Rebetiko Crisis: Undue Debt

An odyssey through the cradle of Western civilization—Greece—set against the grinding backdrop of an economic crisis. At its core lie the mind, the soul, and the music of its people, especially the Rebetes, the Rebetiko singers regarded as Greece’s blues. This music, born among Asia Minor refugees who arrived in Greece and flourished in its poorest urban neighborhoods, embodies a defiance of authority. Through the journey of composer and musician Vinicio Capossela as he moves through the taverns of Athens and Thessalonica, the film captures his music, his wandering life, and his travel diary, while also revealing the collective scars the crisis has left in a place where everything seems to have lost its value.