Agora (film)

Agora
Teaser poster
Directed by	Alejandro Amenábar
Written by	Alejandro Amenábar Mateo Gil
Produced by	Fernando Bovaira Álvaro Augustin
Starring	Rachel Weisz Max Minghella Oscar Isaac
Cinematography	Xavi Giménez
Edited by	Nacho Ruiz Capillas
Music by	Dario Marianelli
Production companies	Telecinco Cinema MOD Producciones Himenóptero
Distributed by	Fox International Productions[1] (Spain; through Hispano Foxfilm S.A.E.[2][3]) Focus Features International (international)[1]
Release date	9 October 2009 (2009-10-09)
Running time	126 minutes
Country	Spain
Language	English
Budget	€50 million
Box office	$39 million

Agora (Spanish: Ágora) is a 2009 English-language Spanish historical drama film directed by Alejandro Amenábar and written by Amenábar and Mateo Gil. The biopic stars Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, a mathematician, philosopher and astronomer in late 4th-century Roman Egypt, who investigates the flaws of the geocentric Ptolemaic system and the heliocentric model that challenges it. Surrounded by religious turmoil and social unrest, Hypatia struggles to save the knowledge of classical antiquity from destruction. Max Minghella co-stars as Davus, Hypatia's father's slave, and Oscar Isaac as Hypatia's student, and later prefect of Alexandria, Orestes.

The story uses historical fiction to highlight the relationship between religion and science at the time amidst the decline of Greco-Roman polytheism and the Christianization of Egypt, Lebanon and the Middle East. The title of the film takes its name from the agora, a public gathering place in ancient Greece, similar to the Roman forum. The film was produced by Fernando Bovaira and shot on the island of Malta from March to June 2008. Justin Pollard, co-author of The Rise and Fall of Alexandria (2007), was the historical adviser for the film.

Agora was screened out of competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival in May, and opened in Spain on 9 October 2009 becoming the highest-grossing film of the year for that country. Although the film had difficulty finding distribution, it was released country by country throughout late 2009 and early 2010. The film received a 53% overall approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes and seven Goya Awards in Spain, including Best Original Screenplay. It was awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize at the Hamptons International Film Festival.