Takis, directed by Michalis Roubis, reaches into the depth of our souls to restore our connection with animals. Filmed in Ierapetra’s animal shelter in Crete, the documentary traces the incredible journey of a nightclub owner, Takis Proestakis, who gave up everything he owned, including his car, to rescue discarded animals. Abandoned in dumps, starving, injured, old or neglected, they are the forgotten ones, the ones society does not want to see or think about. And yet they exist, they breathe and want to live and be loved. Their savior and protector, Takis,dedicates his life to finding and healing dogs, but also cats and other animals. he already rehomed over 2000 while sheltering 400 animals at any given time.
In my conversation with this modern day hero, we talked about how we can recognize animals who are suffering:
“Look at their eyes. A suffering animal doesn’t cry like people do, they become silent. They make themselves small. You can see it clear, if you look, kittens stuck in car engines, dogs with every rib showing, pigeons with injured feet from living in the city. The suffering is obvious, if you allow yourself to see it. Every person has this responsibility inside them – I just choose to act on it. When I saw how animals were suffering in my town – dogs thrown out like trash, left to die in the streets – I couldn’t ignore it. Once you really see that pain, you can’t unsee it. So I started helping. One animal. Then another. Now here we are.
I also asked him if saving animals can help us.
“Yes, completely. Animals open something inside us. When you care for a frightened dog or help a hurt cat or pigeon or whatever, you discover your own compassion, and that changes how you treat people too. We think we’re saving them, but the truth is they’re saving us too.
Start with small actions. Feed the stray near your home. Carry some oats for pigeons, people always forget about pigeons, they are domesticated too. If you see an animal in trouble, call for help. If you can’t adopt, foster. If you can’t foster, donate. If you can’t donate, share their stories. There’s always some way to help, if you really want to.
When you care for a frightened dog or help a hurt cat or pigeon or whatever, you discover your own compassion, and that changes how you treat people too. We think we’re saving them, but the truth is they’re saving us too.
The film originally premiered at the Greek Film Festival in Los Angeles .
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