Archive

Every year, the Human Rights Film Festival Berlin presents about 40 outstanding international documentaries. Here we have collected all the films from previous years that are online available, for all who missed films or simply want to watch one or the other film again.

2020

Dan Partland | USA | 2020 | 83 min

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#Unfit. The Psychology of Donald Trump 

In 2016, Donald Trump became the 45th President of the United States. Since then, it seems that he has been ruling mostly via Twitter. He shocks the liberal world with his statements and uses polarization to win votes. But, if his presidency were merely bizarre, the problem would be smaller. In this documentary, experts and psychologists dig into Trump's psyche and what they find should be a warning to all. Donald Trump is unpredictable, dangerous, and needs to exit the political stage.

Abbas Fahdel | Iraq, Lebanon | 2020 | 87 min

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Bitter Bread

Refugees fleeing from neighbouring Syria have settled temporarily in Beqaa Valley, Lebanon, where they live and work under the supervision of a local administrator from whom they rent their land, earn their wages, and to whom they are indebted. Their steel shacks and tarpaulin tents provide scant relief from the ravages of seasonal floods and the whims of a forbidding natural environment. Director Abbas Fahdel shows the daily struggle for a dignified and autonomous communal life.

Garry Keane & Andrew McConnell | Ireland, Canada, Germany | 2019 | 90 min |

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GAZA

GAZA brings us into a unique place beyond the reach of televised news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters and to offer us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead meaningful lives despite the rubble left by perennial conflict. In this uplifting film, we follow the lives of everyday Gazan citizens.

Maya Newell | Australia | 2019 | 84 min |

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In My Blood It Runs 

"I want to be an Aborigine," says 10-year-old Dujuan. He comes from a family of Arrernte Aborigine, is already a healer and speaks three languages fluently. But those talents have no place in a "white" educational system. Dujuan rebels and is thus increasingly put under the control of the   social welfare office and the police. But clever Dujuan's family stands by him as he shares with us his thoughts and dreams and introduces us to his magical knowledge of the Arrernte myths and that of the complicated world surrounding him.

Carol Dysinger | UK | 2019 | 40 min |

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Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl)

A girl learning to skateboard in Kabul seems impossible. The challenge, not just for her but for the society around her, seems insurmountable. But, with every training session, the girls get better: their confidence in their own bodies and abilities grows. Suddenly, for two sisters, getting an education doesn't seem like such an absurd idea. This uplifting film, which shows a different side to Afghanistan, won an Oscar this year for its directors Caroline Dysinger and Zamarin Wahdat.

Jeff Kaufman | 2020 |  1h 32 Min.

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Nasrin

The documentary NASRIN by Jeff Kaufmann about the Iranian human rights lawyer and women rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh. Filmed in Iran by women and men, who risked to be arrested for this film, the film not only portrays one courageous woman, but the Iranian women’s rights movement itself. It looks behind the pure facts that made the news – and provides first-hand insights into the life of a woman risking everything for her cause.

Boris B. Bertram | Denmark | 2019 | 78 min |

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Photographer of War

An intimate portrait of the world-famous photographer Jan Grarup.As a war photographer, Grarup often risks his life, but at home in Copenhagen, he is the father of four children. Suddenly, he becomes a single parent and has to rethink his concept of life. Photographer of War gives an insight into the working reality of a war photographer, while also revealing a psychological portrait of a man who has spent 25 years documenting the horrors of war and must now face a new, inner struggle.

Juliana Fanjul | Switzerland | 2019 | 77 min

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Radio Silence 

The incorruptible journalist Carmen Aristegui is one of the few voices in Mexico with the courage to speak the truth. As a result, millions listen as she unveils a corruption scandal involving the president—a story that gets her fired. The population breaks out in protest and the journalist’s fight for freedom of the press begins. We accompany her as she continues to speak out and coordinate a team of investigative journalists through the poisoned Mexican media landscape on her own news platform.

Alexander I. Farrell | United Kingdom, Canada | 2019 | 88 min

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Refugee

In 2015, Raf’aa, a Syrian mother, was forced to make the ultimate sacrifice. With her husband Nazem in the hospital and bombs falling ever closer to their home, she fled Syria to find asylum for her family leaving Nazem and their two children, Ahmed and Hamoudi, behind. They had hoped to reunite in Europe within a few weeks, but by the time Nazem and the children left… it was too late. The political climate had changed and the borders to Europe were closed. Now, they are fighting for a shared future.

Ai Weiwei | Germany | 2020 | 112 min

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Vivos

When a Mexican school bus was attacked in 2014 by unknown assailants and 43 young people disappeared without a trace, the world was horrified. The waves of random, brutal violence in the troubled country had reached a level that could not be ignored. But the investigations ran aground in loose theories and corruption, while the drug cartels continued ravaging. The Chinese artist and documentarist Ai Weiwei lends a voice to those left behind in his investigative and deeply human film.

2019

Britta Schoening | Germany | 2019 | 60 min

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#Widerstand

Migration, right-wing populism, terrorist attacks: the so-called crises we encounter every day in the media are dividing society. Using three extremely different perspectives, #WIDERSTAND creates a dialogue and poses the question of whether or not we are more connected than separated. Helene, 19, wants to set an example in Athens against the border closures in Europe. Ingrid, 23, is a follower of the new right-wing Identitarian Movement in Vienna, which propagates against “mass immigration and Islamisation”. Aicha, 18, is a Muslim poetry slammer at the association “i,Slam” and faces discrimination everyday.

Damon Gameau | Australia | 2019 | 92 min |

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2040

“2040” embarks on a personal journey to explore what the future could look like by the year 2040, if the best solutions already available to us to improve our planet shifted into the mainstream. Using visual effects to imagine a future where we manage to save the world from disaster thanks to scientific progress, the film presents a surprisingly sunny, hopeful, counter-intuitive alternative to the usual doomy warnings of impending apocalypse. Framing the film as a letter to his 4-year-old daughter Zoe, the director shows us an uplifting utopia.

Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier & Edward Burtynsky | Canada | 2018 | 87 min

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Anthropocene: The Human Epoch

ANTHROPOCENE follows the research of an international body of scientists, the Anthropocene Working Group who, after nearly 10 years of research, are arguing that the Holocene Epoch gave way to the Anthropocene Epoch in the mid-twentieth century, because of profound and lasting human changes to the Earth. From concrete seawalls in China, to the biggest terrestrial machines ever built in Germany, to psychedelic potash mines in Russia’s Ural Mountains and to the devastated Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the filmmakers have travelled around the globe to document human planetary domination.

Hans Pool | The Netherlands | 2018 | 88 min

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Bellingcat – Truth in a Post-Truth World

Who can we still believe? When even governments spread fake news to create confusion and uncertainty, it is increasingly difficult to spot the truth among the lies. BELLINGCAT follows an international team of citizen investigative journalists, who use audio analysis, cutting­edge digital techniques and their knowledge of social media to conduct in­depth research putting every major news publisher to the test. Can a bunch of self­funded “armchair researchers” hold powerful world leaders accountable for their crimes? And what does their success have to say of this century’s changes?

Maryam Zaree | Germany, Austria | 2019 | 95 min

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Born in Evin

Forty years ago, the Shah and the Iranian monarchy were overthrown. Ayatollah Khomeini, the new religious leader, had tens of thousands of political opponents arrested and murdered after his seizure of power. Among the prisoners were the parents of the director and actress Maryam Zaree. They survived the years in the infamous Evin Prison and were able to flee to Germany. But Zaree learned nothing from her parents about the circumstances of her birth. What does the silence about such a trauma do to  a family? How can they deal with such violence when the perpetrators are still in power and the victims have internalized the oppression? Maryam Zaree laboriously works through the thicket of repression, in which the private and the political are inseparably interwoven.

Inka Achte | Finland, Norway, India | 2018 | 68 min

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Boys who like Girls

Ved is a teenager who comes from a violent home in the slums of Mumbai. When he joins a project aiming to foster healthy masculinity, he starts challenging his views on women and realizes there is a brighter path for him than the one paved by his abusive, controlling father. One of Ved‘s mentors is Harish, a gentle man in his 50s who has dedicated his life to abolishing toxic masculinity. Through his support, Ved takes his first wobbly steps into adulthood, while developing an unlikely new passion: dancing. Will Ved‘s generation be the first men who actually like girls

Ewa Ewart | Poland | 2018 | 70 min

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The Curse of Abundance

In 2007, Ecuador launched a daring initiative, promising to leave some of its Amazonian oil reserves in the ground in order to preserve one of the Earth’s most vital ecosystems, as well as two indigenous tribes, in exchange for financial compensation from the international community. Sadly, the revolutionary idea turned out to be ahead of its time and in late 2017, Ecuador started a new phase of drilling. The film poses two key questions: What are the environmental costs of oil extraction around the world? And what role should the international community play?

Shamira Raphaëla | Clarice Gargard | The Netherlands | 2019 | 52 min

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Daddy and the Warlord

The family of Clarice Gargard, born in 1988, comes from Liberia. In DADDY AND THE WARLORD, the young journalist asks about her father’s involvement in the war crimes of the convicted rebel and ex-president of Liberia, Charles Taylor. For Gargard her father was an idealist and role model. But was he really interested in rebuilding his country, or was he corrupting himself with money, fame, and power? The story unfolds slowly - and Clarice increasingly loses herself in the search for her own truth, while her father’s story turns out to be more complex and harder than ever thought.

Rehad Desai | South Africa | 2018 | 85 min

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Everything must fall

The film is an unflinching look at the #FeesMustFall student movement that burst into the most militant national revolt in South Africa since the country’s first democratic elections. The story is told by four student leaders at Wits University and their Vice Chancellor, Adam Habib, a former anti-apartheid student activist. When Habib’s efforts to contain the protest fail, he brings 1000 policemen on to campus with dire consequences for the young leaders. The intergenerational conflict at the core of this film is strictly connected with the debate on higher education as a public good.

Waad al Kateab | Edward Watts | UK | 2019 | 95 min

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For Sama

A love letter sent from a young mother to her daughter during the uprising in Aleppo, Syria. FOR SAMA follows the story of Waad al-Kateab for five years, as she falls in love, gets married and gives birth to Sama, while the terrible conflict spreads around her like wildfire. Her camera captures incredible stories of loss, laughter and survival, as Waad struggles with an impossible choice: whether to stay and fight for her freedom or to flee the city to protect her daughter’s life.

Julia Knopp & Max Damm | Germany | 2019 | 60 min

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Hassjünger

They‘ ve been trapped in an ideology for years. They gave up their whole life and themselves for it. They were extremists: Dominic Schmitz and Felix Benneckenstein, an ex-Salafist and a former neo-Nazi travel back in time. Two young people who became extremists during puberty. In completely different groups, yet so similar in their biographies. Based on their testimonies, the film poses one of the most burning questions of our time: Why do people radicalize themselves? What leads to hatred? The documentary tries not to denounce, but to understand.

Claire Billet & Olivier Jobard | France | 2019 | 89 min

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Heart of Stone

Heart of Stone accompanies Ghorban for 8 years, as the young refugee grows into a teenager first and a mature young man later. Despite having survived the trauma in Afghanistan, he finds that life in France is not as easy as he had hoped. Before his life turns for the better, Ghorban must dig into his painful past. In an emotionally challenging identity quest that will reconnect Ghorban with his family in Afghanistan, the film brings onto the screen his moments of despair, his sense of emptiness and his first glimmer of hope.

Claudia Tosi | Italy, France | 2018 | 84 min

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I had a Dream

From the feminist struggles against Berlusconi to the last elections of 2018, I HAD A DREAM explores the Italian cultural development through the political action and everyday life of Manuela and Daniela, two compelling women who dream big. Unfortunately, they are up for a very harsh reality check. Ten years later, torn between their sense of duty and the urge to quit politics, the two women look back at the main events of their political endeavor and try make sense of it, wondering about the future of Europe from a country whose democratic system is getting weaker and weaker.

Leila Conners | USA, Costa Rica, Croatia, France, Germany, Iceland Norway, Switzerland, UK | 2019 | 88 min

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Ice on Fire

Can we reverse climate change? ICE ON FIRE explores the many ways we can reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and, crucially, how to “draw” carbon back down, bringing CO2 out of the atmosphere and thus paving the way for global temperatures to fall. Reversing climate change is urgent, given that the world recently passed 400 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere, resulting in climate instability across the globe. We have heard the predictions, but now climate related events are a daily reality. This film explores the profound hope that we can move away from the brink. And, just as we figure out drawdown, we face an added complexity, the release of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas in the arctic, that is now entering the atmosphere.

Lorena Luciano & Filippo Piscopo | USA | 2018 | 93 min

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It will be Chaos

This film is an intensive portrait of the lives of people in transit which puts a face on the refugee crisis. IT WILL BE CHAOS unfolds between Italy and the Balkan corridor, focusing on two unforgettable stories of human strength and resilience: an Eritrean man who survives a shipwreck in Lampedusa and a Syrian family stuck in Smirne. Rather than highlighting their suffering, the film explores the complexity of their situation while capturing in real time the escalating tension between newcomers and locals.

Phuttiphong Aroonpheng | Thailand, China, France | 2019 | 105 min

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Manta Ray

A Thai fisherman cares for a wounded man he finds in a coastal woodland where secretive things occur. Many bodies have been hastily buried there. At night, lights akin to the souls of the dead roam around. The fisherman calls this man ‘Thongchai’. Although the latter is mute and probably deaf, a great friendship slowly blossoms. This leads the fisherman to make a decision with far-reaching consequences. After he goes out fishing and doesn’t come back, Thongchai gradually takes over his saviour’s life, including the latter’s ex-wife.

Petra Lataster-Czisch & Peter Lataster | The Netherlands | 2016 | 115 min

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Miss Kiet's Children

Imagine if you couldn’t understand a word the teacher was saying on your first day of school. This is the experience of most of the children who join a special introductory class at the elementary school in the Dutch village of Hapert. Coming from countries like Syria and Iraq, they have all been through a lot. Fortunately, their teacher is Miss Kiet – strict but fair, patient, kind and concerned. Nevertheless, the teacher only plays a supporting role in this observational documentary by Peter and Petra Lataster, who followed the class for a year. Miss Kiet doesn’t just teach the children Dutch and math, she also shows them how to help each other.

Frieder Schlaich | Germany | 2017 | 96 min

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Naomi’s Journey

The 20-year-old Peruvian Naomi (Scarlett Jaimes) always believed that her big sister Mariella was having a beautiful and enviable life in Germany. But when she learns that Mariella was brutally murdered by her German husband Bernd (Romanus Fuhrmann), the reality suddenly hits her. She and her mother Elena (Liliana Trujillo) travel sadly to Berlin to appear in court as co-plaintiffs. As she learns more about the perpetrator's motives during the trial, Naomi also learns more and more about her sister's real life outside of the courtroom. What she experiences also starts to form the basis for her own decision about where and how she wants to live herself in the future ...

Javier Marín & Yusuf Razzaque | Spain | 2017 | 72 min

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Owino

Life carries on peacefully in Kenya‘s coastal slum of Owino Uhuru, until the smoke of an illegal lead-smelting plant pollutes soil and air. The plant operates at the very heart of the community, leaving a trail of destruction on its path: dead workers, hundreds of failed pregnancies and dozens of children suffering lifelong health effects of lead poisoning. The factory has been closed, but Owino Uhuru remains contaminated even today. OWINO tells the story of how this resourceless community survives against all odds, resisting the car battery recycling killer-industry.

Anna Kersting | Germany | 2017 | 85 min

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Power to the Children

Indian girls and boys start children’s parliaments, elect their own ministers and fight for their rights to be respected. In doing so, Sri Priya, Shaktivel and Swarna Lakshmi not only change their own lives for the better, but also the whole village community. The children tackle big challenges like alcoholism, violence, child labor or pollution collectively and from their own perspective, with determination, courage and creativity.

Leslie Thomas | USA, Bosnia Herzegovina, Columbia, Congo, Serbia | 2018 | 96 min

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The Prosecutors

The motivating power of so-called “spoils of war” for those who stand victorious on the battlefield is a sad but undeniable truth. Rape and pillage are concepts as old as war itself, but far from being mere collateral damage, sexual violence is a war crime and it must be punished accordingly. THE PROSECUTORS centers on the story of three lawyers who fight to ensure that sexual violence in conflict is not met with impunity. Filmed over five years, THE PROSECUTORS takes viewers across three continents on a long journey towards justice.

Daniel McCabe | Democratic Republic of Congo, USA, Canada, Qatar | 2017 | 93 min

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This is Congo

By following four compelling characters – a whistleblower, a patriotic military commander, a mineral dealer and a displaced tailor – THIS IS CONGO offers viewers a truly Congolese perspective on the problems that plague this lushly beautiful nation. The film portrays the world’s longest continuing conflict through the unfiltered lenses of those who survive within it. They exemplify the unique resilience of a people who have lived and died across generations due to the cycle of brutality generated by this conflict.

Alexandra Shiva | United States, Jordan | 2018 | 91 min

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This is Home

THIS IS HOME follows four families resettling in Baltimore. They are among the lucky few Syrian refugees accepted into the USA since 2011. The families will have eight months to find jobs, learn English and become self-sufficient. Despite best intentions, a vast cultural divide prevents the new arrivals and the Americans trying to help them from truly understanding one another. The film reveals the inherent decency of a displaced community desperate for help within a country increasingly hostile to principles of inclusion and opportunity.

Christopher Martin | UK | 2018 | 95 min

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Under the Wire

In February 2012, Sunday Times reporter Marie Colvin and her photographer Paul Conroy crossed the border into Syria, determined to report on the desperate situation of civilians in the besieged city of Homs. UNDER THE WIRE uses interviews and archive material to depict the complex portrait of the exceptional journalist whose vocation was greater than the fear of death. A disturbing insight into the Syrian war, and an unvarnished documentary on the working conditions of war correspondents who risk their lives every day all over the world.

Jaap van ’t Kruis | The Netherlands | 2019 | 55 min

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Unpaved Road to Peace

The peace agreement between the government and the FARC ended the 53-year war in Colombia in 2016. For many years, the village of Caldono was on the front line between the warring factions. Many people from the village joined the FARC at a young age and terrorized their own neighbors. Now the former FARC fighters are returning. The village chief Farid tries to create a dialogue between the villagers and ex-guerilleros. Despite his efforts to appease, many are not yet ready for forgiveness. What are the chances of a true peace?

Kurt Langbein | Austria | 2018 | 95 min

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Utopia Revisited

Regional, fresh and organic food for 1,5 million people; smart urban living using only a fraction of energy usually burned; a smartphone produced on a fair basis and a self-managed tea plant. People all over the world are searching for alternatives besides unbridled capitalism, which inherently produces incredibly rich people on one hand but incredibly poor ones on the other. One might wonder if a model for a fair society is even conceivable. Four people seem to have a positive answer. UTOPIA REVISITED is a cinematic expedition with the pioneers of a new society.

Katja Benrath | German, Kenya | 2017 | 23 min

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Watu Wote

The film tells the story from the perspective of a young Christian woman traveling alone. She is on her way to a visit to the Islamic north of Kenya and, as one of the few Christians on the bus, first feels a stranger among the many Muslims. These feelings, the discomfort, the horror, the panic and finally the fear of death are reflected in the figure. A deeply veiled woman sitting next to the protagonist on the bus and two travelers who were initially suspicious develop into the most important and courageous characters in the film. When Islamist fighters from Al-Shabab attacked the bus and asked the occupants to split up - Christians here, Muslims there - the passengers refused, however. A teacher, himself a Muslim, who opposes the aggressors, is shot and later dies of his injuries.

Christy Garland | Canada, Denmark | 2018 | 89 min

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What Walaa wants

During the time her mother is kept captive in an Israeli prison, in the largest refugee camp in the West Bank Walaa grows up dreaming of wearing a uniform, avoiding marriage and earning a salary. Despite warnings that a woman in the army would bring shame to the family, Walaa will pursue her dream of becoming a policewoman. A tough living situation, a complicated mother-daughter relationship and her own unruliness are but a few of the challenges Walaa will have to conquer.

Eliza Capai | Brasil | 2019 | 93 min

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Your Turn

When Brazil’s economic and social crisis worsens, an uprising of students leads to the occupation of hundreds of schools to demand better public education. YOUR TURN is a documentary depicting the Brazilian student movement from the protests of 2013, up until the 2018 election of the new president, Jair Bolsonaro. Inspired by the collective voice of the movement itself, the film is narrated by three high school students. The narrators’ jostling for space and time exposes the movement’s conflicts as well as its complexity.

Mikala Krogh | 2017 | 1h 33m

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A Year of Hope

On the streets of Manila, kids live on their own, exposed to every kind of danger. Most of them are not even 14 years old but they already have a terrible past of sexual abuses and drug addiction and they are haunted by the terrible crimes they have witnessed, such as the murder of their family´s members. Stairway Foundation, a non-profit child-care organisation, takes the street-children under its custody for one year to change their destiny. The Danish award-winning director Mikala Krogh follows the daily cycle of activities of the boys who are taking part in the project. Will the children be able to benefit from the possibilities they are provided during this year? How will they feel after months of full attention, psychotherapy and normal children´s games? Will they smile again?

Hogir Hirori & Shinwar Kamal | 2017 | 1h 23m

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The Deminer

A portrait of a Kurdish colonel, who disarmed thousands of roadside bombs and mines – armed only with his courage and a pair of wire cutters. In 2003 Fakhir, a father of eight, joins the army to fight against the terror following the fall of Saddam Hussein. Realizing how many innocent lives are lost to mines he decides to dedicate his life to disarming land mines, risking his life day by day . He seems unstoppable and continues even when his own health is impaired by the explosion of a mine. His ambition to do good is simply greater than his fear.

Marc Eberhardt & Pablo Ben Yakov |  Germany | 2016 | 78 min

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ERSTAUFNAHME II

In the end of 2014, the second reception center for refugees in Baden-Württemberg opens its doors in Meßstetten. The village only counts 5000 inhabitants and while the staff of the reception center start their work, the people in the village start their talk about the new inhabitants. Soon the refugees of the center become topic number one in Meßstetten.

Asli Özarslan | Germany | 2014 |  65 min

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INSEL 36

INSEL 36 is a documentary about the protests of refugees in Berlin. For one year asylum seekers have been living here in tents by choice, to take a stand against isolation of refugees. Among them is only one woman, the Sudanese Napuli – her objective: the change of asylum law.

Ai Weiwei | World |  2017 |  140 Min

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HUMAN FLOW

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei gives us his powerful and inspired representation of the global refugee crisis. A flow of men, women, children who left their houses to escape war, famine or climate change´s effects with nothing left but a bunch of personal belongings bound together with hope. In this film, shot in more than 23 countries, this burning issue of our times meets the language of art to deliver images that strike for their beauty and their brutality together. Weiwei’s approach is clearly not to furnish political explanations, still less political solutions but rather to make the leap of empathy to understand what being a migrant is like in human terms with the hope to make everyone aware that a serious action is needed. Now more than ever.

Erika Cohn | Palestine/US | 2017 | 81 Minutes

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The Judge

Faqih´s life changes forever when she becomes the first female Sharia judge in the Middle East. Islamic jurisprudence has traditionally been a stronghold of male dominancy but suddenly something is moving. Her role provokes a fundamental discussion about access to education, gender based discrimination and systematic violation of gender rights in Islamic countries. In a society where men rule by law, the film shows us the huge number of obstacles that Kholoud needs to confront. At the same time, she becomes an inspiring figure to all women, giving us confidence that change is possible and already on the way, breaking the stereotype that depicts Muslim women as powerless.

Sophia & Georgia Scott |  UK |  2016 |  80 Min

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LOST IN LEBANON

The film LOST IN LEBANON follows four Syrian refugees as they fight to rebuild their lives in Lebanon, while the Syrian war flares up. The resolution of the Syrian community that currently makes up the 25 percent of the Lebanese population, is incredibly strong. When the new visa laws issued by the Lebanese government threaten millions of refugees with the risk of detention or deportation, the situation becomes even more hopeless.

Rina Castelnuovo-Hollander, Tamir Elterman | Israel, Germany | 2017 | 86 Min.

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MUHI – GENERALLY TEMPORARY

Muhi, a young boy from Palestine suffers from an incurable illness. His only hope is a hospital in Israel that can provide him the medical treatment he requires. The conflict in the Middle East is reflected in Muhi´s life story. The film follows Muhi over many years. Together with his grandfather, who is his caregiver and guardian, he lives in the Israeli hospital. Both of them are not allowed to leave the hospital premises. Despite his illness and living conditions, Muhi manages to find joy in life. With his grandfather as the only connection to his Palestine culture, Muhi’s identity is increasingly affected by the culture of Israel. Muhi’s mother rarely receives a permit to visit her son and needs to take care of her other children in Gaza. Imprisoned between two different worlds, Muhi relentlessly tries to find his place in the world.

 Talal Derki | 2017 | 1h 43m

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Of Fathers and Sons

Talal Derki, a Syrian director, returns to his homeland looking for answers; he wants to understand what makes people radicalize, driving them into the hands of the so-called “Islamic State”. Talal gains the trust of a radical Islamist family and observes the daily life of its members for more than two years. His camera mainly focuses on the children, providing an extremely rare insight into what it means to grow up with a father who is a member of a jihadist organisation. Osama and his brother Ayman both love and admire their father and obey his orders. However, while Osama plans to follow the path of radicalisation, Ayman prefers to go back to school.

Anjali Nayar & Hawa Essuman | 1 h 19 Min | 2017

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Silas

Silas Siakor is a tireless and charismatic Liberian activist, who fights to defeat corruption and environmental destruction in his country, where multinational corporations oppress the lives of poor peasant families. He soon becomes a symbol of the fight against corruption. Silas is a story of resistance, a tale of one man´s battle that becomes global, with the disarming power to inspire every community to gather and fight against the arrogance of a corrupt political class. It is a celebration of the strength of individuals, who have the right and duty to fight for their rights, for their land and for a better future.

Mehrdad Oskouei | 2016 | 1h 16m

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Starless Dreams

After having sought permission for seven years from Iranian authorities, Mehrdad Oskouei finally receives the permission to follow the lives of a group of Iranian girls in custody in a rehabilitation centre in Teheran. Charged with crimes like murder and drug detention, just to mention a couple, these teenagers spend their days between the desire to return to freedom and the fear of what is awaiting them outside. The director crafts a compassionate film, eye-opening and heart breaking, about the dreams, nightmares and hopes of these young women, living their lives in the misogynous and patriarchal society that Iran still remains today.

Julia Dahr | 2017 | 1h 30m

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Thank You for the Rain

Thank you for the rain is a story about transformation and the power of resolution. Kisulu Musya is a father and farmer in a small Kenyan village who becomes an environmental activist that presents his findings to the world’s most powerful leaders. He originally started to use his camera to document the life of his family and the damaging effects of climate change in his village. But when a violent storm throws him and a Norwegian filmmaker together, we see him gradually transforming into a community leader and activist on the global stage. Climate change is not an abstract idea but a real issue with huge consequences for people’s lives that can no longer be ignored.

Barbet Schröder | France, Switzerland | 2017 | 100 Min

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THE VENERABLE W

One of the most influent Burmese monks, known as The Venerable Wirathu, has driven hundreds of thousands of his Buddhist followers into violent action and ethnic cleansing against the country’s Muslim minority. Tens of thousands of Rohingya have lost their homes and fled to impoverished refugee camps at the border to Bangladesh. The followers of the radical nationalist monk believe that the Rohingya constitute a threat to Buddhism and are determined to exterminate them. This violence has grown massively in the past few years and finally resulted in escalation. The film portrays Wirathu, a figure whose existence contradicts the popular belief that Buddhism is the most peaceful and tolerant among religions, and examines the nationalistic violence that has spread in Myanmar.

Emil Langballe |  Denmark | 2016 | 58 Min

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THE WAIT

In 2010, Rokhsar and her family fled Afghanistan to escape from the Taliban. After six months of straying across Europe they end up in Denmark, where they finally hope to live a safe and stable life. But the odyssey does not stop here: the family is denied asylum several times and threatened with deportation. Rokhsar, being the only one in her family who can speak Danish has perfectly integrated herself in her new community. She carries on her young shoulders the burden of struggling against authorities and burocracy and starts to fight for the right of her family to a decent life. Six years into their arrival in Denmark, the family is finally expecting a decision: will they be granted or denied asylum? Pressure on Rokhsar and the family is mounting immeasurably.

Anne Poiret |  France | 2016 |  70 Min.

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WELCOME TO REFUGEESTAN

Almost 17 million people – refugees, displaced persons or migrants – live in camps, in a virtual country the size of the Netherlands. Yet the names of these places do not appear on any maps. The UNHCR and NGOs have developed ways of running them that are both efficient and absurd. This film explores the land of camps, from Kenya, to Tanzania, Jordan, and the Greek-Macedonian border. It reveals an immense system – managed by the UNHCR headquartered in Geneva – that combines humanitarian concerns with the management of undesirables people that rich countries want to keep out, whatever the cost.

Margarita Cadenas | 2017 | Venezuela, France | 1h 23m

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Women of Venezuelan Chaos

The portrait of five women dealing with their daily lives in the middle of the Venezuelan socio-economic crisis, the worst crisis in the last 200 years. Not only is there a shortage of food and medicine, but the population is also at the mercy of police forces, which are given excessive power to decide who is to live or die. Venezuela has become a country where human rights are deliberately ignored under the indifferent eyes of the international community.

12. MAY 2021