POLKA IN ATHENS

Polka in Athens is a non-fiction documentary that tellsMaria’s story. Her grandfather was a left-wing partisan during the Civil War in Greece (1946-49), who escaped to Poland where he lived for 30 years as a political refugee. His granddaughter Maria grew up in Poland. Like many young people of her generation, she left Poland to work and travel. She came to Greece for a vacation and decided to stay. She lived in a Polish neighbourhood in Athens. Her dream was to be an actress and, ironically enough, she got an important role in a play about the Civil War, Dying as a Country. Her dream came true and she completed a circle of immigration: her Greek grandfather escaped to Poland as a political refugee and she came back to Greece as an economic immigrant. However, after the financial crisis hits Athens, she will be forced to return to Poland, thus closing the circle.