Riverbanks

Evros River. The border between Greece and Turkey. By the riverbank an outpost and a deadly minefield that a platoon of volunteers are struggling to clear. A sapper, Yannis, holds the reputation that he can root out the death that is hidden in the ground, when detectors cannot help. An artist of the hazardous, a dancer in front of Hades’ mouth. No one waits for him anywhere. He has nobody. In the night, gangs transfer illegal immigrants across the river. Sometimes, the minefield breaks its dark silence, when the unfortunate step inside. A young woman, Chryssa, helps children to cross the river. They are children of the dejected, who come from the East dreaming of Europe. Chryssa has to provide for her father, her brother, and her baby. She gave birth to Myrto after a short love affair with Levo, who runs the mafia of the river. Chryssa, guilty with every glance in the mirror, will stumble on Yannis. Challenging death is their common fate. Chryssa’s restless soul finds a shelter. She can escape the crude world with Yannis. And Yannis finds his family. Chryssa’s baby Myrto, becomes his own child. Chryssa will be lost. Yannis will stay behind trying to understand what love is, through a miracle. Little Myrto will enter into the future, an orphan, alone with the innate memory of a destroyed world, adopted by parentages from a distant place. Riverbanks may be the story of this adoption. At a tiny spot on the map, the waves of history disembark human souls, and guilt and innocence are not identifiable. In a landscape where primitive archetypical desires move the people, we try to shed light upon select unconventional paths.