Battlefield. Claiming Agios Panteleimonas Square.
A multimedia film (14.31’) on the neighbourhood of Agios Panteleimonas in Athens during times of hatred for the Prism GR2011 project.
Until the 60s, it used to be one of the most beautiful areas in the center of Athens. Today, Agios Panteleimonas Square, with the commanding Orthodox Church, has turned into an unofficial war zone among certain Greeks and the rapidly increasing immigrant population, and a neighborhood of poverty and violence.
During the 90s, many legal and illegal immigrants flocked to this area in search of cheap accommodation. As the years passed and the number of immigrants kept increasing, with many of them sleeping around the square or squatting abandoned houses, the Greeks got wary of their presence and conflict began.
In 2008, citizen patrols appeared, using violence to repel the immigrants with the motivation and support of extreme right-wing groups . The message sent to the foreigners was sharp and clear: they were not wanted.
In the past 5 years, the once only sporadic incidents against immigrants gradually became more frequent and more violent; the streets around the square are no longer safe for dark-skinned people.
Hatred has become deeply rooted, and the opposing sides are trapped in a gridlock with no common ground.
Red Light. Women for sale.
A multimedia film (10.51’) on sex trafficking in Athens for the The Prism GR2011 project.
The illegal trade in people with the purpose of sexually exploiting them is a modern form of slavery. Sexual trafficking is a very lucrative business for criminal networks that encourage mostly immigrant women to enter a country, only to hold them hostage.
The rules of the game are harsh, women find themselves pushed to prostitution and the sex industry by traffickers through false promises, physical abuse and blackmail. With Greece being at the crossroads between continents, immigrant women are trafficked into the country from parts of the world as diverse as Africa, Asia or Eastern Europe.
The girls, helpless, get stuck in Athens or in rural towns with little hope of getting out. While there are a number of organizations addressing the issue, either by supporting the physically and psychologically traumatized girls or by persecuting their abusers, there is little doubt that the clients who fuel the sex industry bear a significant amount of the responsibility. It is that realization that brings the harsh reality of sex slavery much closer to our own lives.
Trailer
Videography for the feature documentary film connected to the Prism GR2011 project, a collective documentation of Greece created with DSLR cameras during 2010-11.
Krisis is a feature documentary film that fuses the material collected during the filming of The Prism GR2011. It is the synthesis of the different stories narrated in The Prism GR2011, into a feature documentary that explores how Greece and the Greeks are experiencing the crisis, looking into the hearts of the people.
It is also an experiment in collective documentary filmmaking, combining different perspectives on Greece, as seen through the lenses of 14 photojournalists. It echoes the voices of people from all walks of life, in an attempt to tell the story of the Greek crisis through the reflections of the team-members who made The Prism possible.
Cinema Version: 72′
Written & Directed by: Nina Maria Paschalidou & Nikos Katsaounis
Produced by: FOREST TROOP and N-CODED
Cinematography: Aggeliki Aristomenopoulou, Michalis Aristomenopoulos, Yiannis Biliris, Alex Dimitriadis, Gerasimos Domenikos, Pavlos Fysakis, Nikos Katsaounis, Yiannis Kolesidis, Christoforos Loupas, Javer Merelo, Dimitris Michalakis, Giorgos Moutafis, Chryssa Panoussiadou, Nina Maria Paschalidou, Olga Stefatou, Achileas Zavalis
Editing: Thodoris Armaos
Assistant Editor: Konstantinos Tsichritzis
Original score: Spyros and Michalis Moschoutis
Production manager: Eleni Christodoulou
Associate producers: Mariniki Alevizopoulou, Gina Kalovyrna, Elinda Lambropoulou, Danae Leivada
Post production: Dimitris Ladopoulos, Spyros Rasidakis
Producers: Nina Maria Paschalidou, Nikos Katsaounis