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Thread: Field of Vision TV doc series THIS IS A COUP

  1. #1
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    FIELD OF VISION doc series "#ThisIsACoup"

    Field of Vision doc series #ThisIsACoup


    ALEXIS TSIPROS IN "#ThisIsACoup"

    A year of turmoil: the fluctuating fortunes of the Greek radical left Syriza party

    Despite a certain slapdash quality at times, and less-than ideal citizen voices, on-the-scenes footage of government leaders reflecting unprecedented access and day-to-day events on the street make this TV-style (but free online) documentary one that's timely and exciting to watch.

    The Greek financial crisis, which at one point seemed on the verge of bringing on an international disaster, well deserves a documentary miniseries like this one, though novices on the subject may need more explanation than provided here. Field of Vision's series of four 15-20-minute films with the Twitter-based hashtag title "#ThisIsACoup" takes a populist, pro-leftist stance. Director Theopi Skarlatos focuses on the mood and sufferings of the Greek people surrounding Greece's election early in the year of Alexis Tsipras and his coalition radical left-wing Syriza (ΣΥΡΙΖΑ) party. (Tsipras has been in office from 26 January 2015 to 20 August 2015 and then, after briefly being voted out, again from 21 September 2015 to the present.) In the documentary segments, footage of demonstrations and celebrating voters alternates with on-the-run interviews with workers, men and women on the street, and, most notably, the Syriza leaders themselves.

    The key word is "austerity" -- the policy touted after the Great Recession began worldwide in the end of 2007. Austerity was imposed by the right and by the "Troika" -- the European Commission (EC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the European Central Bank (ECB), which have bailed out the Greek economy in exchange for imposing brutal conditions such as increased taxes, hardening of retirement rules, layoffs of public employees, a massive cut in minimum wage and pensions. The theory of austerity is that if you call a halt to government spending, the private economy will revive. Keynesian and left-liberal economists like Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz argue (and it makes sense) that reviving a country's economy cannot happen in arid soil and requires an injection of capital -- spending. Austerity reduces the public's ability to spend and hence perpetuates a country's economic stagnation. Thus the Troika's bailout conditions have maintained a vicious cycle in Greece. It must accept the bailouts to avoid even greater economic disaster, yet the austerity conditions imposed as a result of continuing bailouts have perpetuated the stagnation and unemployment that require the bailouts, and so on and on. All this is complicated by the European Union and the question: what would happen if Greece pulled out, dropping the euro? And the hate figure for Greeks: hard-nosed Angela Merkel, leader of the richest country in the EU, whose citizens may feel tired of bailing Greece out.

    Initially Syriza, in the person of its Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, sought to say a big "No" to the Troika's austerity conditions; and he voted against the terms of the third bailout package for Greece. But the strategy failed because the Troika would not budge, and the film shows that Varoufakis was, for a while, replaced by British-educated Euclid Tsakalotos. (The Wikipedia article on Varoufakis is one of the best on the Greek situation.) The story of Syriza's time in power in Greece is a story of the vollatile changing reactions of an impatient public, fed up with economic hardship and eager for a quick fix: jubilation and hope hope are followed quickly by disillusionment and protest. At the end of July, Tsipros decides on a referendum. Pensioners and the bourgeoisie want to bring them down. There is a run on the banks, which people are afraid will collapse if the IMF stops funding them.

    Puzzler: great wave of support for an "Oxi" (No) vote on the referendum, meaning in favor of Syriza. Tsipras is mellow and beaming. He is modest, but exudes calm and confidence somehow. (His economic leaders in contrast seem strained and sleepless.) Nonetheless Varoufakis is forced to resign, blaming pressure from Europe. Tipros seems in a bind. Despite popular support, he must capitulate in another austerity-designed bailout, resulting in the titular Twitter trend designation "#ThisIsACoup." And so the series ends. Sum: zero. Greece is, it appears, back where it started before Syriza took over the government. But it's been an exciting ride.

    All this is interesting, a most volatile tale of democracy in action. The British voiceover narrator and inter-title timelines of events maintain a sense of a chronology and a progression. For the public citizens' voice, the series relies a bit too much on a handful of speakers, such as the gap-toothed actress Dina Kaftarani, whose scraggly air and expletive-laced speech do not appeal, or the stylish Natasa Giamali, a reporter, who also uses expletives (in English) in a way that's too in-your-face. Another voice here, though heard from only a couple of times, so he hardly counts, is Ilias - a burly docker in Piraeus, a waterfront facing privatization. In compensation, the Syriza leaders are frequent and candid voices too. In addition to Tsipros, Varoufakis, and Tsakalotos there is the Greek Parliament speaker, experienced human rights lawyer Zoe Konstantopoulou.

    All the Greek politicians speak good, indeed excellent English. If only their names were easier to spell, and remember!

    Field of Vision is a film journalism unit co-created by Laura Poitras, AJ Schnack, and Charlotte Cook of The Intercept. It has done previous stories on LGBT rights, military surveillance, and the ongoing refugee crisis. Poitras won the Best Documentary Oscar last year for her film about Edward Snowden, Citizen Four, co-filmed with Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Glenn Greenwald, a co-founder of The Intercept with Poitras and Jeremy Scahill.

    "#ThisIsACoup" will be released for free in four episodes from December 15-18 on the Field of Vision website.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 12-09-2015 at 12:38 AM.

  2. #2
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    Here is some of the press kit material that came with the screener for this doc:

    Paul Mason

    "The Greek people believed they could beat austerity by voting against it. Europe gave them a choice: regime change or we destroy your economy."
    Paul Mason
    Paul is the Economics Editor for Channel 4 News and has led their coverage on the Greek crisis. He won the Royal Television Society specialist reporter of 2012 award for his coverage of the Eurozone crisis. He has a weekly column in the Guardian. For Channel 4 News and before that the BBC he has reported on social and political conflicts, including the Gaza war 2014, the refugee crisis in Morocco, ethnic conflict in Kenya and from New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.


    The Series
    In January 2015 Syriza, a radical left party, won the Greek elections. With over 50% youth unemployment, massive public debts and ordinary people suffering under economic austerity measures, the new government had a mandate to change the system. #ThisIsACoup tells the story of how they won, what they did, how they clashed with the global finance system to whom the Greek state is heavily indebted and how it ended. We had extraordinary access to leading Syriza politicians through the nightmare of negotiations and compromise. We filmed the elation and the despair. And we documented the lives of real people and communities: on the waterfront, in the countryside, and in tough neighbourhoods of Athens. The extraordinary resilience of the Greek people - in retreat but not defeated - is a key message of the film.


    Episode 1: Angela, Suck our Balls
    Syriza comes to power with Greece still deep in debt. Their supporters rejoice as Prime Minister Tspiras and the Finance Minister Varoufakis talk about defying the Troika (the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund which organised loans to Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Cyprus after the crash) but an escalating bank run undermines their negotiating position and Syriza is forced to concede most of their demands. What will happen when their supporters find out?

    Episode 2: To Pay or Not To Pay?
    With the clash with the lenders on hold for four months, some Greeks take to the streets to organise resistance themselves. Syriza's most senior woman MP Zoe Konstantopoulou travels Europe's capitals trying to persuade people the debt is illegal and should be dropped. As the crunch looms, Tsipras opens up about his worries and predicts they will run out of money by the end of May. Almost on cue, as June begins, Syriza defaults on its debt to the IMF and the "rupture" begins.

    Episode 3: OXI - The Greek word for "No"
    The crunch is here. A new bank run is draining the banks, while the state is almost out of cash. Varoufakis speaks privately about launching an offensive of debt defaults, but instead Tsipras calls a referendum, which leaves the government fighting for its life. Against all odds he wins a crushing victory, but as the minister celebrate, Varoufakis is sacked. What does Tsipras intend to do next?

    Episode 4: Hero for One Day
    Tsipras reveals his strategy - to seek a new compromise. As the government flounders, its supporters get worried - and angry. With Tsipras trapped in 17 hour negotiations a historic twitter protest takes place, involving up to a billion people, naming the lenders attack on Greece a "coup". As Tsipras signs a new austerity deal and accepts defeat, his supporters are stunned. The party splits and the key players struggle to draw the lessons. Without debt relief Syriza will be left to impose yet another destructive austerity programme - the very thing it fought for years to oppose. In an exclusive first English interview since the climbdown Tsipras gives his own explanation of why things went wrong. "I'd have been a hero for one day, maybe two," he says to critics of the u-turn, as without it the Greek economy would have collapsed.

    ***

    Field of Vision
    Field of Vision is a filmmaker-driven visual journalism film unit co-created by Laura Poitras, AJ Schnack and Charlotte Cook that pairs filmmakers with developing and ongoing stories around the globe.

    Field of Vision commissions and creates short and episodic films that uses visual journalism to expand how we understand the world, and works with leading filmmakers to take on developing and ongoing stories as they unfold.
    Launched in September 2015, Field of Vision is a collaboration with The Intercept and First Look Media.

    BRITDOC
    BRITDOC is based in London and New York and supports independent documentary filmmakers from around the world. BRITDOC is a non-profit organisation that collaborates with the Bertha Foundation to fund documentary journalism including CITIZENFOUR, Virunga, No Fire Zone and Dirty Wars, Pussy Riot, The Square, The Look of Silence, 3.5 Minutes and 10 Bullets.

    Other BRITDOC projects include the global Good Pitch events that partner filmmakers with social impact partners and Doc Academy which brings documentaries to the classroom. http://britdoc.org.


    ROAST BEEF

    Roast Beef Productions have been producing international feature documentaries films since 2007 - these include; Afghan Star, Hell and Back Again, Smash & Grab - The Story of the Pink Panthers, A Whole Lott More, The Do Gooders, Tierra Caliente, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, The Square, The Russian Woodpecker.

    Roast Beef have won a number of industry awards including; 2 Academy Award Nomination for Best Documentary Feature 2012/13, 7 Sundance Awards, 4 EMMYs, 2 Grierson Awards for Best Documentary, Prix Italia, The Alfred Dupont Award, Winner Best Documentary Moscow Film Festival, Winner BIFA 2013 Best Documentary, Broadcast Award - Best Documentary of the Year 2014.
    Last edited by Chris Knipp; 12-09-2015 at 12:33 AM.

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