Onassis

Athens, home for all. Onassis Stegi – together with the City of Athens’ Technopolis, Athens Pride and Google – is sharing a message that needs to be heard. Watch a short film about Athens, a city that understands, accepts, and connects with everyone. See flags that honor inclusivity fly above buildings, stand in front of colorful Athens shopfronts, and set off on a journey of understanding and support through a series of artworks.

The city of Athens is being filled with colors that make people human.

Film still: Christos Sarris

https://youtu.be/BMnV0iTPssk

Athens. A city of inclusivity, visibility, and acceptance. Democracy, as a political system and as a way of life, was created here, in this city where each and every person – no matter their color, creed, nationality, age, sexual orientation, weight, or political beliefs – live together, coexisting with everyone else.

Onassis Stegi is joining forces with Technopolis | City of Athens, Google and Athens Pride to spread an important message. It is the message of a city that embraces everyone, creating the conditions we all need to feel safe and free to be ourselves. Athens Home for All.

This message is set to travel the world thanks to a very short film shot in Athens’ neighborhoods and is available to watch here. It stars regular people, the kind who live next door. People who love without fear: falling in love, forming families, walking freely on the city’s streets, and choosing openly to be themselves.

A family from the Congo that sought asylum in Greece and managed to find a home to live in through an open call to volunteers and campaigners. A Greek-African trans woman who lives in Athens with her spouse. Two women who got married and set up a restaurant business together. A nurse who works shifts at a hospital in the morning, and transforms into a drag queen at night

People with real-life stories are brought together on the streets of Athens for a few seconds – as long as the film lasts – to show us that racism, violence, and social exclusion have no place here anymore. And there’s no-one better to tell us this than the city itself – Athens – voiced by Maria Nafpliotou. The video will premiere on the Onassis Foundation YouTube Channel today (September 11).

As part of the Athens Home For All campaign, watch the story of an all-colorful flag in a short educational video here. Onassis Stegi is inviting political organizations and public institutions to raise the rainbow flag high over their buildings. A flag that weighs just 63 grams and yet proves too heavy for some to raise alone. This flag is also being made into a sticker that will transform shopfronts across Athens. The crosswalks around Onassis Stegi will be changing too, as will the building’s lighting, to send out a powerful message of inclusion. The city of Athens is being filled with the colors that make people human. And this is just the beginning.

In addition, from 13th September celebrate diversity on the Onassis digital channel with the sold-out performance of Tom in Greece (Tom à la ferme, 2011), a play written by Michel Marc Bouchard and presented at Onassis Stegi in 2019 under the direction of Sarantos Georgios Zervoulakos.

And the journey of understanding and acceptance continues on Onassis YouTube Channel. Until 20th September, you can watch a segment of the film “Draw with Me”, written and directed by Constantine Venetopoulos in collaboration with The Trevor Project. A documentary that follows the footsteps of Brendon Scholl a youth in transition, with a special introduction by Jennifer Lopez, his aunt. The story is a one of the power of having the right support, self expression, and finding yourself at your own pace. The full documentary will be available in Festivals this fall..

https://www.onassis.org/news/athens-home-all-global-campaign-acceptance-and-inclusivity

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