An INDIEBOX Production
with the support of German Consulate, Thessaloniki
Summary
In 1960, a treaty was signed between Greece and Germany that led almost 600.000 Greeks to immigrate and live as workers in the factories and mines of Germany. Descendants of this migration stream, Teo, Aglaia and Vasso, allow us a glimpse of their daily lives and reveal the effects of that massive population movement on the present and the future: the “meeting” of two cultures and the interaction in today’s socio-political developments. Through them we can recognize the undercurrent that drives their lives and connects them, while at the same time we are meeting the third generation of immigrants, who are neither “foreigners”, nor Germans or Greeks, but in a way citizens of the world, freed from the often limited traditional concept of Homeland.
Το 1960, υπογράφεται μια συνθήκη μεταξύ Ελλάδας και Γερμανίας που οδηγεί σχεδόν 600.000 Έλληνες να μεταναστεύσουν και να ζήσουν ως εργάτες στα εργοστάσια και τα ορυχεία της Γερμανίας. Απόγονοι αυτού του μεταναστευτικού ρεύματος, ο Τεό, η Αγλαΐα και η Βάσω μας επιτρέπουν να ρίξουμε μια ματιά στην καθημερινότητά τους και να ανιχνεύσουμε τις αντανακλάσεις αυτής της παρελθοντικής μαζικής μετακίνησης πληθυσμών τόσο στο παρόν όσο και στο μέλλον, τις επιπτώσεις αυτής της «συνάντησης» των δύο πολιτισμών και την επίδρασή της στη σημερινές κοινωνικοπολιτικές εξελίξεις. Μέσα από το βλέμμα τους μπορούμε να αναγνωρίσουμε το υπόγειο ρεύμα που οδηγεί τις ζωές τους και τους συνδέει, ενώ ταυτόχρονα συναντάμε την τρίτη γενιά μεταναστών, που δεν είναι «ξένοι», ούτε Γερμανοί, ούτε Έλληνες, αλλά κατά κάποιον τρόπο πολίτες του κόσμου, απελευθερωμένοι από την συχνά περιορισμένη παραδοσιακή έννοια της Πατρίδας.
Scriptwriter / Director Lydia Konsta
Researcher Dorothea Scharf Loufakis
Producer Apostolos Karoulas
Cinematographer George Kogias
Editor Vasso Floridi
Sound Recordist & Designer Tasos Karadedos
Music Composer Mimis Nikolopoulos
Titles & Graphic Designer Panagiotis Giorgakas
Assistant Director Zacharias Katikaridis
DoP Assistant Apostolos Karoulas
Colorist Menelaos Primerakis
For full cast & crew you can visit our film site or Imdb page
Director’s statement
Time fades not only photos but also people. What remains is the imprint of history within us all, a trail buried in everyday life. But if this imprint is found, it leads us to an underground vein of memory, beckoning us to dive into the secret inner life of our heroes.
With open questions and a discreet look, we created a space where Teo, Aglaia and Vasso expressed their own voice and recognized the undercurrent that drives their lives and connects them. We interviewed and followed the daily lives of our protagonists, becoming observers of their journeys between Greece and Germany, meeting their parents, siblings and children. We explored and used archive material -songs, books, films from the past and the present- to gain a wider and deeper understanding.
We searched for these hidden aspects of memory and recorded them in a documentary that confronts what is personal and at the same time universal.
#acoupleofyears #feature #documentary #film #gastarbeiters