Extended Q&A and discussion following the screening of the film "We Live Among You"

A special screening of We Live Among You, directed by Maria Katsikadakou (Cyber) took place as part of the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. The film centres on diabetes and the challenges it brings to everyday life.

The director was welcomed and introduced by the Festival’s Artistic Director, Orestis Andreadakis: “Maria Katsikadakou is a singular voice and dynamic figure, with a long-standing commitment to defending rights. Her distinctive quality lies in her ability to transform what she experiences into poetry and make us participants in these experiences. The documentary we are about to watch speaks about diabetes, and with great humour the director opens a window ιnto this world, touching on things we all need to hear.”

Maria Katsikadakou thanked the audience for attending the screening, noting that her intention was not to make a medical or tear-jerking documentary, but to portray the everyday life of people living with diabetes in a way that is both light in tone and grounded in reality, helping bring visibility to the community. “This film brings together material collected over more than ten years. People with diabetes go through situations that most others cannot fully understand. It is a whole community with almost no representation. The same struggle I fought for the visibility of the lesbian movement, I now fight for people with diabetes. Even today, there are people who still hide that they live with the condition,” the director noted.

The screening was followed by a discussion moderated by Vassilis Terzopoulos, Greek Programme Associate at the Festival. Speakers were Christos Daramilas, President of the Panhellenic Federation of People with Diabetes; Sofia Tsiakalou, President of the Hellenic Diabetes Federation; Christina Soulioti, President of the Athens Association of People with Diabetes; and the film’s director, Maria Katsikadakou. Agapi, one of the documentary’s protagonists, was the first to take the stage, clearly emotional. “I had already seen the documentary, and yet I was deeply moved. Every time I try to ignore diabetes, thinking that technology keeps advancing, it always finds a way to remind me that it is there. I have been living with it for 13 years, and still this morning something happened that had never happened to me before. With diabetes, you never know what the next day will bring. No matter how much you try to ignore it, or convince yourself that it is nothing, it is always there, from the simplest daily habits to the moments when I find myself crying and asking ‘Why me?’. Remember that you are not alone in this struggle, and always speak openly with the people close to you.”

Christos Daramilas, President of the Panhellenic Federation of People with Diabetes, spoke both as a person living with the condition of diabetes and as the parent of a child diagnosed with it. He reflected on the progress of science, but also on the many challenges people with diabetes continue to face in their everyday lives. “I have been living with diabetes since 1986. Alongside my own burden, I also carry the stress of a parent whose child has been diagnosed with the same condition. As you saw in the documentary, Maria travelled around the world after her diagnosis. That is also the message of how we should look at things. The greatest challenge is learning to accept everyday life. I had to learn the numbers and develop a kind of mathematical thinking in order to make all the calculations a person with diabetes must constantly make. The social groups we belong to play an important role as support mechanisms. The path is difficult, and diabetes should by no means become a way of life.”

At that moment, Christina Soulioti, President of the Athens Association of People with Diabetes, spoke about the idea of community and the important role it plays in the lives of people with diabetes. “I met Maria in 2012. In an unexpected way, people who had nothing in common found themselves brought together through this condition. Over time, these people became like family to me. We used to gather at Maria’s home, share our stories, and find the understanding we were searching for. I am truly glad this documentary now exists, so that more people may come to understand our lives.”

Through a personal story, the film’s director Maria Katsikadakou reflected on the stigma surrounding diabetes and its gender dimension. “In 2014 I interviewed an activist working on diabetes-related issues. She was pregnant at the time and, in a somewhat provocative manner, I asked her whether she would rather her child come out as gay or have diabetes. Her answer was ‘with diabetes’. I remember thinking how inconceivable that sounded to me. Diabetes is closely connected to food. Food is the body’s fuel, but it is also part of everyday life and the way people come together. Our struggle is constant. It is there every day. In many ways we stand at a disadvantage, and what we ask from you is understanding. It matters that you can tell whether a reaction comes from us, or from the diabetes itself, because it can affect our mood more than you might imagine. This is especially true for women, whose hormonal system is more complex than that of men.”

The stigma surrounding diabetes was also addressed by Sofia Tsiakalou, President of the Hellenic Diabetes Federation and mother of Agapi, who appears in the documentary. “At first I thought this stigma was something particular to Greek society. But the more I connected with communities abroad, the more I realised it exists everywhere. Type 1 diabetes can appear at any moment in someone’s life. No one is responsible for it. And yet people living with diabetes are often judged as if they somehow caused it themselves. Many still picture someone who doesn’t take care of their diet or exercise. But that image has nothing to do with reality.”

Christos Daramilas then turned the discussion to the question of professional life and the difficulties people with diabetes often face. “Diabetes is a chronic condition, and it comes with its own limits. That’s why many of us keep it to ourselves at work. For years there was also the issue of military service. Army committees used to judge people negatively simply because they lived with a chronic condition. The first regional committee handling these procedures was set up in 1989. If we want things to change, we have to speak openly. And no one can explain what this experience really means better than those who live with it,” he noted. The director added: “What I learned from the LGBTQI+ community is that if you are not visible, you cannot claim your rights.”

Before the discussion came to an end, Christina Soulioti turned to the director: “This documentary is a real blessing. You have gone through so much in recent years, and this film is something lasting you leave behind, and not only for our community. I truly hope it is only the beginning.”