Leoforio

For over 60 years, the Greek cooperative KTEL has run 80% of the country’s public transport system completely independently from the state. Catherine Catella and Shu Aiello (Un paese di Calabria, VdR2016) crossed Greece to discover this self-management model. Representing 4,000 bus lines and 10,800 employees, KTEL has seen its operations seriously undermined by the economic crisis. Consequently, the many bus journeys that punctuate the film are an opportunity for the drivers to tell their stories. Neither militants nor lacking in any ideology, they try in a pragmatic manner to answer the many questions being asked during general assemblies. In a country that has been under the glare of the media for 10 years with a focus on its state of crisis, Leoforio takes the firm stance of describing what still works, despite its fragility. From these men, fathers to sons, entering this cooperative, from the care they take in presenting the virtues of their job, comes a poignant testimony of what can be done and the necessary survival of this commitment to solidarity.