Isabelle Eberhardt

Mathilda May (Day of the Jackal, Lifeforce) stars as Isabelle Eberhardt in the extraordinary story of the short life of a young journalist who became enmeshed in the politics of the annexation of Morrocco from Algeria at the turn of the twentieth century. Celebrated throughout North Africa and Europe as a writer, adventurer and lover her life flashed like a brilliant star across the dark skyline.  

Born in 1877, Eberhardt was the daughter of an aristocratic Russian mother and an Armenian-born father who was an ex-priest and anarchist. Aged 20, she traveled to North Africa with her mother, where they both converted to Islam. The sudden deaths of her parents followed by the suicide of her half-brother severed ties to her former life. From that time on, Eberhardt traveled through North Africa dressed as a man and going by the name ' Mahmoud Essadi', wandering from Marseilles to Tunis and Algeria from 1899 to 1904 and eventually joining a Sufi sect in Algeria. 

Directed by Ian Pringle and starring Peter O'Toole (Lawrence of Arabia, The Last Emperor) and Richard Moir (The Odd Angry Shot, In Search of Anna)  Isabelle Eberhardt is an inspiring celebration of an idiosyncratic free spirit and pioneering cultural nomad – an intimate, true story of a dreamer who yearned for more than just fame.