Films
Films 2010
Alli Opsi: The Third Track
Dimitris Vrakas | Greece | 2009 | 32 min.
In July 2007, inspired by the Swedish organization Rekryteringsgruppen, a group of young people from Thessaloniki founded the non-profit association Alli Opsi (which in Greek means ‘different perspective' or ‘other side'). Alli Opsi primarily organizes training camps addressed to individuals with physical disabilities (mainly quadriplegia, paraplegia or amputation). The goal is to train people with disabilities to reach the highest possible level of self-sufficiency. This is achieved via face-to-face peer support. All instructors have a physical disability themselves and thus set an inspiring example for participants. The film presents training-camp activities blended with the personal experiences of Greek and Swedish instructors and participants in the 3rd Alli Opsi Training Camp, which took place in June 2009 in Kolindros, Pieria.
And Me for Myself
Tzortzis Grigorakis | Greece | 2009 | 20 min.
Antonis always travels by train. He's in a hurry but his recent past catches up with him. He can't cast aside the images that cross his mind. He doesn't give a damn about anything. He depends on his girlfriend as much as he depends on himself and he owes nobody nothing.
Christmas with Angheliki
Elina Traiforou | Greece | 2009 | 6 min.
From movement to stillness, from memory to oblivion, from laughter to sadness, from one Christmas season to the next. This is a film about Angheliki, who changed as time went by, and about time itself that leaves its mark on both body and soul. Angheliki always spent Christmas with us and we regarded her as a member of our family. However, some years ago she was diagnosed with dementia and gradually trivial moments of everyday life began to expand; Christmas was transformed from a birth celebration into a day of mourning. And so, what's left? Images frozen in time, a song, a dance, an embrace, our god of small things. Angheliki is still here, even though she's gone.
Katerina Anghelaki-Rouke
Despoina Karvela | Greece | 2009 | 50 min.
A poet with a very personal, confessional style, Katerina Anghelaki-Rouke began writing about passion, love, loss and nature in 1960. Her most intimate writings are at the same time clearly existential. She makes up her own stories or gives her own versions of well-known myths: Iphigenia refuses to sacrifice herself to prevent the Trojan War, Mary Magdalene considers her story more important than that of Jesus because she fell in love with him, and Alexander the Great discovers that ‘expeditions cannot overpower soil'. She has created a world of her own, Lipiou, where she finds refuge whenever she's sad.
Water Ways
Yianni P. Dracos | Greece | 2009 | 52 min.
Nikos lost his left hand at the age of six due to cancer (Ewing sarcoma). Feeling left out by his schoolmates, he soon understood that he could only integrate into society through sports. ‘Sports were and still remain for me the only way to achieve recognition,' he says.
The sea fascinates him and he starts swimming all year round. He becomes a first-rate swimmer in his category and takes part in many international sporting events. His life is a constant fight against social marginalization and he confidently puts down whoever dares call him handicapped.
