EMERY TALES

In the mountainous landscape of Naxos, a Cycladic island, the villagers make a living out of collecting... stones. Ever since Ottoman rule, six communities have had the right to mine emery, which is hidden in the subsoil of Μount Ammomaxi. In the old days, the black stone, used as an abrasive, was very much in demand. Nowadays, it is given to the government in return for health insurance and the right to a pension. The workers struggle with their barren fields in order to earn a living. The younger generations leave the island. The right to work in the mines is reserved to 400 men, whose chief concern is whether the government will continue its mining activities. Emery is their life. But does it have a future?