Change Makers (2025)
Directed by Casey Beck
Duration: 21 mins
Lefteris Arapakis was born to be a 6th generation fisherman in Greece. Instead, he started the country’s first-ever fishing school, training fishermen to remove plastic garbage from local waters and convincing this ancient profession – including his own family – of the need to protect the Mediterranean Sea and beyond.
Lefteris is the first of six young climate activists, our Change Makers, to be featured in a docuseries of the same name. Together, they are tackling the biggest issue of our time – the race against climate catastrophe – as they transform their individual communities and inspire people with their innovation, persistence, and grace.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Casey Beck is an award-winning documentary director, producer, and cinematographer. Following a Fulbright Scholarship in Argentina in 2008, she served as First Unit Director on Ballplayer: Pelotero, a New York Times Critics’ Pick, a New York Times Critics’ Pick that premiered at the Miami International Film Festival and aired on ESPN. Her feature directorial debut, The Organic Life, premiered at the 36th Mill Valley Film Festival in 2013, won Best Documentary Feature at the Santa Cruz Film Festival, and was later released on Hulu, FoodMattersTV, Amazon, and iTunes.
Beck’s more recent work explores environmental justice. Her films on water contamination—Downstream (2018) and The Great Divide (2020)—as well as Smells Like (2022), which examines air pollution, have screened internationally and earned multiple awards. These films were supported by the Pulitzer Center and accompanied by investigative journalism published by Amnesty International, the Investigative Reporting Workshop, and Public Health Watch.
She currently serves as Director of the Digital Media Practices Program at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Awards & Screenings
- 2025, Drama Short Film Festival - World Premiere
- 2025, Chania Film Festival - Best Short Documentary GR2ME
- 2025, Peloponnisos International Documentary Film Festival - Nomine