LIA
As a practice the work reads like a brief lesson in the ethics of caring. There are no grand narratives here, only the accumulation of small acts that form relationships and shape public space. Listen for the crumbs falling, the gentle rubbing of a head, the whisper of fabric. Let these details remind you that caring can be quiet and profoundly political at the same time.
Lia is observed through the quiet routines of caring she performs for the animals of the city. The documentary follows her among the alleys of Plaka and in Pedion Areos where she feeds stray cats and Tula, a female dog, capturing small moments of tenderness that emerge within stone courtyards and shaded public spaces.
The film adopts an observational approach. Cinematography relies on natural light and ambient sound, with close framings of hands, faces and the animals, and patient long takes that allow the viewer to inhabit the tempo of Lia's days. This is an undergraduate course project created as part of a History, Theory and Practice of Documentary class under the supervision of Chalkou Maria during 2020 2021, and it reflects practical documentary techniques students learn in production.
Thematically the work treats care as both an ethical practice and a subtle form of civic action. Lia's repeated small gestures reveal the human bonds that form in urban environments, the invisible labor of tending to stray animals and the micro communities that coalesce around them.
In the editing the decision to avoid heavy commentary leaves space for observational details to speak, such as the animals' tentative approaches, a head rubbed against a palm, or the sound of footsteps on flagstones. The result is a tender study of everyday compassion that functions as social document and as an exercise in image and sound craft.
