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Insomnia
The carefree, exuberant nightlife that Athens has had a reputation for has gradually lost its gloss. The economic pressures of the past few years don't seem to have affected some of the capital's clubs and bars. However, a much darker and seedier side of the city has grown. In the shadows of the narrow and winding streets of the historic center, junkies, often immigrants, numb their pain.
The thumping bass rumbles in the cement downtown, as 60 Euro carnations shower the spotlight-lit pop stars on stage. The night is long and so is the reach of the canvas of the city. The members of the newish Dias motorcycle police squad patrol its asphalt arteries, often risking their lives while navigating through the crooked streets. At the edge of Athens' crust, a controversial new rubbish dump has caused the locals of Keratea to erupt in a series of often bloody confrontations with the riot police.
The city lights flicker, humming to the vibration of the people's energy, as some dance, some sleep, some guard, some protest and some wonder the streets aimlessly, trying to cure their insomnia with a camera.
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Forgotten - Roma in Greece
The Roma have been nomads for centuries. People have called them gypsies. Scattered across most of Europe, their unique way of life stands out amongst the countries who host them. In Greece, their numbers are estimated between 200-300.000, although they consider themselves to be more.
The Roma do not have a particular religion. Yet customs and traditions have kept them together in the course of their history. In general, they fall under two categories: those who have settled and those who still roam the lands as nomads. Most earn their living through trade, agriculture or performance, keeping constantly on the move and staying in the outskirts of the big cities, in self-governed settlements.
The Roma have to constantly fight off many negative stereotypes which are attributed to them, often intensifying their unwillingness to adjust. Many of them are organized in unions (Greek Confederation), with over 300,000 registered members, while in 2006 they formed a political party in Greece, called ''Rom Shield''. As complaints about the violation of their rights increase, the Roma people keep on struggling to survive and to keep their identity alive in a society that seems to have forgotten all about them. In the past years they have experienced a new wave of persecution initiated by the State, in countries such as France and Romania. Many have characterized these newly introduced displacements as pogroms.
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Forbidden sea
Since the beginning of the twentieth century, Elefsina has been massively industrialized. Its factories and shipyards have attracted people to the area in pursuit of labor. As a consequence of industrial activity, the sea and the town's surroundings have been heavily polluted.
Today, many of the businesses that operate in the area are facing financial problems and their future --along with the future of their employees-- remains uncertain.
The people of Elefsina give their own testimony of the town's history, its beauty and its wounds, and bear witness to its environmental demise. Elefsina is a town located about 18 km. northwest from the center of Athens. It has been well known since ancient times as the site of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Perhaps the most sacred religious ritual in ancient Greece, this mystical rite of passage celebrated the death and rebirth of nature as the coming and going of the seasons, and connected it with the myth of goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone.
