The fraught road towards multiculturalism
The fraught road towards multiculturalism
The financial crisis still plaguing Greece has had effects that range from a rise in the rate of suicide to elderly citizens being thrown to the proverbial ‘wolves.’ After the government failed to uphold prior promises, such as Social Security payments, the people of Greece have been left to largely fend for themselves while the administrators responsible for the upheaval fail to suffer the consequences. The situation is not particularly unique to Greece. The only difference for Greece is that their limited size, and thus limited bargaining power, has forced them to reckon with the consequences of their leaders’ recklessness. Yet, the situation is not markedly different in the United States or elsewhere in Europe. In fact, between the years of 2008 and 2011, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Spain were such common topics of discussion throughout the 24-hour news cycle that it became necessary to develop an acronym. Thus PIIGS was born. Investopedia describes PIIGS as "an acronym for five of the most economically weak eurozone nations during the European debt crisis that started in 2008-2009: Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain."
Dire economic straits has affected the film community in Greece. In response, they have developed an artistic voice that is particular to the country. Taking advantage of the world’s appetite for things related to Greek, contemporary filmmakers are upending our traditional notions of what it means to be Greek and what it means to live in Greece. The first film from the upcoming Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, is entitled Europe. Europe, a wordless documentary about the refugee and migrant crisis, challenges assumptions made about what it means to be European and what kind of individuals populate the continent. Interactions between migrants and western locals have been marked with strife and conflict. In Europe, we see the migrant crisis unfold without the help of a narrator, without interviews, and without commentary from the artists. What you see is what you get and pairing the title of Europe onto images of the desperate and the ‘foreign,’ speaks volumes. Before screening Europe, most of prior awareness with regards to all things ‘European’ came from pop cultural products that mined Europe for luxury and affluence. In Hollywood blockbusters, like the James Bond franchise, the weight of European history is employed to create images of wealth and success. However, in Europe we see a much different picture. Instead, this mask begins to fray as we see refugees struggle to find acceptance in a resistant European Union. The philosophy informing the thematic structure of Europe lies in the classic myth of Europa’s rape and her fall into the sea. No Crete is waiting for Zeus in love and beautiful Europa. Only the sea. Filmmaker Stavros Stratigakos juxtaposes the creeping approach toward nihilism and death, all found in our current era, with the nightmare of a young refugee girl from the future. All of Europe's prior Enlightenment conquests now take on a cosmic joke. Despite vanquishing the world and "civilizing it," they still remain cold to the plight of those they harmed. The film thus argues that the body politic of Europe have revealed themselves to be inept at managing the social sphere and possibly apathetic to questions of life and death. Civilization and progress for hundreds of years, and still the basic question of where to call home is being asked by too many.
In Happy Birthday, a film that boasts beautiful cinematography and fantastic performances to match. Happy Birthday opens with a squad of riot police officers celebrating the birthday of one of their most beloved, Yorgos. Happy Birthday continues to examine the racial tensions of a Greece that has been faced with the task of handling refugees amidst a financial crisis. Writer-director Christos Georgiou sets the primary conflicts plaguing Europe generally against the backdrop of a tight family dynamic. Yorgos, a riot officer, is forced to deal with the rebelliousness of his young daughter, Margarita. Over the course of the film, the father and the daughter have to learn to reckon with where the other is coming from. After all, so much political strife and governmental failings throughout Greek’s tumultuous history has forced “the family” to provide stability that would otherwise be left to the purview of the state and the social safety net.
In Aria, the theme of family and the conflicts that brew from multicultural cohesion—or the lack thereof—continues. Aria is about to continue her driving lessons with her father Petros. These are the concerns that any other seventeen-year old in the western world could relate to. However, the situation begins to take on a different dimension when they’re forced to reckon with the presence of a foreigner who knows nor English or Greek. Aria’s father, Petros, deals in the business of smuggling human migrants past borders and controls, and forging their papers. Aria documents how the Greek youth are faring amidst the refugee crisis. On the surface, it seems that Aria represents the average Greek whose apparently predetermined existence has been upended by forces beyond their control. But at a deeper level, Aria shows how society’s failings leave an impression upon the youth. An impression that foretells massive unemployment, a world where the recession and geopolitical events have undermined the status quo, and the government exists to enrich itself at the expense of the people. One of cinema's principal advantages is that it can train its point of view onto an individual and if you can begin to see the world from their eyes, you can understand how their choices have shaped them. Petros' decision to capitalize on the migrant crisis reveal the ways in which black markets spring up in the aftermath of governmental vacuums. Globalization and modernity have connected the world, allowing for the free flow of ideas, capital, and trade. However, restrictions remain for labor. While financial elites and other multinational conglomerates have benefited handsomely from the churn of worldwide integration and automated processes, human beings have to resort to extreme methods of travel in order to circumvent the outdated laws that government immigration and travel. These laws remain stubborn even in the face of war and dire poverty.
All of these themes come to a head in the rather illuminating documentary, Golden Dawn Girls, by Håvard Bustnes. Bustnes’ film is strangely topical and relevant speaks to the complexity of Greece in a world shaken by the financial crisis. Golden Dawn Girls largely follows a triumvirate compromised of three women: Dafni Iliopoulou, mother of imprisoned Golden Dawn member Panagiotis Iliopoulou; Ourania Michaloliakou, the outspoken daughter of party leader Nikos Michaloliakos; and finally Evgenia Christou-Germenis, who is married to Golden Dawn politician, Giorgos Gemenis.
All three women, who demonstrate a strong streak of independence and female empowerment, are defined in relation to the men in their lives. As mothers, daughters, and wives, they prove to be far more effective at getting the message of Golden Dawn out to the Greek people. At one point in the film, they campaign door-to-door themselves. This is an impressive feat considering the expansive scope that they intend to, and successfully to, cover. What’s remarkable about Golden Dawn Girls is the contradictions at the heart of the film. The women are eager to step into the spotlight when their husbands are indicted and charged for crimes that, frankly, are loosely defined within the context of the film. One of the most frightening things about Golden Dawn Girls is how, to borrow a phrase from philosopher Arendt, banal and boring some of these characters. Director Bustnes makes the controversial decision to avoid dissecting the ideology behind Golden Dawn deeply. Instead, he trains his gaze on the personalities behind the political movement. Doing so grants him the ability to see the family dynamics and the personalities behind one of Europe’s premier and most successful right-wing parties. The family exists to provide a familiar display of support and stability to the family in Golden Dawn Girls. The family, and the women in the family, are eager to play this role even when doing so means advocating for positions rooted in traditionalist policies that often lead to the subjugation of women.
Behind this fascinating drama, the refugee crisis is still present. In fact, many of the players in Golden Dawn Girls are eager to support the roguish spirit of Golden Dawn and white nationalism because they represent protests to a system that has failed them. This includes the “onslaught” of immigrants that Greece has welcomed, like the Pakistani man that Panagiotis assaults in the marketplace. Golden Dawn members, when pressed with the opportunity to remove their associations with the Nazis of Germany, hold their ground. Much like the Confederate flag for white Americans disappointed with the tides of modernity, Golden Dawn officials throughout the film are eager to wrap themselves up in something with toxic symbolism precisely for its inherent toxicity. Nevertheless, when confronted with examples of the horrors committed in the names of these symbols, they shirk. Golden Dawn Girls upends the traditional notion of white hegemony by following women who embrace the cause for reasons rooted in family, a sense of self-respect, and nationalism. In framing the women with such frankness, we empathize with their situations in ways that may prove to be frightening in the long-run.
These four films call into question whether a multicultural world can be possible. The world is entering a phase where it has seen the largest reduction in global poverty in centuries. The financial crisis of ten years ago has subsided though the poor and middle classes have not yet felt the effects of recovery. Thus it becomes a legitimate topic of discussion whether individuals of different languages, backgrounds, and cultures can peacefully coexist when there is such a troubling fight over scarce resources. Against this debate over economic inequality, the migrant situation remains a focal point. International treaties, trade organizations, and government lobbies exist to ensure the safe passage of capital from one region of the world to the next. And yet, with the spread of media and capital, there has not been a similar freeing of travel and passage. Labor is not free to roam across borders and this has created a fraught situation. All these films present audiences with this context, but they also ask something of the audience. They ask audiences to peer behind the veneer of nationalism. That’s the thing about othering: it shirks responsibility and shifts it to others, while it fails to answer the deeper questions that illuminate us about ourselves.