The tireless work of the “Aegean Team” charity volunteers — also known as “doctors on inflatable boats” — is highlighted in a new documentary that premiered at the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival in March and is set to tour European film festivals, beginning in France.
Directed by Voula Kostaki and produced by the Thessaloniki-based, province-skewed channel of the Greek public broadcaster, ERT3, “One road… the Sea,” puts the spotlight on the charity that launched thirty years ago with the aim to provide anything between critical medical services to the construction of basic infrastructure on Greek islands.
Bathed in Greek light and the vast blue of the Aegean Sea, the fast-paced documentary offers an insider’s glimpse into the life of islanders and the challenges they face, seen through the lens of social contribution and solidarity that the Aegean Team stand for.
A fascinating journey to the Greek islands
The crew of ERT3 followed the team of 130 volunteers over a period of eight days with state-of-the-art filming equipment, including three flying drones, to document Aegean Team’s work with remote island communities.
Together they visited the tiny Cycladic islands of Kimolos, Thirasia, Ios, Amorgos, Kinaros, Irakleia, and Koufonisia, filming for more than 14 hours per day.
The documentary follows the enitre process from how the volunteers prepare and arrive to each island in need, on their fleet of inflatable boats; their range of activities; as well as the impact those have on island communities.
“We have all heard from time to time about a team of doctors on inflatable boats that travel the Aegean Sea offering medical assistance to the residents of our remote islands. This offer, as well as the remote islands themselves, became the starting point for the implementation of our mission for ERT3, which was unprecedented,” said director Voula Kostaki.
The world premiere screening took place on March 14 during the 28th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.
Production director Argyris Doublatzis told the audience how filming “One Road… the Sea” presented significant technical and organisational difficulties as the crew moved daily from island to island alongside the charity volunteers, which also meant they had to constantly repack and move the entirety of their filming equipment after each long day.
“This was the first time that ERT rented a boat for this type of production, which was set up very quickly,” he added. “And it was a peculiar mission to be on: we had no guide, just a captain.”
According to photography co-director and cinematographer Antonis Katsogiannos, what he wishes for the documentary to achieve, is to trigger questions among viewers and to make them wonder, what could anyone do in aid of Greek remote island communities.