Private Project

Displaced. Small Acts of Survival

Two Iranian migrants are suspended in limbo in Patras, Greece, a port suffering high levels of unemployment and economic hardship. This atmospheric documentary traces their small acts of survival alongside those of two unemployed Greek builders coping with poverty.

  • Andrés Ribagorda
    Director
  • Anthony Barlos
    Director
  • Charlotte Burck
    Director
  • Anthony Barlos
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    29 minutes 40 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    February 10, 2020
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    Greece
  • Language:
    English, Modern Greek (1453-), Persian
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Andrés Ribagorda, Anthony Barlos, Charlotte Burck

Andrés Ribagorda is a documentary filmmaker and journalist based in Madrid, Spain. He specialises in short documentary films, which he has made in Spain and abroad. He is studying politics and journalism in Madrid and trained in Documentary Filmmaking at University College London.

Anthony Barlos is a filmmaker and editor based in London. He has produced short documentaries in Greece and the UK for various human rights organisations. He trained in Documentary Filmmaking at University College London.

Charlotte Burck is an experienced family therapist and qualitative researcher turned documentary filmmaker, trained at University College London, with a keen interest in issues of social justice.

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Director Statement

'Displaced' portrays less told stories about migration and poverty in Greece. An observational study of two pairs of friends, Iranian and Greek, it takes place in Patras, a port in Greece.

The two main characters are Iranian migrants who have been in Patras for many months sleeping on the street. Patras is a draw for migrants who attempt to enter lorries illegally to get on board ferries for Italy. The film shows the two friends dealing with daily frustrations and boredom, living in the in-between of both trying to claim asylum and trying to go on further into Europe.

Patras was a thriving industrial city, its factories held in high esteem in Greece and abroad. There are now high levels of unemployment and economic hardship. The film conveys how two Greek builders, one a pensioner, one long term unemployed, find a way to survive poverty through friendship and their relationship to the port.

Greece has particularly suffered from the economic crisis and by the huge influx of migrants who arrive via Turkey, who the rest of Europe are refusing to help. Patras port authorities are currently building a new wall to attempt to keep migrants out of the port with its own effect on Patras residents.

Both sets of friends demonstrate through 'small acts of survival', ways in which they refuse to allow their circumstances to dominate them, finding ways to support each other to sustain themselves.