Experiencing Interruptions?

Trapped

In September 2016 I set off to the island of Cyprus, where every Autumn the largest massacre of songbirds in Europe takes place. Caught in mist nets and branches covered in glue, their fragile throats slit, bodies boiled and pickled, to be served on the island as an expensive delicacy known as Ambelopoulia. My plan? To join a group of environmental activists that go by the name of CABS, who have been fighting for a decade to put an end to this practice.

  • Greta Santagata
    Director
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Short
  • Genres:
    Environmental
  • Runtime:
    13 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 1, 2017
  • Production Budget:
    0 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Cyprus
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • International Film Festival of Ménigoute
    Ménigoute
    France
    October 31, 2017
    World
    Best Short Film
  • Festival de l'oiseau
    Abbeville
    France
    Special Mention
  • International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF)
    Missoula
    United States
    April 14, 2018
    North America
    Official Selection
  • Ekotop Film Festival

    Slovakia
    April 30, 2018
    Official Selection
  • International Nature Film Festival Gödöllő

    Hungary
    May 25, 2018
    Official Selection
  • Matsalu wildlife film festival
    Tallin
    Estonia
    Estonia
    Official Selection
  • Innsbruck Nature Film Festival
    Innsbruck
    Austria
    October 11, 2018
    Austria
    Official Selection
  • Rotterdam Nature Film Festival
    Rotterdam
    Netherlands
    October 25, 2018
    Netherlands
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Greta Santagata

Greta has always tried to balance her life between art and science. Having attended Art College in Italy, and then completed her university studies in Neuroscience in the UK, she eventually chose to become a filmmaker to combine the two: use the beauty of the moving image to rigorously convey complex information.

So when she was 25 she picked up a camera and a microphone and taught herself how to make and edit films. Believing strongly in the power of storytelling, film is for her the best way to transmit information, and this belief is what led her to transform a hobby into a profession.

Now her love for the natural world is what guides her in finding the most pressing stories about environmental crime and wanting to uncover them. Often following activist groups involved in the fight against animal poaching and trafficking, her interests span various topics, including conservation, climate change, habitat destruction and pollution.

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Director Statement

This is a film that happened almost by accident. I never planned to make this film - I was only going to Cyprus to learn more about illegal wildlife trade in birds and understand the scale of poaching on the island. The only things I took with me were a little photographic camera with a single fixed 35mm lens. No microphone, no tripod.

Before I knew it, I was sucked into this unbelievable story about mafia-like criminal gangs, corruption, police, intimidation and violence. I knew then that I needed to start shooting no matter the dangers and record everything I saw as this may be the only chance we have of stopping the massacre.