TACK by Vania Turner – 2024
An Onassis Culture production
The Olympian who pioneered Greece’s #MeToo movement inspires a younger athlete to come forward with her own abuse. In a milestone trial, Sofia stands with Amalia, who is seeking justice for her own abuse at the hands of her coach when she was a child.
How much strength does it take to “tack” against gender violence? Two women. A common trauma. A shared legal battle. Vania Turner’s “TACK” intimately follows Sofia, a revered Olympic sailing champion, and Amalia, a talented young sailor, as they move to the forefront of a seismic shift in Greek society. In a milestone trial, Sofia stands by Amalia in every possible way. Always on each other’s side, they achieve a measure of justice, but at the same time, they realize that their struggle to change the social norms within Greek society has only just begun.
As the director notes, “Focusing on them allowed me to begin a deep exploration of complex trauma, revealing the profound impact it has on victims and their loved ones. It also allowed me to move beyond the life of the protagonists to tell the story of a broken criminal justice system, and to show how the insularity of small towns ends up isolating and stigmatizing victims -including children.” By setting sail on this adverse journey, Amalia becomes a symbol for the rest of the female victims, who find the strength and voice through her court battle to reveal their personal traumas and seek justice.
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When Olympic medalist Sofia Bekatorou reveals her rape by a powerful figure within the Hellenic Sailing Federation, it sparks Greece’s #MeToo movement and turns her into a national symbol for abuse victims. Inspired by Sofia, sailing champion Amalia, decides to seek justice for herself –she was systematically abused by her coach between the ages of 11 and 13. As Sofia champions legal reforms to empower abuse victims, Amalia takes her abuser to court in what becomes Greece’s first #MeToo trial. With deep compassion, the film follows the two women for two years as they navigate this seismic shift in Greece. Animated sketches bring the courtroom drama to life where Amalia faces intense victim blaming, humiliation, and attempts to discredit her. Sofia, whose own case has expired, stands by her side, as she copes with her own trauma and confronts her relationship with her father. The two women achieve a measure of justice but realize that their fight to modernize Greek social norms has only just begun. So, they must tack like sailors maneuvering through the winds of adversity to keep moving forward.
"TACK is a deeply intimate documentary that follows two women and elite athletes –Sofia, 43 and Amalia, 22– whose lives intersect as they seek justice. Sofia and Amalia's paths cross when Amalia reaches out to Sofia, a two-time Olympic medalist who shares her own harrowing experience of sexual assault by a strongman within the Hellenic Sailing Federation and becomes the catalyst for the MeToo movement in Greece. From that moment on, a legal battle begins against Amalia's former coach. Over the course of two years, the film follows and observes the two women as they navigate complex and painful legal proceedings.
Their lives in the film run in parallel:
I began filming Sofia as she became a national symbol and met Amalia shortly after she made the difficult decision to take her abuser to court. Throughout these two years, and especially during the trial, my camera became a sort of repository for their thoughts and we grew extremely close. Focusing on them allowed me to begin a deep exploration of complex trauma, revealing the profound impact it has on victims and their loved ones. It also allowed me to move beyond the life of the protagonists to tell the story of a broken criminal justice system, and to show how the insularity of small towns ends up isolating and stigmatizing victims -including children."
– Vania Turner
The film participated in the Docs in Progress program of the 24th Thessaloniki Documentary Festival and received an award from the Greek Film Center worth 3,000 euros. The jury noted: “The film brings to the fore a significant issue that has led to social and political changes in contemporary Greece. Changes we would like to see spread, leading to accountability and liability.”
The official premiere of "TACK" took place at the 26th Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival. On Sunday, March 17, 2024, the film "TACK" by Vania Turner, produced by Onassis Culture, was honored with five awards: WIFT GR Award (Women in Film & Television) for the best female contribution and presence in front of and behind the camera, International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI) Award, Best Film Award by the Youth Jury of Students of the Thessaloniki Universities, Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation Award with a prize of €3,000, while also receiving a special mention in the Newcomers International Competition.
The film was screened as an official entry at the One World Film Festival in the Czech Republic on March 26, 2024, and won the Regional Jury Award, as well as the Abakus Foundation Audience Award for Exceptional Debate, an award given to the participants of the debate around the film, which was held in the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The debate was led by Irena Hůlová from Amnesty International and lawyer Daniel Bartoň and moderated by Anna Kotvalová.
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As a film, “TACK” complements the above actions and values of the Onassis Foundation, aspiring to empower every person who has experienced violence to raise their voice and eventually change the plot of their story.
- “TACK” began following a commission by Christos Sarris to create a project about sexism in Greece. Following research on issues such as sexism in the media workplace and sports, the short film “Girlhood,” co-directed by Vania Turner and Maria Sidiropoulou, initially emerged. On November 25, 2002, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Sofia Bekatorou broke her silence for the first time by writing a comment on the Onassis YouTube Channel. On December 22, 2020, she gave an interview to “Marie Claire” magazine, where she first reported the sexual harassment she underwent by a powerful figure of the Hellenic Sailing Federation. That was the first time Vania contacted Sofia, as at the same time new accusations from athletes were being emerged. On the day she filed the complaint, Vania and Maria were there to meet her. They presented her with the project’s framework and stated that their objective was to empower other women to speak up. Sofia accepted, and the filming began soon afterward. On January 18, 2021, Amalia sent a message to Sofia, which marked the beginning of her own court battle.
- The director followed Amalia’s case and life with her camera for three years. In 2024, and while “TACK” has reached its completion, Vania Turner is no longer behind the camera documenting her story but still stands by the side of Amalia Provelengiou until her final vindication.
- There are more than 100 hours of video footage of Sofia Bekatorou in Vania’s archive, with the majority of material assembled during the first months of the pandemic. “We didn’t know where all this would lead,” says the director, adding, “Sofia had turned into a national symbol. She was receiving hundreds of messages from victims who were seeking her help.” It was exactly the moment when the story of Greek #MeToo was unfolding parallel to Sofia’s story.
- From the moment Amalia’s story was leaked to the press, the media scrutinized Amalia’s life as well as her family’s. For Amalia, Vania’s camera was an ally, a witness, or simply a friend to talk to.
- Today, Vania is in the research stage of a new documentary centered on the climate crisis and social collapse. She believes that the camera carries a certain power. Therefore, it is important for the people she films to know that they can press “stop” or “play” at any time.
How much strength does it take to “tack” against gender violence?
“"Tack", which scooped five awards in Thessaloniki, not only examines how sexual abuse upended the lives of its two subjects, but explores the impact on their loved ones and the ways in which gender-based discrimination and sexual violence continue to affect millions of women in Greece.”
– Christopher Vourlias, Variety
“When the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal broke in 2017, it sparked the #MeToo movement that travelled around the globe. Many of the accusations that surfaced pointed to institutional problems and a widespread culture of denial. This domino effect reached Greece in 2020, when Olympic gold medal winning sailor Sofia Bekatorou revealed she had been raped several years earlier by a senior member of the Hellenic Sailing Federation national governing body.”
– Amber Wilkinson, Screendaily
“Two branches of documentary art, i.e., theater and cinema, attend to the trauma, serve public memory, and present to us the human beings upon whom hideous crimes have been committed, endowing solidarity with a comforting role and raising awareness with a deterrent one, seeking justice in a society that fails to acknowledge the victim, a weakness that renders it potentially complicit.”
– Ioanna Sotirchou, Efimerida ton Syntakton
“We see a shift following Sofia’s complaint. Indeed, many people began speaking out, even if they didn’t do it in public or file a report. Many people engaged in conversations with their friends, their mothers, or their fathers. And that is a huge victory. So, in a way, some people started to be afraid and, therefore, more cautious. Indeed, we didn’t see any big scandals breaking out in the business world, which either way conceals a lot of abuse of power. Besides, who stands any chance of challenging these powers? Yet, some people did speak out, and some will do so in the future. Maybe there is something we can do to provide the victims with better protection and overall conditions.”
– Eftihia Soufleri, News247
