2021 Arts Award: Angelos Bougas
by Katy Gilmore ‘24
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Angelos Bougas ‘21
Majors: Film Studies; International Studies
To start off, tell me a little bit about yourself!
My name is Angelos Bougas. I am from Athens, Greece— I was born and raised there. Over the last four years I’ve been studying film and international studies at BC. I love film, especially when focusing on issues of social justice and other cultural stuff. I’m usually the one doing interviews, so this is kind of new!
How have you been involved with film here at BC?
My journey started as a freshman when I found a grant opportunity to travel back home to Greece over Christmas break and create my own documentary on the refugee crisis in Europe. This was my first attempt to fully produce my own short film. After that, I realized that this was something that I loved. Since then I’ve pursued many other grants through BC to create other socio-political films. I’ve traveled to France, Germany, Lithuania, and Poland and made short films of social nature.
As a junior I started drifting away from documentaries slightly and more towards advertising and creative stuff. I worked with Deadline Hollywood in 2019 alongside the creative director. Last summer I made a short film on discrimination which is going to be screened for the first time at festivals starting next month. I’m hoping to get attention there for some potential awards.
Is there one experience at BC that’s been really meaningful to you, whether working on a project or in a class?
Yeah, I’ll talk about the first film that I made. As I came to the states I was seeing the news headlines everywhere talking about the refugee crisis. The epicenter was my country, Greece. I felt that I really wanted to find an opportunity to investigate this topic more since I was from there. I had just left home for the first time. That’s how I met Professor John Michalczyk who has helped me throughout my whole film career here. I found the opportunity to apply for my first grant and travel back home. I spent a good portion of Christmas break that year in some of Europe’s worst refugee camps in Lesbos.
Bougas works behind the scenes on his film, “My Blue Greece”
What influences your work as a filmmaker? Or, what gets you excited to create?
I think that when you’re passionate about certain topics and you have an artistic instinct, you feel that it’s necessary to create when you see something not going the way you want it or you want to give more attention to a certain topic. I would say that passion usually meets some sort of injustice or phenomenon. That leads to creativity.
For example, over the summer when I was in lockdown in Greece, the Black Lives Matter movement was taking place here in the US. I felt unable to participate in any meaningful way from home. Then I started thinking, “Okay, what should I do?” I realized I could create some sort of film. Of course that had many challenges, the first being that there are very few Black people in Greece, so it was a challenge to find a Black actor. I started doing a lot of research, and I randomly stumbled on a discussion about racism. It was from Black Greeks, so I took a look at the video and one of them was an actor. I immediately Facebook-messaged them, and within a week we put a tape together and started working on the project.
Do you have a mentor or inspiration you would like to mention, whether at BC or in the film industry in general?
Without a doubt Professor John Michalczyk has been a great mentor for me here at BC. From my freshman year he has shown me the path. He shared with me all of his film knowledge and basically tried to make sure I’m headed towards success. Not only just presenting me with grant opportunities and taking the time to help me with the applications, he has also been like a family figure to me in the states. I’ve even been to his house and had dinner with his family. He’s definitely been a big inspiration for me on my film journey.
You talked some about how the pandemic sent you back to Greece. In what other ways has the pandemic impacted the way you make film?
From a technical standpoint, production has become a lot harder. With so many restrictions in place it’s nearly impossible to have larger crews. Getting permission to film has become almost impossible. However, from an artistic perspective I would say that it has made us think and reflect more. We’ve been able to understand ourselves better. Through that self-exploration, we’ve been able to discover what moves us and what we’re passionate about. In that sense, it’s allowed me to figure out what I want and pushed me to create content I care more about.
Bougas works on his film, “My Blue Greece”
What are your next steps after graduation?
I will be working in a business start-up in Zambia with one of my closest friends at Georgetown University. After September I will probably move to Africa for months or longer. Ultimately, I want to travel a lot and explore new cultures. Hopefully I can combine that effectively with my work.
Do you have any advice you’d like to pass on to students interested in getting involved in film?
Absolutely. My first piece of advice is for them to seek out different grant opportunities that BC has to offer. I also think that any film student who is serious about their work and the craft should invest in their own equipment and try to do as much work as they can early on. It’s very important to try to create a website or portfolio. There are many platforms that allow you to do that for free. Take those opportunities, and create as much as you can. For every project, the amount of progress you can see as a director, producer, editor, or anything needs to be immense. If you have the opportunities to start from early on, do it and keep working. When you’re a senior you’ll have an impressive resumé and be much more attractive to film studios or any other creative fields.
