The Greek crisis and efforts to support vulnerable social groups were the focal point of the ‘Out Here’ Conference, which took place on March 19, 2015, at Olympion, as part of The 17th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival - Images of the 21st Century. Present at the panel discussion were: Spyros Pengas (Deputy Mayor of Tourism and International Relations, as a representative of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, also a member of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival’s Board of Directors), the filmmakers Elisabeth Marjanovic Cronvall and Marta Dauliute (directors of the documentary Crisis Document: A Survival Guide, which will be premiering at this year’s festival), Thekla Malamou (representing the “Caravan Project” initiative) and Anna Maria Kosmoglou (representing the Stavros Niarchos Foundation).
The conference began with the screening of Thomas Kiaos’ documentary Out Here, which was realized on the occasion of the completion of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation's “Initiative against the Crisis” program. The program involves a series of grants to non-governmental organizations in Greece, worth €100 million, which were distributed by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, during the last three years. The program sought to offer relief to vulnerable social groups and to contribute to the creation of circumstances that would help build a better future. In two years, over 220 grants were approved, 180 of which involved Social Welfare and Health, and 38 the areas of Education, the Arts and Culture.
At the beginning of the conference, the director of the Thessaloniki Film Festival and founder and director of the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, Mr. Dimitris Eipidis welcomed guests: “The 17th documentary Festival is approaching its completion. It was a very good year, with an increase in audiences and very good films.” Mr. Eipidis added: “The initiative of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation is very important and offers hope to our society. The documentary Out Here describes the work of the initiative against the crisis. We can also ascertain this from the documentaries that are being screened in our program”.
Following Mr. Eipidis introduction, Thomas Kiaos’ documentary Out Here was screened. The film presents examples of 13 organizations that were supported as part of this emergency relief program of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
In collaboration with the organizations that received grants all around the country, programs were funded to help fight poverty and social exclusion, to support households in debt and to feed vulnerable social groups. At the same time, actions were implemented to deal with unemployment through employment agencies, to provide shelter to homeless people, free health services as well as to promote healthy eating.
After the film’s screening, a discussion took place, which was coordinated by the journalist Maya Tsokli. As Ms. Tsokli noted “One of the first places where the Greek crisis was discussed, when it was still a new issue, was the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival. Today we will talk to people that have made efforts to deal with this crisis”.
Next up were the filmmakers Elisabeth Marjanovic Cronvall and Marta Dauliute, whose film Crisis Document: A Survival Guide, is being screened at this year’s festival. Answering the question of why she came to Greece with her colleague to make a documentary about the crisis, Ms. Marjanovic Cronvall noted: ”We were interested in understanding what the Greek crisis was about. It wasn’t the result of a natural disaster, but rather a financial matter. The idea came to us from a Swedish journalist who was already living in Greece that we worked with in this film. We were also inspired to make this film because of the way Greece was portrayed in Swedish media, mainly in a negative way, saying that Swedish tax-payers were paying for pensions in Greece”. Ms. Dauliute added: “Ultimately, in this film we drew some parallels between Sweden and Greece. We found phenomena that both countries were dealing with – even if on a different scale – like unemployment, for example. Most importantly, we didn’t want to present an “exotic“ image of Greece, but rather what is really going on.”
Afterwards, Mr. Spyros Pengas, Deputy Mayor of Tourism and International Relations of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, referred to the actions taken by the city to deal with the crisis. Mr. Pengas noted: “We, the administration of (mayor) Mr. Boutaris are a product of the crisis. If it weren’t for the crisis, we may not have been voted into office. From the very beginning of our term, until today, what we have tried to do is manage the crisis. Getting the municipality’s finances in order was a priority for us. We wanted to stop spending money on unnecessary luxuries. We mainly tried to move in the direction of collaborations, like our work with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.”
Mr. Pengas added:“Social solidarity is an important parameter of the municipality’s work. We tried to create new social structures, permanent ones, like the homeless shelter, and to feed the poor, which we have achieved with the help of the Church. Our next goal is to continue dealing with the crisis, but to also create prospects for the future. The income that flows into the country through tourism should be distributed to a larger portion of the population. To understand the extent of the crisis, consider that today 7,000 meals are distributed daily by the Metropolis of Neapoli Church, whereas in 2010 the number of meals was 1,300. This is achieved with the help of more than 1,000 volunteers. It’s clear that the existing structures of the government and the municipality alone are not enough to deal with the problem”.
Ms. Thekla Malamou, representing the “Caravan Project”, which was also supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, talked about the initiative. A team of artists traveled to seven Greek cities with two yurts and a trailerhouse and invited people from local communities to participate in a series of cultural and educational activities. Ms. Malamou explained: “We started four years ago aiming to bring to light stories that weren’t being told. We created a team of artists working in documentary, photography and narration and traveled to all of Greece, from the Pomaki villages to Crete and from Mani to Agio Oros. We basically built an ark of human stories. When we began, we were motivated by our need as artists to resist the crisis and bring to the foreground stories of people whose lives were changed by it. We wanted to help redefine people’s systems of values. It’s about common, everyday people that stand out, because they are on their own paths, moving forward with dignity.”
The conference was wrapped up by Ms. Anna Maria Kosmoglou, representing the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, who noted: “At the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, we tried to find actions that would provide immediate relief or benefit the Greek community. Also, we were interested in how all this could go a step further, to motivate and inspire people so these actions would find support beyond our funding. This is a fertile kind of philanthropy, how to sow a seed in society and watch it grow. Many people have benefited from these actions. This became clear from the assessment that was carried out by a consulting company that evaluated the results after three years. But the actions don’t stop now. Looking to the future, we are trying to figure out how additional actions can reap even greater benefits. Essentially, amid the crisis, something positive has transpired, all these efforts of people to help.”
It should be noted that the main beneficiaries of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation's “Initiative against the Crisis” program were children and young people (approximately 190,000), adults (approximately 170,000) and families (approximately 23,000), while the programs also benefited senior citizens, refugees and immigrants, people with disabilities, incurable illnesses or addictions. The 13 organizations that are presented in the documentary Out Here are, in order of appearance: Prolepsis Institute, Boroume,Praksis, Shedia Street Paper, KETHEA Exelixis, Organization Earth, Mobile Medical Units, Children of Spring, PERPATO, Benaki Museum, Center for Talented Youth (Anatolia College), Orange Grove and Impact Hub Athens
