Films & Documentaries
Kalesis, Theodoros (2003)
Freddy
Documentary. Production: Video Colour 30' Greece.
An anthropocentric story grounded in the much discussed issue of immigration. The parallel courses of two friends: Theo, a young Greek man who is working as a male stripper and Antonis/Freddy, who is an Albanian and works as a clown, meet each other and develop a friendship with a hint of magic realism. Their attempt to invade the theatre of everyday life, to offer and to receive, is their common ground "When I was 16 years old I came to Salonica on foot, and now, at the age of 24, I am returning to Albania on foot once again, dressed as that which I became in Greece: a clown.
Legaki, Kalliopi (2003)
Old and new refugees in Keratsini
Documentary. Production: ERT S.A., Cinetic Video Colour, 50' Greece.
In 1922, Keratsini became home to Greek refugees driven out of Smyrna, the Sea of Marmara and Constantinople by the Turks. These people were treated with prejudice by the indigenous population, suffered poverty and hardships, but finally succeeded in constituting the most dynamic and vital section of the Greek population. In 1992, new refugees, from Albania, Georgia, Uzbekistan, India, Iraq and other countries, settled in Keratsini and tried to make a new life for themselves. (From the TV series "Paraskinio").
Katzourakis, Kyriakos (2003)
The way to the west
Documentary. Production: Greek Film Center, NET, Omada Technis Video Colour, 61' Greece.
The film is a combination of documentary and fiction. A woman from the former Soviet Union, Irina, comes to Greece in search of a better life and falls victim to the sex slave trade (trafficking). She wanders around Athens in search of a friend of hers who has disappeared. Her story unfolds through a series of personal confessions. During these moments of reality, Irina is in some way present as a sort of "suffering angel" who comments on the aftermath, indirectly linking the present to the past, the real to the imaginary. The presence of painting in the film emphasizes or illustrates the dreams and nightmares that this intense slice of present-day reality provokes. In other words, the uprooting of millions of people from their homes--history that repeats itself.
Goritsas, Sotiris (2001)
Brazilero
Against the backdrop of a Greek provincial town, the tragicomic adventure of a Greek’s clash with two European auditors regarding the burning question of what finally happened to the European Union subsidy he had received for setting up a cultural centre for immigrants. A clash with unexpected consequences for all. A social satire on life in Greece (and Europe) today.
Tsitos, Filippos (2000)
My sweet home
A collection of tragicomical stories which take place during the failed "Polterabend" (the German traditional party on the night before a wedding) of an American exile and a German woman. Stories about people who have lost their aim in life: what they have, they don't want, and what they want, they'll probably never get. Realizing the absurdity of this trap, they celebrate their misfortune, at least for one night.
My Sweet Home is about the search for a foothold in life, a solid ground to walk on, a place to call home.
Ioannou, Stavros (2000)
Roadblocks
98 minutes In Greek and Kurdish with English subtitles .
In his first feature film, documentarian Stavros Ioannou tells the story of a Kurdish refugee who, after travelling to Athens to search for a missing brother, enters the murky existence of undocumented refugees. We see the difficulties faced by those people forced to the edge of society.
ROADBLOCKS was filmed in Koumoundouros Square in central Athens. Ioannou used a digital video camera, filming almost entirely at night in perpetual streetlight, and thus conveying the marginalized life of not only the Kurds in Koumoundouros but of the many thousands of "illegal" migrants trapped in Europe's transit camps or en route in trucks, trains and unsafe boats.
Kοrras, George and Christos Voupouras (1997)
Miroupafshim
The chance meeting of a thirty-five year-old Greek with a group of Albanian illegal immigrants will awaken him, enrich him spiritually and in a way reshape his personality ideologically.
Goritsas, Sotiris (1993)
From the snow
When the borders between Greece and Albania were redrawn in 1914, a large group of Greek-speaking people were separated from their homeland. Ostracized by the Albanians and without legal status as Greek citizens, an entire community found themselves trapped. In 1990, as the fall of the Albanian regime was fast approaching, the exodus into Greece began. This film follows the journey of a family of strangers as they forge their way back to the land of their dreams.
Syrri, D.: Migration and Nationalities in Greece, 2006
Tonchev, P. (ed.), Asian Migrants in Greece, 2007
Human Rights Documents on Refugees and Migrants
Human Rights Conventions Overview
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 1965
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, 1948
Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, 1994
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, 1995
European Convention for the protection of human rights, 1950