Click here for the trailer!

International campaign for the financial support of a film that supports victims of the economic crisis and social inequality in Greece

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I am not the only one

“Imagine” John Lennon

A Few words about the Project

Takis Bardakos spent four years, three of which he spent unemployed, documenting the lives of Greeks on the streets or Greeks living in dire conditions at home.

He follows a family to their new house in the basement where Filanthi dreams of having a balcony again.

He meets with Costandinos, a former advertising employee at a marketing firm, now unemployed but determined to cook meals for the hungry.

Despite the film crew’s own predicament (they were all unemployed during filming), they dared to make the documentary and now they hope to share it with others. They say this film "is a production of culture and hope, that aims not at producing profit but giving a voice to the silent victims of the humanitarian crisis.”

How I started

Three years ago, I started trying to capture on film with my camera the ones that had fallen, ourselves through a different perspective… because in this crisis, these are the people that need to be seen, these are the voices that need to be heard…

The tough circumstances in our country, Greece, have leveled people and situations and because of it, it is almost impossible to produce film. Unemployment in my industry has reached over 90%

Despite all the obstacles and difficulties however, we dare to try. We are creating a film without any financial support, a truly independent documentary. A production of culture and hope, that aims not at producing profit, but at giving a voice to the silent victims of the humanitarian crisis.

A Contemporary Featute-length Documentary is Born

We are creating a modern feature-length documentary that will have the cinematic quality to be displayed and distinguished at international festivals. A film that has a social message to be discussed and promoted in social networks, to sensitize society and citizens in a movement of solidarity and support for victims of the humanitarian crisis in our country.

Our Plan

The purpose of our effort is not only to showcase the above critical issues, but also to build a large and diverse community of people who care deeply about humanitarian issues and social solidarity, and will join us for what is to be the beginning of a wide humanitarian movement. This is what we want, this is what we’re fighting for. We hope for, and eagerly anticipate your participation.

Supporting the film you will:

• help those experiencing long-term unemployment, poverty, and other impasses to make their voices heard

• become a link in the chain of global solidarity in favor of the poor and weak
 

• unite your voice with all those who abhor injustice and inequality and who are fighting for a better world

Our Project

All contributors have tried through our experience, our knowledge and enthusiasm to produce a film of the highest technical standards and the best aesthetic result. The shooting took place from 2012 to 2015, with dozens of hours of footage, and hundreds of hours of editing, in High quality High-definition HD 1920x1080 format 16/9, with color & B/W photo, STEREO soundtrack, of about 65 minutes in total duration.
 

According to the production plan and with your contribution, the film will be ready in the autumn of 2015.

Where will your funds go? How can you assist?

We are just about to reach the end, and this is the time we need your financial support necessary to complete the editing, work on the titles and subtitling and other detailed editing work that takes place at this stage. This includes original music score, sound “design”, color processing, video-editing and digitization, as well as covering promotional expenses and our participation in international film festivals.

We also intend to purchase the necessary equipment in order for us to continue making movies, as a way to escape the nightmare of idleness and unemployment.

With your support, we will be able to compensate our unemployed fellow workers (more than 15 in number) that have contributed the most in the making of this film for a large amount of time without being paid.

Thank you!

We would like to offer you our warmest thanks for investing your time, we know its precious, reading our story and supporting us. We would like to say a special thank you to the NGO PRAKSIS for embracing our efforts and providing us with the opportunity to reach out to you.  Last, our thanks go out to all those who have worked and keep working with us with no financial gain in this very human effort, and to those friends who have supported us and have helped us reach this point. You are our inspiration in this creation. Thank you!

Your support is what gives this project solidarity and value over and above any monetary worth!!!

If however you are not able to offer any financial support, we understand where you come from. You can however help us in the following ways:

•  Send an email to your friends about the movie. Promote the campaign on your facebook page!

• Help our campaign through your connection with journalists, websites, bloggers and friends who may be interested in becoming sponsors.

• Share our campaign through all your social media platfroms, media and email with your contacts and colleagues!

•Follow us and share our page on facebook

Director's note

All the contributors and partners to the film are high-caliber professionals with extensive experience in film production. I am confident about our potential and abilities. The successful completion of an independent feature length documentary however, involves many other factors that play an important role. The cost is high even when it is a low budget film like ours, one of our biggest challenges is to make a film of 7000 euros, look like a film worth € 37.000! With my 30 years of experience in the industry, particularly in documentary film-making, I can assure you that every euro of your offer, will acquire the value that it needs to achieve the ambitious purposes of the film. The support and help that is provided by the PRAKSIS BCC and the One-up platform, further provides the project with credibility and reduce any risk of failure.

With respect

Director – Director of Photography

Takis G. Bardakos

Our team

Takis Bardakos

Director – Director of Photography has been a Director of photography since 1989 and later as a Director. He has directed an award-winning documentary “Mettallica” 1994) and a series of documentaries “ΜΕΤΑ ΜΟΥΣΕΙΟ” (2010), as well as corporate and music videos. With the breakout of the economic crisis in Greece, he has taken part in social solidarity movements and coordinates in parallel the team of unemployed cinematographers “Square Films”. “Athens from Beneath” is the first feature length move which he has directed under this capacity.

Kostas Iordanides

Kostas is an editor since 1970. He has received an award for the film "Time off" which he directed and also wrote the script for. He works with many Greek directors, editing feature-length movies.

Marios Strofalis

A Music Composer he studied composition, musicology and dramaturgy at the Conservatoire N. Superieur MD de Paris and the University of Paris VIII, France. He is an award-winning soundtrack composer with participation in numerous movies. Over the past 11 years he consistently puts on concerts with his quartet and discography the European Taxim I & II, which are cinematic journeys to ports of the Mediterranean, southern - European Culture.

Theofilos Katsanos

Sound Engineer. He is a professional Electronic, Computer Technician, and a Sound Engineer with 32 years of experience in the Audiovisual area. Theofilos has participated in numerous documentaries, serials, shows, sports, and theater.

Articles about us!

• Ta Nea newspaper on the 6^th of February 2015 entitled “The unseen victims of the crisis”
• The Press Project on 2^nd of January 2015  “The Documentary of the poor”

If you have any further questions about our campaign, please email us at:

[email protected]
 

Or visit our:

website

…and/or our Facebook pages:

Directors Page

Home movie

....and/or Published page Takis  Bardakos from IMDb

Footnote:

All donations are managed by the NGO PRAKSIS. In other words, your financial support is not provided straight to the entrepreneurs as a one-off cash donation. A specific process is followed whereby the entrepreneur receives a pre-agreed amount once s/he has met a specific set of targets. Upon reaching a specific milestone, new funds are released. By managing donations through an independent and credible NGO we ensure that the full amount of the entrepreneur’s funding, is used to maximum effect, that the businessman is held accountable. This allows us to provide continuous updates to each donor on the activities of the entrepreneur and to ensure that the entrepreneur works closely with us. One-up provides information, monitoring and transparency in order to secure that every cent of your donation is used in the most effective manner possible.