The 84-minute film is the outcome of CHTO DELAT’s experimentation with integrating key texts by Zapatista spokesperson Subcomandante Marcos within the educational process of learning the Greek language. Along with a seminar delivered by architect Stavros Stavrides in the Open School for Migrants in Piraeus, in which he described the strong relations between the Zapatista movement and political activism in Greece, this process created a new paradigm of learning — somewhere in between real and imaginary concepts.*
The performance on which the film focuses integrates two narratives: the first based on texts written by the Zapatistas, where Durito (a fictional beetle character) metaphorically describes the core sociopolitical ideas of the movement. The second is based on the personal histories of Piraeus Open School participants, refugees who came to Greece from different places of the world. The students worked closely with Stathis Markopoulos, a puppet maker, director and puppet theatre professional (Ayusaya Puppet Theatre), who introduced them to the basic methods of shadow theatre. Their collaboration resulted in the production of a performance as a finissage to this project.
*𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗺 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 “𝗦𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗭𝗮𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗺” 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗭𝗮𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗮𝗽𝗮𝘀. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗥𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗮 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝘁𝗮𝗹𝘆.
‘𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲’ 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗶𝗿𝗮𝗲𝘂𝘀 (𝗔𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀, 𝗚𝗥) 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼-𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗔𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀, 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺.