Loafing and Camouflage: Sirens in the Aegean

On the daybreak of the 15th August 2003 the Turkish yacht “Ege guzeli” ventures to leave ashore the Greek rock-islet Pitta two men and a six-year-old girl, all illegal immigrants and castaways that were rescued in the Greek territorial waters. Apart from the captain and the deckhand, three more women are on board the yacht, two of them candidates of a beauty contest and one ex-winner of the same title, a reporter and a cameraman of the Bodrum TV, the local channel that organizes the annual beauty contest of the cosmopolitan capital of the Halicarnassos peninsula.

The six soldiers stationed on the islet look-out post immobilize the yacht and while waiting for orders from their superiors they force the rest of the crew to disembark on the rocky islet.

Due to a soldier’s pastime occupation and other unfavorable conditions that cause difficulties in the communication with the headquarters, compounded by the authenticity of the characters of the six soldiers, the obvious natural attributes of the beauties, the patriotism of their companions and the despair of the illegal immigrants, complicate a hearty as well as explosive gathering, which culminates in armed hostilities between the neighboring countries, but is eventually averted, only contributing to the deconstruction of stereotypes and preconceived notions of bias and prejudice.