Nicholas Papachrysostomou is not an ordinary person. After completing Economics studies in Canada, Nicholas was just setting out on a promising career at a multinational company in the financial sector in Athens in the early 00s. But it turns out he had other plans. Or rather he had no plans whatsoever when he decided to question the prescribed trajectory his life had begun to take. He quit his job and pursued his childhood dream of going round the world in 7 years. After this peregrination, he joined Médecins Sans Frontières and started to go on missions across the length and breadth of the earth: Yemen, South Sudan, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, search and rescue operations in the Central Mediterranean, Iraq,
Bangladesh, Cameroon.
Against the backdrop of the Rohingyan humanitarian crisis in Southeast Bangladesh, the 27-minute documentary Diaries from the field follows Nicholas Papachrysostomou
in his role as the head of the Médecins Sans Frontières emergency response. Based on his private thoughts, as recorded by him in the Diaries from the field he is accustomed to keeping, the documentary’s central hero attempts to decipher the personal choices that led him from the world of multinationals to emergency humanitarian action.
Through constant transformations, Nicholas is faced with spontaneous questions about the correctness of his decisions, motives and role, as well as the real impact of modern-day humanitarian action. His internal dialogue and personal introspection
inevitably lead him to ponder how one can balance the constant contradictions he experiences: from the human misery and the pain he faces daily in the most difficult parts of the planet to the deep satisfaction he feels when he offers unconditional help to his fellow humans. From his presence in the life of strangers in dire need to his
consequent absence from the everyday life of his near and dear, Nicholas
Papachrysostomou ultimately reflects on the value of the non-linear course his life has taken due to his personal choices, which inevitably lead him to an unknown but ever-challenging present and future.