Behind The Haystacks, is a social drama set in the background of 2015-migrant crisis of Greece when European countries had closed their borders, because of which, migrants and refugees had gathered at the northern border of Greece. The film did its international premiere in the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI).
Director and Screenplay writer Asimina Proedrou stated in the ‘IFFI Table Talks’ organized by PIB that the story has been narrated from the perspective of all the three central characters of a family– a father, mother and a daughter. These three different people are pushed to submit to corrupt structures. “Each of the three chapters of the film is an exploration of why the person is behaving that way”, stated Asimina Proedrou. “I wanted to go close with each of the main characters. Though towards the end, the motives of the three characters are revealed, initially we had put the audience to wonder why the characters are behaving in a peculiar manner”.
Asimina Proedrou feels that the international audience will relate to this film as it revolves around a family and the concept of family is universal. The refugee crisis is an important part of the story, as it affects the main characters, said the Director. She stated that the sufferings of the migrants have been shown in the film and how the Greek population dealt with the migrant crisis. “There were people to help, some tried to get money from them and there was also the role of the Church, which was usually quite conservative, telling the people, most of the time that the migrants are dangerous. These all are shown in the film”. Thus, the film mirrors how people get trapped in a corrupt system every day.
Behind The Haystacks narrates the story of a middle-aged, debt-ridden fisherman living on Greece’s northern border, starts to smuggle migrants across the border lake, in exchange for a hefty fee. His wife, a devout churchgoer, is seeking the truth in God’s Word, while their daughter tries to define her own life. Until a tragic incident strikes the family, pushing the three heroes to face their own personal impasses and weaknesses, whilst having to consider, for the first time in their life, the price to pay for their actions.
Actor Evgenia Lavda, who portrays the daughter, debuted with this film. “Though I didn’t play a character of my age in the film, I tried to add passion to the character”, she remarked.