PIGS in London
Director: Vasilis Siafakas
Director of Photography: Niko Alajoki
Researchers: Jenny Tsiropoulou, Danae Lebesopoulou
Interviews took place in Royal Court Theater (royalcourttheatre.com), Vox Pops in Leicester Square and migrants talk from their own places.
This is my final project during my film studies in University Of West London. A short documentary on youth migration from Southern European countries to London due to financial crisis.
Statement
Migration is not a new phenomenon in Europe. It dramatically increased after the World War II, with people escaping war and persecution in their own countries, while from the 1980s onward people fled their countries of origin in a quest for work and better life-conditions. Most European nations today have sizable migration populations, both from the EU and other countries, while the freedom of movement and residence, stemming from the establishment of the European community, has inevitably resulted in big populations of foreign citizens residing and -in many case- thriving in the European capitals.
However, there is a new aspect of this phenomenon, as a brand new wave of migration occurs within the European borders. Following the 2008 economic crisis and the uneven severity of its effects on various European countries, which saw their percentage of unemployment sky-rocket, while the economic development and the creation of new jobs is at best stalled, a new type of migrant has arisen.
European, white, with passports, skills and university diplomas in their bags, a flux of young people from the southern Europe lies in the heart of this new migration type arriving at the European metropolis, looking for a future than their hit-by-the-crisis countries cannot offer. While their fathers and grandfathers were -in most cases- unskilled workers who left their families behind, sending them their monthly paychecks, and planning their eventual return to the homeland, this generation of migrants is here to stay.
While this phenomenon has been widely discussed in the media, featured in political proclamations and election campaigns' pledges, we have observed a rather curious omission: you can read all the scaremongering and demonizing articles and front-pages, informing the public that "92% of new jobs go to migrants", European or not, that the newcomers take advantage of the social security benefits on offer and the social tensions migration creates. Politicians often find migrants an easy culprit for the failures of the state and markets and knee-jerk xenophobic reactions abound as national elections are looming. But, the stories of the true protagonists of this phenomenon, those of the migrants who are forced by circumstances outside their control to leave their countries, or who choose to migrate in search for better life conditions are seldom reported.
Who are they? How did the young migrants themselves experience their getaway, their exploration of the new country? Do they really want to become an integral part of the society of the destination country, or do they simply intend, as the "lazy South" paradigm suggests, to live on the expense of the taxpayers?
This documentary does not seek to provide with a eulogy of these new migrants, simplistically presenting a picture of unfortunate-yet-hardworking young Europeans who want nothing more than a job and a better life. Instead, it plans to let them present their own stories and bring to light the human aspect of this critical social phenomenon. In short, it plans to give them a voice.
