AGORÁ – From Democracy to the Market

Greece descents into economic and social chaos. The human toll, rising extremism, and collapse of political ideals are more than evident in a nation once hailed as the cradle of European civilization.

117min
90min
2X48 min

2015

Full HD

Directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos

ROCKIE AWARD, Banff World Media Festival, Banff, Canada, June 2016

AGORÁ – From Democracy to the Market

Greece descents into economic and social chaos. The human toll, rising extremism, and collapse of political ideals are more than evident in a nation once hailed as the cradle of European civilization.

117min / 90min / 2 x 48min    2015     Full HD

Directed by Yorgos Avgeropoulos

ROCKIE AWARD, Banff World Media Festival, Banff, Canada, June 2016

SYNOPSIS

The 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.

 

For further information visithttps://agorathedoc.com/

“I watched your film with great interest and often with intense emotion. It is a serious and important film, which depicts the terrible times that the Greek people are going through. Your film is a historical fact. I hope that change will come soon.”

 
 
Costas Gavras

Director of Academy-awarded “Z”

MORE REVIEWS
  • CORRIERE DEL TRENTINO: La Grecia di Avgeropoulos «Se il mio Paese fallisce allora l’Europa non ha senso», by Francesco Cargnelutti, CORRIERE DEL TRENTINO newspaper (in Italian)
    La Grecia di Avgeropoulos «Se il mio Paese fallisce allora l’Europa non ha senso»

    31.05.2015
    Francesco Cargnelutti

    Trento «Se la Grecia dovesse essere lasciata fallire, allora l’Unione Europea dimostrerebbe di essere un progetto vuoto. Il default greco causerebbe quindi la fine di questo progetto». E il regista greco Yorgos Avgeropoulos a ribadire la necessità di trovare un accordo tra il suo Paese e l’ex troika per porre fine alla questione greca. Lo ha fatto, a modo suo, presentando ieri a Trento il documentario Agora nel corso della seconda giornata del Festival dell’Economia. Avgeropoulos è noto soprattutto per la serie di documentari Exandas, che ha fatto conoscere ai greci la povertà, i conflitti e l’instabilità politica di molti Paesi. «Con Agorà -spiega — ho deciso, invece, di raccontare il mio Paese. L’obiettivo è duplice. Primo, fare in modo che i greci si ricordino ciò che sta succedendo. Secondo, mostrarlo a un pubblico straniero, per fare in modo che capisca che tutto questo potrebbe accadere anche in altri Paesi dell’Europa mediterranea». Cosa si vede nel documentario? «Ciò che è successo in Grecia tra 2010 e 2014 — racconta il regista — anni in cui ho seguito persone comuni per documentare gli effetti della politica dell’austerità sulle loro vite». Difficile capire, secondo Avgeropoulos, se i partner europei e il governo di Alexis Tsipras riusciranno a trovare un accordo. Anche se fanno ben sperare le pressioni che arrivano anche dagli Stati Uniti, impegnati in una partita geostrategica con la Russia. «Sono certo — dice — che quella dell’austerità non è l’Europa che tutti noi abbiamo sognato. La maggior parte dei greci credono ancora in un progetto europeo. Ma non l’Europa in cui la democrazia è stata sacrificata sull’altare del mercato e di una politica neoliberale alla quale da gennaio si sta opponendo il governo di Tsipras». Avgeropoulos non è ingenuo e sa che, anche se si dovesse arrivare a una soluzione soddisfacente per la Grecia, per dare stabilità al Paese bisogna partire dalle sue fondamenta. «La madre di tutti i problemi greci è duplice — dice — Da una parte la corruzione tra le più alte sfere della società, e dall’altra un rapporto con la politica dominato da una mentalità clientelare». «In questi anni — conclude — i Greci stanno riscoprendo quella solidarietà e quella passione per la politica che spero portino ad estirpare questi mali».

  • RADIO POPOLARE: Radio show Tempi Supplementari, RADIO POPOLARE – Milan (in Italian)
    Listen Here
  • DEUTSCHE WELLE: Agora on German Public Television, overview by DEUTSCHE WELLE (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • HAUS DES DOKUMENTARFILMS: Untrustworthy – Agora, From Democracy to the Market, overview by HAUS DES DOKUMENTARFILMS (in German)
    Read the article
  • MASTER AUDIOVISUEL DE PARIS-SORBONNE: Agora by Yorgos Avgeropoulos, overview by MASTER AUDIOVISUEL DE PARIS-SORBONNE (in French)
    Read the article
  • LIBÉRATION: Greece: The first victim of the crisis is Democracy, Yorgos Avgeropoulos interview, LIBÉRATION newspaper (in French)
    Read the article
  • AVGI: Let us overcome the state of rage, Yorgos Avgeropoulos interview, AVGI newspaper (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON:
    Audiences in Europe come out the cinema theaters in a state of shock, Yorgos Avgeropoulos interview, EFIMERIDA TON SYNTAKTON newspaper (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • TVXS: Yorgos Avgeropoulos talks about Agora, the crisis and the elections, Yorgos Avgeropoulos interview, TVXS (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • VICE: Yorgos Avgeropoulos filmed the chronicle of the Greek crisis, Yorgos Avgeropoulos interview, VICE (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • POPAGANDA: 4 years of Greek dystopia in 120 minutes, Yorgos Avgeropoulos interview, POPAGANDA (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • EUROKINISSI TV: Audiences abroad are astonished when they see what has happened in Greece Yorgos Avgeropoulos interview, EUROKINISSI TV (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • ERT3 TV: AGORA by Yorgos Avgeropoulos in Thessaloniki, ERT3 TV (in Greek)
    Watch the video
  • O DROMOS TIS ARISTERAS: The crisis through the lens of Yorgos Avgeropoulos, by Ifigeneia Kalantzi, O DROMOS TIS ARISTERAS (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • EXOSTIS: Beyond the Screen – Greece of Shame and Hope, by Antonis Lagarias, EXOSTIS (in Greek)
    Read the article
  • ELEFTHEROTYPIA: New film follows the transformation of the Agora from democracy to the market, ELEFTHEROTYPIA (in English)
    Read the article

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MAIN CREDITS

Written, Produced & Directed By: YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS

Producers: ANASTASIA SKOUBRI AND YORGOS AVGEROPOULOS

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

A SMALL PLANET PRODUCTION ©2014-2015 IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH WDR & AJA