A bleak tale of Pontic Greek youth in Athens, their families having emigrated back to Greece from Russia and other countries on the border. Lost and aimless in the nation of their ancestors, they drift into crime, drug usage and sex work. In many ways, it's similar to films from the US and other countries about marginalized minority youth. But it sheds light on an ethnic Greek group I knew little about. Pontians are people of a diaspora, retaining a Greek identity but having living in Russia and other nations bordering the Black Sea, sometimes for several generations. The film's centered on Sasha (Stathis Papadopoulos), whose family recently emigrated from Kazakhstan. He's dropped out of school, fleeing an abusive father and surviving on manual labor. But he hangs out with buddies who are more into delinquent behavior and petty crime. Sasha. He finds himself in danger when he falls in love with Natasha (Theodora Tzimou), a woman he's "bought" from her pimp Giorgios (Dimitri Papoulidis), so he too can make cash from her body. It's done in semi-documentary style with intentionally erratic camerawork and editing, with a mixture of danceclub and Greek ethnic music. The focus on the exploitation of sex workers (both male and female) as part of the underground economy is well done. There's a homoerotic edge - director Constantine Giannaris is gay although his films don't always reflect that - with a focus on male bodies. But it's mostly grim. But the filming style doesn't always help the narrative, and some of the Pontic youth's subplots are less developed and even confusing. Nonetheless, good to see a film about the hostility and discrimination faced by ethnic subgroups (which exist in so many cultures) which sadly can lead to making money via illegal and dangerous pathways. Which rarely turns out well.
