Person-centred, travel documentary with Ina Tarantou.

Ina Tarantou travels and gets a view of the "Alterlife". The exact location is not important. The journey becomes the destination and life is experienced through the eyes of the persons she meets. Stories of people whose actions manifest optimism, strength and hope. Through their "eyes" we see life, history and the beauties of our country. People who, despite the adversities, never gave up, took risks and developed new businesses, brought to light unexploited parts of the Greek landscape, and revived local products.

Further or closer to the urban centres, each story lets us in with its own beauty to another side of the Greek landscape, Greek society and Greek reality. Sometimes looking to the future, other times tracing back the deep roots of the past. It is the conveyance of the feeling of...breathlessness. Up on the castle of Skyros, on the top of Mt. Helmos counting the stars, to the playing of the philharmonic orchestras in the alleyways of Corfu at Easter, reaching down to the Cavo D'oro, walking on a tightrope over the gorge of the Aoos river in Konitsa.

Because life is even more beautiful, when you see the Alterlife!

They say that man is the creation of the place where his eyes were first opened to the world. We have heard many a time about the “toughness” and the power of the women of Epirus. Perhaps not unfairly, since the everyday life of a woman in Zagori revealed a continuous silent, painful struggle, which she endured with stoicism, strength and courage. A woman whose cruel fate began even before she was born. Because sons meant workhands, but women were just more mouths to feed. So, when a girl was born, she received the disappointment of her environment. Yet it was the woman who shouldered all the difficult roles.

We, too, met these unique women on our journey to this magical, beautiful, and harsh place. The Papageorgiou sisters, Gianna and Elli, welcome us to Kapesovo and Megalo Papigo, to pass on to us this unique love they have for their land. Since they were in school in Ioannina, they had a unique bond with their father’s homeland; so, as soon as they finished school, they decided to open a little shop on their own in Kapesovo, to offer people what they and their family produce from the goods of the land. And that’s how Kapesovo with its “Sterna” becomes one of the top choices of travellers. They talk to us about the beauties of their land, the quality of life they have and the great value that respecting the efforts of other people has in their lives.

Our journey into the lives of the women of Zagori continues in Vitsa, where we meet Maria, in the company of her niece, Anastasia. Maria decided to leave her life in Athens, in order to live in her fatherland, in an effort to pass on the unique hospitality and tradition to the people who visit her land, combined with the new travel trend that is being in contact with nature. We eat the most delicious traditional pitta we have ever tasted and breathe in the fresh air, gazing at the mountain tops and doing yoga.

We are, also, very touched by Mrs. Georgia, whose dream is to go see “that Paris thing”! Born and raised in Ano Pedina, she tells us about the difficult everyday life of the female breeder. She transmits to us her love for the land and the real difficulties she faces, always with a smile; she does not hide that she understands the young girls who want to try living in other places, where they will have a better everyday life.

Our trip ends in the village of Aristi. Another wonderful, picturesque village, where Liana welcomes us. 30 years ago, Liana and her family made the conscious decision to leave bustling Athens and start their life in her fatherland. She makes our minds travel with her descriptions of the Zagori women's life in the olden days, the difficulties and poverty they had to face, but also the raising of children since men were often away from home, travelling to bring money back to the family.

And Mrs. Alexandra, who still works at her family's traditional café even though she is over 90 years old, brings to our minds all the images that we have seen, the stories and texts we have read about the women of Zagori. Because, in the end, it is impossible to talk about Zagori and not see the face of the woman behind everything beautiful, important, and brave in this land. The woman whose cruel fate began even before she was born!