Spectres Are Haunting Europe
(Fantasmata planiountai pano apo tin Europi)

A long static shot opens this documentary co-directed by the experimental filmmaker Maria Kourkouta and the poet Niki Giannari, both born in Greece. Laden with baggage, adults and children advance through the mud at a steady pace in the open countryside; they pass in front of the camera, occasionally greeting it. These migrants are Syrian, Kurdish, Pakistani, Afghan and other nationalities. They are heading to the Idomeni refugee camp on the border between Greece and the Republic of Skopje, where they wait to set out on the Balkan route. In a particularly striking aesthetic approach, the film explores their daily life. ML