As two men with a shared cultural heritage but worlds apart meet in Athens and New York who discover their bond transcends beyond the dance floor. Alex’s voyage to Greece is a foreign but comforting one: identical to his feelings towards Aeneas. He often feels both at home and isolated at the same time.
USA
Australia
Greek Film Festival
Australia
USA
i originally had a much meaner review here, but then i saw i was the only one on the page & it made me feel pretty bad, so im rewriting it. i found this movie extremely insipid and hard to sit through, but there's talent on display and it's not like you could make a movie this way by accident. sorry, apollo.
(omaha international film festival, part IV)
Screened as part of BFI Flare 2024 film festival.
For me this had a lot of potential and I’m sad. I loved the story and think Dance as an art is so powerful.
Technically, the establishing shots didn’t fit in for me. The colour and quality was different and the overall grade didn’t fit in with the scenes next to it. I think they used so many different cameras and drones for New York overhead shots, Greece establishing shots and the New York park shots. It wasn’t even subtle, the contrast was stark.
Story wise - I loved it. Disjointed but I loved it. The editing didn’t do it favours. There was a sequence with Alex in the park asking…
I'm going to be blunt and to-the-point here, and that's partially because I know I'm not alone in my thoughts on this film. The reviews are already pretty negative, my audience was blatantly exasperated by this film, and despite a Q&A following it, half the audience left as soon as the end credits rolled - myself included. I fully understand this is a labour of love for the director, and that this was the film that making helped convince them to continue working in film, but if I try to dance around this one and be kind, it'll be patronising.
Aligned is lifeless, flat and exhausting in every possible sense imaginable. The actors may be talented dancers, but none of…
A completely ephemeral nothing of a film, that's one part tourism board footage, one part trust fund babies and their non-problems, and two parts bland leads who have no fire, no personality, and inspire zero interest. They also did the fucking "There are two wolves inside you... live, laugh, love" spiel
Where To Watch: shown at the 2024 BFI Flare Film Festival
RAVING REVIEW: ALIGNED takes you from the kinetic energy of New York City to the historic grace of Athens, weaving a compelling tale of self-discovery through the medium of dance. Directed by Apollo Bakopoulos, this film combines artistry with deep emotional narratives, bringing a fresh perspective to the dance genre. While it navigates through some familiar themes, the fresh approach and vivid aesthetics infuse it with a distinctive charm.
In ALIGNED, Aeneas (Panos Malakos) and Alex (Dimitris Fritzelas) emerge as dancers from very different backgrounds who discover a shared language in dance. The film starts with powerful moments that perfectly capture the essence of each city, setting the stage…
Film #5 from BFI Flare 2024
The director spoke with passion when introducing the film, but sorry, this was not good 😬 at all 😬. I sincerely hope he doesn’t have letterboxd.
Starting with the story, it’s a ten minute short film stretched over 78 minutes. It’s filled with stockimage aerial shots of Greece and New York and slow motion dance scenes that don’t add much to the plot. There is not enough there story wise to fill the runtime. And what is there, is full of cliches and inconsistencies from scene to scene. The characters do not make sense, AT ALL. Suddenly he’s mad at the guy for coming on to him and then they’re swimming naked and laughing…
I saw this at the Omaha Film Festival and it was a great experience. Watching the film with Apollo and hearing his experience and inspiration really made this worth watching. This definitely isn’t for everyone but I really enjoyed the cinematography, the colors, and the characters. Even though it was a foreign film with subtitles I really felt a connection. If you appreciate a good story with amazing colors, something that will make you feel love then definitely worth watching.
okay it was a little intense (nudity wise) at times but i met the filmmaker and he was really nice and he had a cool eyebrow piercing and a very tall turtleneck so yeah i can tell he’s gonna make great movies
