A story about a girl who survived the attempt of murder by her father, struggles daily to pull through her 99% disability, searching for her freedom.
YUBI
Aspasia Bogri was a 17-year old senior in high school living a normal life as teenager in Argos, Greece, when on August 12th 2013, she was shot by her father. Aspasia survived her murder but at what cost? Aspasia, a quadriplegic with 99% disability, isn’t able to live the life of a normal young woman. She can’t walk, move, speak. Her existence relies on her mother, Spyridoula, who quit her job to take care of Aspasia day and night. She has to be bathed, dressed, medicated, fed through a gastro tube. Living in Athens Greece, a country plagued by financial crisis and increased unemployment, Aspasia and her mother try to overcome several obstacles with little or no help from the government. With almost non-existent disability benefits they try to cover the high maintenance disability: 24-7 nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, doctors. Aspasia is improving with small steps at a time. Spyridoula lives through her memories of the life before. Every moment, she dreams of the day she sees the old Aspasia return, a beautiful teenager dreaming of being a criminologist.
SYNOPSIS
Aspasia Bogri was a 17-year old senior in high school living a normal life as teenager in Argos, Greece, when on August 12th2013, she was shot by her father. Aspasia survived her murder but at what cost? Aspasia, a quadriplegic with 99% disability, isn’t able to live the life of a normal young woman. She can’t walk, move, speak. Her existence relies on her mother, Spyridoula, who quit her job to take care of Aspasia day and night. Living in Athens Greece, a country plagued by financial crisis and increased unemployment, Aspasia and her mother try to overcome several obstacles with little or no help from the government. With almost non-existent disability benefits they try to cover the high maintenance disability: 24-7 nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, doctors. Aspasia is improving slowly, with small steps at a time. Spyridoula lives through her memories of the life before. Every moment, she dreams of the day she sees the old Aspasia return, a beautiful teenager dreaming of being a criminologist.
Credits
Producer: Julia Speropoulos Director: Julia Speropoulos Editor: Tzanetos Komineas
Screenplay: Julia Speropoulos Cinematography: Alexandra Masmanidi, Julia Speropoulos
Sound design: Tzanetos Komineas Post Production: Tzanetos Komineas (c) Julia D. Speropoulos
REVIEWS
"«I started calling her «my flower», after that came [yuyudi moy]...slowly became [yububudaki mou], [yubudi mou], [yubi]...»
Julia Speropoulos’ documentary begins with these words, spoken by the mother, whose goal is to sensitize, to move, but most of all to make us think about how the Greek public sector tackles the issues of people with disability.
As the plot unfolds, we discover a tragic story of an offender, a ruthless father, who revenges his wife by shooting his 17-year old daughter (Aspasia), making her unable to move or speak. This is how the mother’s torture begins, as well as her imposed need to stand back on her feet and give back to her daughter the life her father deprived her of.
The directress arranges her frames around Aspasia’s everyday life, and the insurmountable difficulties that she has to face for simple activities. She makes sure, however, to focus on the natural environment, not as an escape trick, but as a deeper need to transform despair and fear into a surge of emotions of optimism and love. The addition of a silly narration gives a voice to the possible thoughts of the daughter, creating an ideal calendar describing her life. And where there’s life, there’s hope. And hope is ready to be implemented, to embrace mother and daughter, giving breath to the mountain they are climbing.
The report on murdering one’s children through Euripides’ “Raging Heracles” contrasts that of YUBI, and offers a warning, not only to this hideous act, but also to its possible cause, mental illness. The question that is then set, expresses with indignation, and destitution, the taking up duties in office, by people who are unfit to respond to."
Aggelos Lechouritis (Film critic, All4fun.gr)
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