Director Nikos Dayandas travelled to Ikaria in order to create a documentary based on the longevity of the island's inhabitants. When he arrived to the island he realized that the inhabitants of Ikaria multitask. "They are able to do three or four different things at the same time", the director said. So, he pasted almost 6 months, recording their peculiar and unique lifestyle. The documentary Little land was awarded at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival from ERT 3 and the WWF.

Little Land : Why Ikaria?

Each Ikaria's inhabitant do three and four things simultaneously. They have their garden, where they are able to grow their own vegetables and fruits, they have animals that give to them meat and milk, and also they have at least one profession. Being frugal and largely self-sufficient, the Ikarians have a different perspective on life, which helps them ignore the crisis that has made the rest of the Greeks suffer.

I found their lifestyle impressive. In Ikaria has survived what is called gift economy. An economy based on offering what you can to the other people around you and in turn, the others do the same for you.

The documentary

The documentary Little land will be broadcasted by the channel ARTE, which wanted to show something for Greece that is irrelevant to the financial crisis and the stereotypes that follow it. The documentary shows two different worlds: the world of the old Ikarians and the one of young people who came to the island trying to fulfill their dreams and now they try to adapt to a different lifestyle. Mainly, Little land tries to stress the difference between the Western world, where people are selfish and only care about themselves and Ikaria, where people try to support each other and there are no personal interests in play.

Ikaria is a unique place. People are open and friendly. They don't care about their "Ego" or their image. They have more important and interesting things to do.

Source: www.lifo.gr