LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Melina Mercouri
built 634 days ago
In this globally acclaimed comedy drama, eccentric, tough, and carefree Ilya (Melina Mercouri) is one of those characters who makes her mark on film history, and who made an internationally known star out of Mercouri. Ilya is a prostitute in the port of Piraeus with a definite sense of social and economic justice. The aptly named Homer (director Jules Dassin, later to marry his star) arrives in Greece, meets the irrepressible Ilya, and decides she needs more of the traditional Greek culture and less of those flamboyant emotions that are not really Greek, you see. So while he tries to play Henry Higgins, Ilya is willing to give up her usual self for two weeks. The question is, what will happen once the two weeks are over, assuming she can get through them? ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Source:
Melina Mercouri (Greek:Μελίνα Μερκούρη, born Maria Amalia Mercouri) (Athens, Greece, October 18, 1920 – New York City, March 6, 1994) was an Academy Award nominated Greek actress, singer, and political activist. She was a member of the Hellenic Parliament, and in 1981 she became the first female Minister for Culture in Greece.
Source:
The husband and wife team of director Jules Dassin and actress Melina Mercouri, who first enjoyed international success with the comedy Never on Sunday, collaborated for the last time on this powerful drama. Maya (Melina Mercouri) is a famous actress who is returning to the stage for a production of the classic Greek tragedy Medea, in which she will play the title character, a mother who murders her children. Kostas (Andreas Voutsinas), Maya's former lover, will be directing Maya in the production, and when he discovers that Brenda (Ellen Burstyn), an American woman, is housed in a nearby Greek prison for killing her offspring, he suggests that Maya should meet Brenda as a means of better understanding her character. Maya agrees, and their tense and emotional conversation is cross cut with the taxing rehearsals and performance of Medea. While A Dream Of Passion marked the last time Dassin directed Mercouri, they later appeared together in Keine Zufallige Geschichte, a documentary about their life and work. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Source:
After a military coup that brought a handful of colonels to power in Greece in 1967, Melina Mercouri lost her civil rights and was forced into exile. She ... began an international tour and sang in favor of freedom in Greece. During her exile, the singer found a warm welcome within the thriving community of Greek expatriates in Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva. From this ideal central location in Europe, she went on music tours to all the European capitals in support of the Greek resistance.
Source:
The purpose of the Melina Mercouri International Prize is to reward outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world’s major cultural landscapes. It is named after Melina Mercouri, a precursor in the field of integrated conservation and sustainable development, a memorable actress and former Minister of Culture of Greece. It meets a new need, clearly identified by the World Heritage Committee which, at its sixteenth session, held in Santa Fe in December 1992, recognized that "the concept of cultural landscapes which completes the conventional ones of ‘monuments’ or ‘sites’, brings a more universal approach to cultural heritage. The protection of cultural landscapes is therefore one of the main priorities of the present time".
Source:
The purpose of the Melina Mercouri International Prize (UNESCO-Greece) is to reward outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world's major cultural landscapes. It is to bear the name of Melina Mercouri, a precursor of integrated conservation and sustainable development, a memorable actress and Minister of Culture of Greece. It meets a new need, clearly identified by the World Heritage Committee, which, at its sixteenth session, held in Santa Fe in December 1992, recognized that the protection of cultural landscapes, a richer concept than the conventional one of 'monuments' or 'sites', is one of the main priorities of the present time.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Melina Mercouri