Rebetiko Crisis: Undue Debt

An odyssey across the places of origin of Western civilization: Greece, subsumed by economic crisis; where the mind, the soul, and the music of its people lie, specially the Rebetes, the Rebetiko singers, considered as the Hellenic equivalent to blues; this music against the establishment was born among refugees who arrived to Greece from Asia Minor and proliferated in poor urban neighborhoods. In the journey of composer and musician Vinicio Capossela through the taverns of Athens and Thessalonica, this film records his music, his wandering life, and his travel journal, revealing at the same time the collective scars the crisis has left in a place where everything seems to have lost its value.

Directed by Andrea Segre, Rebetiko Crisis: Undue Debt leans on a strong ensemble — Vinicio Capossela, Theodora Athanasiou, Giorgis Christofilakis — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about documentary titles of 2013.