¡UPDATE!

This has been so emotional! The first ever fully funded crowd-funding campaign for a feature film in Greece and the second (after the Cosmonaut) in Europe is a reality because of our supporters.

We want to thank each and every one of you for believing in the project!

If you just found out about Alpha and want to support it, you can do so on our website www.alpha-movie.com

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LOVE AND FOR BELIEVING

NOW IT'S TIME FOR US TO GIVE YOU BACK THE 110% OF OUR BEST SELVES

SEE YOU IN THE (ANCIENT) THEATRES AND THE ALTERNATIVE VENUES OF YOUR CITY !

--------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------

Για να διαβάσετε το παρακάτω κείμενο στα Ελληνικά πατήστε ΕΔΩ !

Para leer el texto abajo en español pulsa ¡ AQUÍ !

SYNOPSIS

A woman -Alpha- is forced to sit and watch her hanged brother rot in the middle of a burned forest, until the authorities decide that she has been punished enough. She will find the strength not only to rebel against this unjust order but also to confront her brother when they meet in the afterlife.

Alpha is a movie inspired by the ancient myth of Antigone and talks about what we are all witnessing and experiencing as consequences of the so-called “crisis”.

We are using an old story, not to reiterate the past, but to explain the present and take a glimpse of the future.

With this film, we want to make our voice heard not only as artists but as active citizens, and share how we are experiencing the “crisis”.

And not only do we want to, but we have to, because this is our duty as active participants in the society we are leaving in.

The world is changing extremely rapidly and what we though we could take for granted is just no longer true.

The same is true in our field, cinema; not only do we believe we must find new ways of communicating with and engaging our audience, but we are actually doing it with this project.

The way we do it is by:

•  Working independently, away from any form of state funding, and directly addressing each audience member asking to support us in any way s/he can.

• Collaborating with art students and young artists, and working with them in all stages of production.

   

• Moving away from the usual path of distribution and bringing the movie with its live orchestra to Ancient Theatres throughout the Mediterranean, as this is the place originally built to host adaptations of the Myths.

• Bringing the movie to cities in Art & Cultural Spaces and Alternative Venues, creating an entire thematic section under the same roof, that begins with cinema and expands to many other art forms (photography, video art, fine art, installation, viral, etc.)

• Organising daily talks and meetings with important speakers, so that the audience is not just a passive receiver but an active participant in the issues touched by the Myth today.

• Making the movie available online and for FREE under a Creative Commons License, after the Ancient Theatre Tour and the first round of the "Thematics" in Arts & Cultural Centres is over.

We do not think of the movie as an experience that when viewed fades away, but as an excuse, a triggering event, a reason to ignite an artistic conversation and a literal dialogue with everyone interested.

This is the way we feel cinema should function. Food for thought, motivating each and every one of the viewers to make his own self-examination, by providing the stimulus. The more multifaceted the stimulus, the better; hence the diversification of the film into as many forms of art and dialogue as possible, in order to get together and communicate, feel what it means to be living in a time of change, of crisis and of hope.

If we are going to make a movie inspired by an Ancient Myth, we might as well do it as it was originally intended to be done;

as a conversation starter!

We envision these events being not only of local -Greek- importance, but of international significance; these thematic events will travel worldwide and trigger an exploration of what it means to 're-read' the myth of Antigone today, in a period of world economic, but more importantly, social turmoil.

Just as it happened in the theatre of Dionysus in Athens, 2453 years ago, when the social and economic order of the world was again collapsing and the city of Athens, was in grave danger.

HOW WE FUND THIS MOVIE

The way we cover our budget (196,000€) is as follows:

• The main artistic team (Screenwriter, Director, Photographer, Production Designer, Composer, Actors) and the communication team, capitalise our work.

• Our co-producers, Imagina Pictures, provide all the necessary editing and post-production equipment and facilities, for both image and sound.

• Imagina Pictures also provides the camera and related shooting equipment.

All of the above constitute 40% of the budget (69,000€).

What is left for us to cover :

• The crew fees

• The catering

• Special equipment (steadicam, crane, hexacopter)

• 3D animation & visual effects

The above constitute another 40% of the budget (70,000€).

We cover this part with private sponsorships.

The remaining 20% (57,000€) is the Production Design cost.

This is an essential part of the movie because the aesthetics of the image need to be treated with great care.

• This is the part we want to cover with crowd-funding.

• This is the part in which you are actually contributing to the final look of the picture.

• This is the part in which we are asking for your help.

We hope you will become our fellow traveler during this difficult but exciting journey.

Thank you for reading this and thank you for helping us!

WHAT IS THE MYTH ABOUT?

 Antigone is the daughter of King Oedipus.

King Creon, who is now the ruler of Thebes, demands that the body of her dead brother Polynices be left unburied and eaten by predators. Whoever does not comply with his orders, will face immediate execution. Antigone will defy this unjust order and bury her dead brother, thus losing her life, but coming to terms with her feelings and her inner sense of justice, regardless what the Authority says.

There is no need to point out the relevance of the myth of Antigone with the current political and socio-economic status quo. In this new world order governed by numbers and economic indicators, an invisible King Creon has not only invaded our lives, but is gaining power day by day. Few dream of taking an active stand against him, while most of us conform to his irrational and inhuman demands.

AND WHAT IS THE MOVIE ABOUT?

The movie is set in a not-so-far-away future, revolving around a conformed bourgeois woman, Alpha, and her “terrorist” -by the state's standards- brother, the Fugitive.

The Fugitive asks Alpha for shelter but she refuses to provide it, fearing that her controlled life is being put in danger. Things turn out wrong for both, as the Fugitive is eventually captured and executed and Alpha arrested.

Alpha is taken to the Forest, where the authorities throw the castaways and the condemned. She has to stay there with her hanged brother, until they decide she had been punished enough.

Our take on the myth focuses on two points that have been left untouched and which, in a way, are what makes the myth even more relevant today.

First of all, in the myth, we see Antigone ready to sacrifice her life for what she feels just. Our Antigone, Alpha, has not reached that point. In fact, she is at the exact opposite, like the vast majority of people, who are living conservatively, living in fear, living because King Creon permits it and that's enough for them. We will see Alpha gradually losing everything, even her fear, and thus becoming ready to set herself free.

We will witness the birth of an Antigone, rather than just see her in action.

Second of all, them myth ends when Antigone loses her life. We never get to know what happened when she met her beloved brother in Hades. What did Antigone say to Polynices after losing her life for him? Who knows?

In our story, Alpha and the Fugitive will get the chance to meet again as ghosts, in a Transcendental House, the house they grew up in; the house where they saw each other for the last time as living persons. In this house, we will see whether their scars are too deep to heal.

The movie focuses principally on the relationship of the two siblings, and whatever political comment is just deducted from its effects on them. It does not aim to preach about the dark political and social situation that has fallen upon the world, but rather creates a world in which people suffer because of it, and try to make the best out of it.

It is the people themselves who matter and their feelings.

 To read more about the movie, its plot, its cinematography, production design... everything... head over to our main website at alpha-movie.com and make sure you click on the "Presentation Book".

and finally...

WHO ARE WE AND WHAT WE WANT

We are «BAKIΣ», a collective group of artists and media professionals, who came together because of our love for cinema, for art, for life and -more importantly- because we feel that the current way of producing and distributing movies, is not for us.

We want to reclaim our right to create without being strangled, patronised or led by faceless corporations and business models.

Our roots are in cinema, theatre, photography and music, and up to now, our collective is comprised of the following people :

• Stathis Athanasiou – Film Director, Screenwriter, Editor

• Pedro Olalla – Helenist, Writer, Filmmaker
• Michael Kloukinas – Still Photographer, DoP, Video Artist

• Michael Samiotis – Production Designer

• Stavros Gasparatos – Composer

• Theo Abazis – Composer, Theatre Director

• Nikos Tsines – Sound Designer

• Bruno Freire León - Musician, Music Journalist

• Serafita Grigoriadou – Actress

• Tasos Karakyklas – Actor

• David Fernandez Fabu – Actor

• Antonis Katrakazis – Photographer

• Vicky Psichogiou – Photographer

• Kostas Sfakianakis – Production Manager

• Nikos Xidaktilos – Visual Effects Artist [monologue.gr]

• Stelios Nikolaou - Visual Effects Artist [monologue.gr]

• Themis Benetatos - Visual Effects Artist [monologue.gr]

• Natalia Katifori – Theatrologist, Media and Communications Expert

• Alexandros Romanos Lizardos – Cinema Journalist, Media Expert

• Sissy Anastasopoulou – Journalism, Communication

• Angie Argiroudi – Journalism, Communication

• Sakis Takis – Producer [Imagina]

• Alex Takis – Producer [Imagina]

Thank you for your time and attention, and thank you in advance for supporting us!