by Christos Karakepelis
EnglishOne of the poorest districts in Athens lies at the foot of the Acropolis – a tin village where mostly illegal immigrants have settled. A colourful mix of people, including Indians, Greeks and Roma from Albania, make a miserable living collecting scrap metal. Before the sun rises, the men take their three-wheeled carts to find fridges, TVs, deckchairs – everyday objects thrown away in their thousands, and a sign to their collectors that others are living prosperously. The goods are sold to the city’s scrap yards for a modest amount of cash. Buyers in this illegal business are big industrial companies. Using poetic 16mm images, this film documents the raw, hard work endured by these enterprising trash collectors, and offers these social outsiders a voice.
