In short..

You cannot conceive the beauty or the ugliness of this world when you are observing it from a distance. You have to approach, dive into its depths and explore…it is only then that awareness and objectiveness are acquired.

Green growth was introduced to Greece round the early ‘80s, when E.U. directives applied to Greek Government energy policy led to the installation of the first wind farm. Since then the number of wind farms has been increasing at an immense rate. The incentive for this investigation was the observation of wind turbines being inconsiderately dispersed across invaluable regions of the mainland and the islands of Greece, in the name of clean, “green energy”.

The main objective of this documentary is to shed light on the environmental, financial and social consequences of this policy and the aftermath of the so-called “high priority” investments supported by huge subsidies.

Why?

While following this objective numerous questions were raised.

Is this energy policy the essence of green growth and if so, could this be considered a truly sustainable form development? 

When examining the environmental aspects, one could wonder about the following: Which are the spatial criteria for selection of areas of installation? Under what kind of environmental assessment sites like forests, conservation areas, sites near traditional settlements or historic sites are approved as suitable? Why are those environmental assessments carried out mostly by private companies and not by scientists, and how are their results validated? Which are, if there are any, the obligations of the wind farm owners considering the removal of the turbines and the restoration of the environment and who sees that it is actually carried out? In other words, is this really a strategy or a predatory way of harnessing renewable energy sources? Could green energy under these circumstances ever be actually “green”?

Such an obvious lack of strategic planning raises more questions considering the financial aspects of the matter.  Whom do these “strategic investments” really serve? Under what legislation is the constitutionally defined meaning of sustainability being annulled, when permits are being issued inconsiderately and subsidies are given out to one-person companies and affiliates of the same key companies in the energy field? Why isn’t there any consideration whatsoever of the actual energy needs of the country? Why aren’t those companies fined when they are not meeting their dept to land owners? Or, why is the ownership status scouted?

Risks & Challenges

Τhe strength, support and motivation for this 16-month journey of searching, filming and visiting the farthest corners of Greece came from the people of this land, people who have been conveniently silenced. This raises the biggest question of all: Why are all the above taking place while communities around Greece are provided with no official information at all? Why are the views of Municipalities totally disregarded in decision making? Why are their arguments, protests, petitions passed by? Is this really where the birthplace of Democracy ended up to?

As a production team we decided 16 months ago to open the windbag of green growth in Greece and separate the lies from the truth. We did so being fully aware of the risks involved and while knowing well enough the power of the key players in the energy field in Greece… 

The production team consists of skilled technicians and journalists with years of experience in the field of national and international commentary and reportage, along with deep knowledge on the organization, execution and production of documentaries.

Our different paths crossed when we were drawn together by the objective of this documentary in progress, regarding the construction and installation of wind turbines and to which extend they contribute or not to the production of electricity. 

Who we are

Nasim Alatras

Nasim is a Palestinian born in 1965 in Amman, Jordan. He came to Greece in 1983 for studies in the University of Macedonia (former Higher School of Industrial Studies) at Thessaloniki. He moved to Athens in 1993 where he initially worked at an Event and Exhibition organizing company. He then continued as a translator of Arabic literature. 

In 1998 he joined the staff of the newspaper “Eleftherotypia” as a journalist and columnist for the department of international news.

In 2009 he published his book entitled “Palestine-Causes and Myths” (ΚΨΜ Publishing) and completed his documentary “Gaza we are coming” which received 1st Price at the 12th Documentary Festival of Thessaloniki. 

Kostas Pliakos

Kostas was born in Athens in 1969. He studied Journalism, Economics and Cinematography in Athens, Patras and Barcelona and since 1998 he has worked in newspapers and magazines specialising in international news, as well as a correspondent for foreign broadcasting agencies. He has reported from Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, either for his employers or for his own photographic and cinematographic projects.

Since 2011 he works as an independent cinematographer and has completed two documentaries, “Welcome to the show: The musical legacy of Pavlos Sidiropoulos” in 2013 (Received 2 international awards) along with co-creator Alexi Ponse and “Yusef’s Song” (Received one international award and one special citation).

Achilleas Kouremenos

Achilleas received his degree in Communication and Media Studies from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2005. He worked for local and pay-newspapers and at “Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia”. He also worked for “Exantas” documentaries for many years during which he participated in missions in Ireland, Iceland, Libya and Gana.

Giannis Androulidakis

Giannis was born in 1976 in Paris. He studied Economics at Paris-XIII University and History at Ecole des Hautes Etudes, specialising in the history of the Labour Movement during the period of Interwar. 

He returned to Greece in 2006 and worked as a journalist at various newspapers like “O kosmos toy Ependiti” and “To Vima”, in “Anti” Magazine and as a translator. Since 2007 he works daily as a broadcaster at “105.5 Red”. 

Dimitra Aiginiti

Dimitra was born in 1978 in Zimbabwe and came to Greece in 1983. She graduated from MediaLab in 2003 and worked for a while as a reporter at the newspaper “Eleftheros Typos”. Starting in 2004 she worked for a year at “BHMagazino”, a supplement magazine of the newspaper “To Vima” (freelance reporter, international news, interviews). From March 2005 until January 2014 she worked at the newspaper “Proto Thema” and the site protothema.gr (reporter-journalist)  

Katerina V. Theofilopoulou

Katerina was born in 1977 in Messini. She studied Biochemistry (B.Sc. in Biochemistry) and Biotechnology (M.Res in Biotechnology) at Essex University in the UK. She has been working at the Medical School of Athens since 2001. She speaks English, French and Arabic.

Konstantinos Stathias

Konstantinos was born in Athens. He studied Photography and Audio-Visual Arts at the Technical School and has followed many seminars on Photojournalism and Direction of Photography. Since 2004 he has been working as a freelance photographer and cameraman. Indicative quotes are the following: doc4life multimedia press agency, Xinhua News Agency and CCTV.

Ksenofontas Vartharos

Ksenofontas studied Screen Arts (MA Screen Arts) at the Northern Media School of Sheffield Hallam University (SHU). He has worked as a cameraman and as a director of photography in documentaries for ERT (Greek Broadcasting Corporation), in independent projects and TV series. 

Why we need your support

In our effort to carry out an objective and independent research we decide to refuse financing from private companies, state funds and the Greek Media due to their intertwining relations. As a result we were obliged to find other means of covering the cost of this large-scale research that has been in progress for the last 16 months.  Part of the cost of the journalistic missions in numerous regions of Greece was covered by groups, local societies and citizens involved in the struggle for the protection and conservation of the environment. The production team consists of 6 journalists and researchers, 6 cameramen, 1 editor and 1 translator. Most of us are unemployed or have part-time jobs and have offered our services and time to this project without receiving any payment. Your support is therefore invaluable for the completion of our research and the post production of the film. We firmly believe that citizens of this country have the right to be heard. We want the truth to come forward. That is what this documentary is for.