ABOUT
Helen Alexis Yonov is a Latvian-American filmmaker living in Paris, France. She was born in Newport, Rhode Island, and spent much of her childhood there, but her father’s Naval career took her family to Washington, D.C. (1982-84,) Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1984-86,) and Moscow, USSR/Russia (1990-92.) Her experiences living and traveling overseas created an appreciation for different cultures and foreign cinema, which influenced her decision to move to Paris in 2011.
Alexis earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Creative Writing from Emerson College in 2001. She then moved to Los Angeles and immediately began working as a Set Production Assistant in Hollywood on big budget movies: Seabiscuit, Garfield (2nd Unit,) Along Came Polly, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Little Black Book, Taxi (2nd Unit,) Rumor Has It…, Bewitched, Constantine (2nd Unit,) War of the Worlds, Elizabethtown, RENT, Just Like Heaven, Superman Returns (L.A. Unit,) Big Momma's House 2 (2nd Unit,) Pirates of the Caribbean II (I.L.M. Unit,) Waist Deep, and Nobel Son, as well as the pilot for My Name is Earl.
In 2008, Alexis began Empyreal Films, LLC, under which she wrote and directed the award-winning short film, The Weight of It, which was produced by Andrea Fellers. The film premiered at the Academy Award-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival and won the Festival Choice Award at the Paso Robles Digital Film Festival. It also screened at the Downtown Film Festival - Los Angeles, the Oenovideo Film Festival in Nuits-Saint-Georges, France, and The Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival.
Alexis has continued working with producer Andrea Fellers and is Co-Executive Producer on Fellers’ feature film, The Truth About You. Alexis is currently in development on several projects.
IN DEVELOPMENT
In The Shadow of the Storm
Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Cold War, In the Shadow of the Storm is a feature length documentary about the cyclical nature of one man’s life, Captain Serge Alexis Yonov. The film follows Captain Yonov from when he and his family fled the Soviet invasion of Latvia in 1944 through his geo-political career in the United States Navy and to his ultimately becoming the last U.S. Naval Attaché to the Soviet Union and first Naval Attaché to Russia. His last diplomatic tour finally afforded him the opportunity to search for his family, whom he believed were still in Latvia, as well as bear witness to the fall of Communism while he - along with his wife and daughter - were in Moscow in August of 1991. During a military and diplomatic career that covered most of the World, Serge’s most important journey was his leaving Latvia for America and his return to his homeland in 1991.
Treatment by: Helen Alexis Yonov
Producer: Helen Alexis Yonov
Executive Producer: Gail Yonov Root
Untitled Film
After the 2015 November Paris Attacks, four women - two French and two expatriates - experience the following hours, days, and weeks through their individual perspectives.
Treatment by: Helen Alexis Yonov
Producer: Helen Alexis Yonov
L'Océan
When Julie finds transparent slides that were taken in the 1950s in a Paris antique store, she becomes obsessed with the woman in the photographs. After discovering that they were taken in Le Conquet, a small fishing village in Brittany, Julie takes a trip to the village in order to find the woman. However, she learns that she died several years earlier. Through the help of town locals, she is introduced to the woman's granddaughter, Camille, who looks exactly like her grandmother. As they get to know one another, Julie soon learns that Camille has been verbally abused by her mother since she was a child. Her only support has been her cousin Anne and her best friend Dominique. With their help, Camille gains the courage to leave the small village and her mother's control behind.
Written by: Helen Alexis Yonov
Producer: Helen Alexis Yonov
The Burden of Light
When an American woman (Anu) inherits a mysterious abandoned apartment from her great aunt Hélène, newly discovered love letters reveal clues to a secret life Anu longs to uncover. As she prepares to sell the apartment, Anu slowly discovers the truth about the woman she thought she knew and learns about the events that led up to her great aunt's sudden departure from France many years ago.
Written by: Helen Alexis Yonov
Producer: Andrea Fellers and Helen Alexis Yonov
Executive Producer: Gail Yonov Root
In the Shadow of the Storm image designed by Jef Bredemeier/photograph by Cameron Kirby;
Untitled Film photograph by Volkan Olmez; L'Océan photograph by Patrick Fore;
The Burden of Light photograph by Helen Alexis Yonov
