancestral island. I was struck by the surreal dynamic of locals, vacationers, and refugees coexisting side-by-side on this fairytale island. It wasn’t until I became engaged in the underbelly of the island, did I understand that this coexistence wasn’t surreal…it was very real. My intent was to make a short film that humanized both the refugee and local experience during a small, but crucial part of the Syrian refugee crisis—the first stop into Europe. I was interested in using Kastellorizo as a microcosm to explore how this global crisis affects all of our choices and destinies, refugee or not.