AGORÁ – From Democracy to the Market
Dir: Yorgos AvgeropoulosThe Agorá (Αγορά) was a central area in Ancient Greece city-states. It was a gathering place, an assembly of active citizens, and the City centre for political, economical, athletic, artistic and spiritual life. It was the heart of Democracy. In Modern Greece, the word Agorá has lost its initial sense and it has come to denote solely the place and act of commercial transactions. It is a dominant word in the reality experienced today by Greeks, as the country goes through an economical vortex that devours human lives in its path.
Greece, a symbol for the European civilization because of its Ancient heritage, is experiencing conditions in post-war history that no European thought would face again. Homeless people, soup kitchens, unemployment, poverty, an unsettled social situation, violent conflicts and the rise of the extreme-right. The dream of prosperity has turned into a nightmare and the political scene of the last four decades is crumbling.
Yorgos Avgeropoulos, an internationally acclaimed Greek documentary filmmaker, witnesses the fall. After 13 years of filming global issues around the world, he urgently turns his camera towards his homeland. He records the development of the crisis from its early stage, while tracing its impact on the lives of simple people from all social classes whom he observes over time. He witnesses popular protests in the streets, the development of solidarity movements as well as the rise of fascism, while at the same time he seeks answers from his country’s most significant political personalities, from insiders, analysts and key decision makers from the international political scene.
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- Official site: http://agorathedoc.com/
- Duration: 117min / 90min / 2 x 48min
- Available in the following languages: English | French | German | Spanish | Greek
- Available versions: English (117min / 90min / 2 x 48min) | French (117min / 90min / 2 x 48min) | German (117min / 90min / 2 x 48min) | Spanish (117min / 90min / 2 x 48min) | Greek (117min / 90min / 2 x 48min)
- Year of production: 2015
- Written, Produced and Directed: Yorgos Avgeropoulos
- Producers: Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Anastasia Skoubri
- Co-Producers: Jutta Krug (WDR), Rawan Damen (AJA)
- Main Picture: Yiannis Avgeropoulos, Vasilis Mourikis
- Picture: Kostis Nikolopoulos, Yiannis Biliris, Alexis Barzos, Anastasia Skoubri, Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Alexandros Mavropoulos, Yorgos Santamouris, Yiannis Chlebakos, Michalis Gripiotis, Theofilos Dadis
- Music: Yiannis Paxevanis
- Editing: Vasilis Magos, Thodoris Popeskou
- Research: Yorgos Avgeropoulos, Thomais Papaioannou, Marina Demertzian, Elena Apostolidou, Mahi Nikolara, Andreas Vagias, Georgia Anagnou, Marios Dionellis, Michalis Gripiotis
- Production Assistant: Eleni Gioti
- Color Correction: Vasilis Magos
- Sound Mix: Thodoris Popeskou
- Aerial Videography: Christos Giatrakos - Hexateam
- Steadycam: Kostas Tangas
- Archival Footage: The Hellenic National Audiovisual Archive, SKAI TV, Hellenic Parliament Television, Journeyman Pictures, European Union, Deutscher Bundestag
- Web Editor: Eleni Gioti
- Web Design & Development: Christos Chantzis, Christos Lezos
- World Sales / Distribution: Thierry Detaille, Visible Films - Belgium | Anastasia Skoubri, Small Planet - Greece
ROCKIE AWARD
Banff World Media Festival
Banff, Canada
June 2016
GOLD HUGO AWARD
Chicago International Film Festival TV Awards
Chicago, USA
April 2016
OTTO BRENNER SPECIAL AWARD
Otto Brenner Foundation
Berlin, Germany
November 2015
BEST DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Los Angeles Greek Film Festival
Los Angeles, USA
June 2015
BEST PITCHED PROJECT AWARD
Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels - FIPA Industry
Biarritz, France
January 2014
Stills [zip / 8 jpg / 7,5 Mb]
Poster (GR) [jpg / 2,7 Mb]
Poster (EN) [jpg / 2,7 Mb]
DIRECTOR’S NOTE
For the last 13 years I am travelling the world, filming and bringing to the audience images of an unjust world, dark, tortured, and very often dangerous. I have confronted human despair, hunger, misery, war and death of any kind. I have exposed the greed of governments and multinational companies, promising “development” while bringing poverty and mayhem. However, I have always found resilience, hope and strength.
Now, I am filming in my own country: What I have witnessed in Africa, Asia or Latin America is now happening in my backyard. Agorá is my personal response to the crisis, a stand I want to make towards injustice. My intention is to give voice to people that cannot be heard.
Since the start of the crisis in 2010, my team of seven people and me have started filming every significant event related to the current crisis, focusing on people’s lives, approaching characters from different social classes, witnessing how their lives are changing as time passes by and how the crisis affects them or not. At the same time, we are following the dramatic timeline of the crisis itself, seeking answers from key decision makers, politicians or insiders, in Greece and the rest of the world, recording the parallel rise of fascism and solidarity movements.
The film becomes a quest for the initial meaning of Agorá. In Ancient Athens, it was the womb of Democracy. Today, in Modern Greek, the word Agorá has come to simply denote a market place.
