A story of love, loss and survival stunningly told
Songbirds tells the story of Nisha, who migrated from Sri Lanka to Cyprus to afford her child a future. In Cyprus she becomes a ‘maid comes nanny’ to Petra and Petra’s daughter Aliki, and a lover to Yannis.
Petra lives in a three-storey Venetian property ‘in the old part Nicosia leading to the Green Line that has divided the island since 1974. There is no violence with their Turkish Cypriot neighbours in the north, but it is an uneasy peace’
When her husband Stephanos dies, Petra becomes completely lost in grief. Petra ‘sees no harm in having a maid’ and hires Nisha for extra help. Nisha is there for the birth of Aliki and every family event thereafter.
Yannis has a banking career and a wife, and when the global financial crisis hit, he loses his job, his savings and his wife. Yannis becomes a lodger at Petra’s Venetian house and poacher hunting precious songbirds.
When Nisha mysteriously disappears, Petra and Yannis are left in turmoil.
The story is told from the point of view of Petra and Yannis, as they recount their current struggles and reminisce about their time spent with Nisha.
Both Petra and Yannis seek help from the police, except the authorities will not take any action, Officer Kyprianou explains: ‘I can’t concern myself with these foreign women. I have more important matters to attend to. If she doesn’t return, my guess would be that she’s ran away to the north. That’s what they do. She’s gone to the Turkish side to find better employment. These women are animals, they follow their instincts’
There is nothing left but to Petra and Yannis investigate Nisha’s disappearance themselves. Nisha is, sadly, one of many economic migrants who make up a silent and invisible workforce in Cyprus.
In Lefteri's words, Songbirds is ‘a story about learning to see each and every human being in the same way as we see ourselves.’ Songbirds is also a story of motherhood and survival, the sacrifices you are forced to make, and the battles you need to fight in search for freedom and a better life.
Lefteri is a dexterous storyteller and manages to create deeply interesting characters whilst exposing systemic racism and the injustice many migrants, particularly domestic workers, face in today’s society.
Songbird is a story inspired in real life events stunningly told.
Petra lives in a three-storey Venetian property ‘in the old part Nicosia leading to the Green Line that has divided the island since 1974. There is no violence with their Turkish Cypriot neighbours in the north, but it is an uneasy peace’
When her husband Stephanos dies, Petra becomes completely lost in grief. Petra ‘sees no harm in having a maid’ and hires Nisha for extra help. Nisha is there for the birth of Aliki and every family event thereafter.
Yannis has a banking career and a wife, and when the global financial crisis hit, he loses his job, his savings and his wife. Yannis becomes a lodger at Petra’s Venetian house and poacher hunting precious songbirds.
When Nisha mysteriously disappears, Petra and Yannis are left in turmoil.
The story is told from the point of view of Petra and Yannis, as they recount their current struggles and reminisce about their time spent with Nisha.
Both Petra and Yannis seek help from the police, except the authorities will not take any action, Officer Kyprianou explains: ‘I can’t concern myself with these foreign women. I have more important matters to attend to. If she doesn’t return, my guess would be that she’s ran away to the north. That’s what they do. She’s gone to the Turkish side to find better employment. These women are animals, they follow their instincts’
There is nothing left but to Petra and Yannis investigate Nisha’s disappearance themselves. Nisha is, sadly, one of many economic migrants who make up a silent and invisible workforce in Cyprus.
In Lefteri's words, Songbirds is ‘a story about learning to see each and every human being in the same way as we see ourselves.’ Songbirds is also a story of motherhood and survival, the sacrifices you are forced to make, and the battles you need to fight in search for freedom and a better life.
Lefteri is a dexterous storyteller and manages to create deeply interesting characters whilst exposing systemic racism and the injustice many migrants, particularly domestic workers, face in today’s society.
Songbird is a story inspired in real life events stunningly told.