‘Unclaimed’: Giving voice to the disappeared tuberculosis victims

A random leak at the Sotiria Hospital in 2015 revealed the belongings of hundreds of patients who died of tuberculosis in the previous century and were buried unnamed in mass graves in the hospital grounds.

Once Oscar-nominated director and producer Marianna Economou heard about the discovery and gained access to the belongings, it got stuck in her head and heart.

This is how "Unclaimed" was born, aiming to reveal the hidden stories of tuberculosis patients secretly buried behind a wall at the hospital between 1945 and 1975. The documentary illustrates the truth of impoverished Greece and the social stigma surrounding tuberculosis 80 years later, bringing to life the "outcasts" through their belongings and "secret" correspondences.

"They were buried anonymously in mass graves. They have no names. Nobody claimed their belongings. It is as if they never existed...