An inspiring talk with Sotiris Danezis ( on his own words: Documentary maker by choice /

Foreign affairs correspondent & news anchor by profession / Photographer by chance / Has covered stories in more than 80 countries // http://www.megatv.com/warzone/pages.asp?catid=15769 )

Journalism is ONE. Is based on facts and it is reporting on facts. After both trying for weeks to find a peaceful moment to catch up on the phone to talk about documentaries, Sotiris Danezis entered the Libyan capital, Tripoli in order to prepare a new documentary. However, this allowed me to study him before he studied me so I could bombard him with questions like a professor does to a journalism student. Sotiris Danezis was born on the island of Samos. He studied Journalism in London. His career starts back in the 90s and it didn't take long for him to reach his peak. In the year 2003 he created the ''War Zone''. It was a collection of documentaries, which are based on journalistic reportage and are still aired on a Greek private TV channel. He has worked as an embedded war correspondent in Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He also became a news anchorman and has been reporting as a senior foreign affairs correspondent. I have covered the terrorist attacks in New York and two weeks later the war in Afghanistan, the tsunami in Northeastern Asia and the earthquake in Haiti. The first fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad and the NATO-ish bombarding in Kosovo. Either way, his name is infamous within the media industry and his life career so far, bears with the Greek reality of the documentary genre most of all. I like to narrate stories. However, most of all i like listening to stories. And if you find the key to make a person confess to you his inner thoughts, then for sure you will end up with a great story,that worths to be shared in public. Furthermore: I like to talk about people who trust me and share with me their personal stories, their contrasts and their daily fight for a better society, the political scene and mainly for their human dignity. For the purposes of his documentaries, he has travelled to the worlds hotspots and to

more than 60 countries worldwide. He discusses with me on one of his most important missions: The documentary about North Korea in 2005 is definitely the best success of that series. Not everyone has access to go there. We needed 2 years to prepare this documentaries and also we were the only television crew that has covered the 60th anniversary of the founding of North's Korea's Worker's Party. An early night back in October 2009 I sat down on my cosy couch in the living room to watch a brand new documentary of Sotiris TV series about Ku Klux Klan. This documentary managed to go behind the secret headquarters of the organization. Dubious rituals in a forest and all these knights of racism wearing white hoods made me redefine what we call nowadays the contemporary world. The War Zone documentary series starts with Sotiris Danezis' calm voice welcoming you on the screen, and that's how one gets in a kind of hypnosis with one more powerful story. On January of 2010, the authorities and the United Nations announced that the search for survivors in the ruins of Haiti has finished. Some days later, the War Zone documentary crew while was filming, witnessed the localization of a 22 years old Haitian boy and his rescue operation. 11 days after the catastrophic earthquake the boy who was trapped accordingly was saved because Sotiris has traced him. I saw him coming out safe and sound, after we called for the greek and french rescue team and i was so overwhelmed that i almost forgot to turn on the camera and shoot. After this experience he states that there is no comparison between a successful reportage and such a human moment. In the WarZone, reality meets the truth and they are both dissected through the filter of Danezis personal view. As an historian he is recording the words complex history, as

this is being evolved right now. Sotiris brings through his documentaries stories and problems of people from many different places internationally, which raise serious issues. Foremost, he aims to shape a generation of informed viewers and raise their consciousness: My job is not to change the world, but motivate people to think further, to become sensitive and take a place with all these that are ongoing around us and definitely not to adjust to a reality that doesn't appeal to a human being. His show is an exception and is an excessively fortunate production due to its significant success despite many other Greek productions financially struggling. The time and the money limit your work in terms of how long you are going to stay somewhere doing some filming. But, within a logical time period you can achieve a really good result. And that is my team's goal. Under the many different circumstances we are working to, we are doing the best possible! He seems to be in the middle of a battle of thoughts and emotions. On a personal level, he finds it difficult to maintain his internal balance when he comes to face the nightmarish reality of other people: For instance, it was extremely dangerous to get access in Burma / Myanmar after the demonstration of the Buddist monks. However, it was even more hard for those people, who are fighting against a regime 40 years old to trust our television crew and agree to meet us up. We stayed with them a couple of days and then we returned to the secure, full of freedom and felicity Western world. I won't say to anybody who asks me now, how i felt, instead of that i would give those people a chance to talk about how do they feel, staying back there, because i didn't take them away, i didnt take them with me. In regards to fear of death he shrouds it in overconfidence to hide the reality of his fears, I am scared of death more than i show off, and that's because i learnt from an early stage to hide it. I am compromised with the idea of death, but i can't compromise with human pain.

When it comes to the working methods and my questions on how objective a documentary should be he argues: The documentary is NOT a journalistic reportage. Is the creator's truth and point of view, given and documented through his totally subjective opinion. I like those documentaries that balance information with emotions, which documentaries manipulate the audience of a film hall with their structure, their pictures, their narration, their music and their silence., Documentaries are not neutral documents. Documentaries, like fiction films, journalism, blogging and restaurant menus, manipulate the reality. However, he adds that, our effort is to narrate in the best way these stories without being unfair to the protagonists. Therefore, he disagrees with the Michael Moores documentary format but he admits that,: Documentaries influence the people, thus they can also influence the voters. In this sense, they could influence political decisions. Some years ago he participated in the writing of the book War news and news against war ( 2002 ). But how does he see things at the moment? Did anything change throughout the years?: The majority of the media institutions are covering a war situation. Nevertheless, sometimes, some of them, promote the interests of their bosses and their governments. For Gaddafi's case, he didn't become in one year a dictator! I will remind you that he was the colonel Muammar Gaddafi when he was signing those profitable contracts with BP for offshore drilling in Libya. But where is today and how is the health of the bombist Locerbie? The war is against the news nowadays, and the examples from the recent journalistic reportages are many, Egypt, Libya, Syria. Human beings are on the foresight more than ever before: killing each other, being blackmailed, getting arrested, torture each other and then, getting disappeared.

His teammates are his company. As he declares, they consist one of the most important sources of inspiration and exchanging ideas: Generally, i am inspired from the ocean of information that floods our lives. From the discussions with people i love and admire, from my colleagues and friends, from anything that intrigues me to talk about. They all work together 12 hours per day and when they have finished the one project, they are looking forward to the next one: We eat together, we celebrate, having conversations, think, fighting, and then getting well. Someone would say that we have all the assets of a problematic '' family ''. , he laughs. To get a true undertanding of Sotiris I ask his team mate Janine Louloudi to speak on his behalf: He is engaged to his work and as a return he succeeds. '' Better be meritorious than successful'', is his motto. Sotiris Danezis belongs to the generation of journalists who have understood the true nature of television but how are we the viewer to understand its nature I wonder. Finally, how educated must one be to be able to understand the deepest meaning of this documentary series, blend in with the stories from the crowd and the savor of the melancholy that characterizes our world? This is about two different jobs that rarely have manage to combine in my professional lifetime with success. What i only know is that there many more documentaries than reportages which we never forget. Like when we watch a really good movie , he confesses. As we finish the interview I ask him about what next project he is working on for War Zone. We are doing a chronicle and at the same time a backstage of the event of BP oil spill. ..

Sotiris Danezis unplugged * the interview was conducted under strict educational matters/manners Why did you become a journalist and how did you come up with the documentary? I have always found interesting the recording and the broadcast of an event at the time is occurring. One of my teachers said to me once that, a journalist has a great responsibility because he is like a historian who notes down how the history is being evolved right now. Afterwards the same history, as a simple record of an event wasn't enough itself. Personally, i wanted to deepen into the faces and the characters of my protagonists, to dive behind the facts and search for their truth. This is how i came up with investigative journalism and later on, news and current affairs documentaries. How many documentaries have you filmed so far? I don't believe that numbers are important for the substance / core of our work. Many times a documentary can be itself so good that overcomes any measurements. How many days have you stayed away from your home to cover an event? Once again, i don't feel that by staying more or less somewhere reporting events are making me better or worse in my work ( for the record, in Baghdad i stayed almost 80 days waiting the falling of Saddam Houssein. I left 2 days after the conquest of Baghdad from Americans. ). Are the documentaries you are filming a request from the host broadcast cooperation or a investigative discovery of yours and your team? Mega channel, as the producer, is , is only our financier. The idea, the shots, the way we structure the film and edited it is not subjected to anybody's control. We are the exception and excessively lucky, we are starting and finishing a project like we had it initially in our minds.

What are the methods you are following for the production of the War Zone documentaries? We don't follow any pioneering methods except the classical journalistic technique of investigation. I like narrate stories. However, most of all i like listening to stories. And if you find the key to make a person confess to you his inner thoughts and after all his soul, then for sure you will end up with a great story,that worths to be shared in public.

The reality and the documentary are coming from two different countries? Obsectivity and a documentary are going well together? And in what extent can a documentary manipulate the crowd? From the very first cut or the time you will stop filming, is surely a way to interrupt what is occurring at the moment. During the editing, you can put your last shot as your opening sequence. In other words you record any actualities without deteriorating them, but you can always interfere their flow and you end up reconstruct the reality when you edit your material. The documentary id NOT a journalistic reportage. Is the creator's truth and point of view, given and documented through his subjective opinion. I like those documentaries that balance information with emotions, which documentaries manipulate the audience of a film hall with their structure, their pictures, their narration, their music and their silence. Are the coverage of an event destroying its reality or the myth of the reality itself? Do you personally think that through documentaries we want to save the memory of an event by the oblivion? This is about two different jobs that rarely have manage to combine in my professional lifetime with success. What i only know is that there many more documentaries than reportages which we never forget. Like when we watch a really good movie...

Which one of the documentaries you have filmed was the most important one of your career? Which is the most hardcore one? I have covered the terrorist attacks in New York and two weeks later the war in Afghanistan, the tsunami in Northeast Asia and the earthquake in Haiti. The first fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad and the NATO-ish bombarding in Kosovo. I don't know what we define important in that case. For my point of view, is the most important moment not a reportage. For instance, the localization of a 22 years old boy from Haiti, 11 days after the earthquake, who was trapped but alive under the ruins of a building. I saw him coming out safe and sound, after we called for the rescue team and i was so overwhelmed that i almost forgot to turn on the camera and shoot. The documentary we filmed in North Korea, was another unique moment for my career. I don't know what can be hardcore. How is to be so close to death? Don't you afraid that you will die?

I am scared of death more than i show off and that's because i learnt from an early stage to hide it. I have compromise with the idea of death, but i can't compromise with human pain.

Does that mean that you are keen on the loss of someone and the cruel face of humanity? I have indeed compromised with our world and i know for sure that one documentary can't make it better. My job is not to change the world, but motivate people to think further, to become sensitive and take a place with all these that are ongoing around us and definitely not to adjust to a reality that doesn't appeal to any human being. How do you experience the contrasts you have to face on any of your travels? What does that mean for your pschycology? Such an insipidity on behalf of the journalists and or documentarists to talk about their pschycology, the dangers they have to face, and the contrasts they have to deal with. I like to talk about people who trust me and share with me their personal stories, their contrasts and their daily fight for a better society, political scene and mainly about the human basic rights. It was extremely dangerous to get access in Burma / Myanmar right after the demonstrations from the Buddist monks. However, it was even more hard for those people, who are fighting against a regime 40 years old to trust our television crew and agree to meet us up. We stayed with them a couple of days and then we returned to the secure, full of freedom and felicity of our Western world. I won't say to anybody how i felt, i would give them a chance to talk about how they feel, staying back there, because i didn't take them with me. How do you re-fill your life as being full of stories from others? By their storytelling. Our effort is to narrate in the best way these stories without being unfair to our protagonists. Transcribts, scripts, montage, i don't really have the time to rest on my life. Is documentary production a lifestyle? No, is a way of expressing myself. What is your life motto? Better be meritorious than successful.

What phrase makes you feel happy? ...and this is a wrap! When is the right time to say that someone has loved his profession? When he understands that he could do the same thing not to ensure that he will make a living. Do you see that docs are a powerful tool of democratic education? Documentary is a heterogenous media form that is so excellently suited to intervening in the public sphere, it is not surprising the education it provides is one of a progressive, critical bent. It has a chance to insert a counter-education based on alternative perspectives and critical oppositional narratives into the contemporary western media matrixone that is increasingly audio-visual in nature. Documentarians may aspire to be truth-providers, but truth be told, they too have their own biases, limitations, political convictions and social blinders. Audience attitudes do not always recognize this however, when one overhears an audience member opining, That was so biased! How can we believe a word of what they say? That was supposed to be a documentary! Documentaries are not neutral documents. Documentaries, like fiction films, journalism, blogging and restaurant menus, manipulate reality. Documentary has a different role to play in the visual media multiverse, especially concerning the towering pillars of truth and objectivity. A hybrid of narrative-based storytelling, journalism, info-graphics and photo-evidence, documentary continues to pry apart ossified socio-political layers of human reality, and provide a kind of education on everything from gay football to toxic babies.

If someone steal you Macbook what kind of documentaries he will find saved in it? Inside Job from Charles Ferguson, Restrepo from Tim Hetherington and much more.. Is the production of a competed documentary the only thing you have in common with your colleagues? We are a company. We eat together, we celebrate, having conversations, think, fighting, and then getting better. Someone would say that we have all the assets of a problematic '' family ''.

The news against war? Or war against the news at last? The war against the news and the examples from the recent journalism are many, Egypt, Libya, Syria. Human beings are on the foresight more than ever before: killing each other, being blackmailed, getting arrested, torture each other and then, disappear. We still waiting for news from the journalist of Al Jazeera whose traits was lost in Syria.

Do the media cover or promote war? What is their position ( or should be? ) The majority of the media institutions are covering a war situation. Nevertheless, sometimes, some of them, promote the interests of their bosses and their governments. For Gaddafi's case, he didn't become in one year a dictator! I will remind you that he was the colonel Muammar Gaddafi when he was signing the profitable contracts with BP for offshore drilling in Libya. Where is today and how is the health of the bombist Locerbie? What is the effect of our media crimes? Thats a good idea for an new documentary! When did you feel that a story was told wrong and what you will do to fix that? In the case of Iraqis minders who were manipulating journalists in Baghdad, in the view of the Americans who were ready to destroy the statue of Saddam Hussein in Tahir square, behind the Palestine hotel, just to prove that they were not on behalf of the existed regime. By surprise, i was listening to my fellow journalists, who had just arrived with the help of the American army, to say that, the Iraqis were free and about to be dismantled from their past. Is documentary a form of art or an information medium? It is a kind of film, an alternative mean of information, a film with informative, educational, and artistic value. Can documentaries influence politics? hey influence the people, they influence the voters. In this sense, they could influence political decisions.

Where do you get aspiration from? From the ocean of information that floods our lives. From the discussions with people i love and admire, from my colleagues and friends, from anything that intrigues me to talk about.