A RIVER CHANGES COURSE

by Kalyanee Mam |
Migrant Films, Documentation Center of Cambodia
| 83’ | Cambodia - USA | 2013

Twice a year in Cambodia, the Tonle Sap River changes course, while the river of life flows in a perpetual cycle of death and rebirth and of creation and destruction. Working in an intimate, verite style, Kalyanee Mam, spent two years in her native homeland following three young Cambodians struggling to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt.





A Syrian Love Story

by Sean McAllister

| 80’ | UK | 2015 | |
Filmed over 5 years, A Syrian Love Story charts an incredible odyssey to political freedom in the West. For Raghda and Amer, it is a journey of hope, dreams and despair: for the revolution, their homeland and each other.





China's van Goghs

by Haibo YU, Kiki Tiangi YU
Century Image Media Ltd, TrueWorks
| 84' - 52' | China | 2015 | HD |
Vincent van Gogh sold only one painting in his lifetime, but Zhao Xiaoyong has sold over 90,000 copies of van Gogh’s paintings in the past 20 years. Living in China, the world’s fastest developing country, Zhao has been through great transitions. First from a peasant to a rural migrant worker. Then he learnt how to copy iconic Western paintings. Now Zhao is in the midst of a new transition – from copy maker to original artist. China’s van Gogh not only presents how this painter pursues his dream, but also tells the human story of challenge and struggle during his journey.





Dharavi, Slum for sale

by Rob Appleby, Lutz Konermann
Hugofilm, Tradewind Pictures GmbH, Germany
| 59’- 79’/35mm | Switzerland | 2010 | HD 16:9 |
Dharavi, India's biggest slum is to be knocked down and its profitable real estate to be turned into billions of Dollars. The film follows the struggle of the underprivileged to defend their homes and livelihoods against mounting globalisation.





EMPIRE OF DUST

by Bram Van Paesschen
Savage Film
| 77’ | Belgium | 2011 | HD Loa Yang and Eddy both work for the Chinese Railway Engineering Company in charge of rebuilding the 300km-long road that connects Kolwezi to the capital of the province Lubumbashi. Loa Yang is head of logistics for the group but when he sees that none of the necessary material arrives, he has no option but to leave the camp with Eddy, a Congolese man who speaks fluent Mandarin, and head out to deal with local Congolese entrepreneurs. The result is an endless, harsh but absurdly funny roller coaster of negotiations and misunderstandings, as Lao Yang learns about the Congolese ways.


Golden Land

Golden Land

by Inka Achté
napafilms
| 70’ & 52’ | Finland | 2021 | |
When Finnish-Somali Mustafe discovers that his family's land is full of copper and gold, he decides to leave his secure family life in the north and move to Somaliland. But starting up a mining company in the Horn of Africa turns out to be more difficult than Mustafe imagined and while he gets lost in clan feuds and bureaucracy to get his riches out of the ground, his children struggle to find their place in their new home, where everything is so different from what they grew up with in Finland.






I Am Kuba

by Ase Svenheim Drivenes
Sant & Usant, AMP Polska, Poland
| 58’ | Norway / Poland / Germany | 2014 | HD |
When the familybusiness goes bankrupt Kuba (12) and Mikołaj's (8) parents are forced to leave Poland to find work abroad. "I am Kuba" is a coming-of-age film about Kuba who must take care of his little brother while his parents are away. As times goes by, Kuba becomes a teenager and rejects the big responsibilty on his young shoulders. His family is forced to make a life changing decision. Kuba's story is also the story about modern Europe. It is estimated that only in Poland more than 100,000 children are left by their parents who are forced to work abroad. «I am Kuba» is an intimate film about children growing up as 'euro-orphans'.





LAST TRAIN HOME

by Lixin Fan
EyeSteelfilm
| Canada | 87’ - 52’ | 35mm | 2009 | HD |

Chinese New Year or the Spring Festival is the most important holiday in the lunar calendar. It remains the last stronghold of Chinese traditions that are withering rapidly with the invasion of new values. Each year, hundreds of millions of migrant workers return to their homes from the city to the rural countryside, throwing the transportation system into utter chaos. For many migrants, the cheapest and fastest route home is by train. People camp at railway station for tickets, climb through windows, stand for days and nights, wear diapers to avoid using the lavatory, and struggle to stay in sanity to survive the ride. They are determined to return home at any cost for the solemn purpose of getting back to see their families.


Melting Dreams

Melting Dreams

by Haidy Kancler
Studio Virc, Flair Film, Kinocompany
| 84’&50’ | Slovenia, Finland, Austria | 2021 | 2K |
In Bamyan, Afghanistan, ZAKIA (25), FATIMA (21) and FARIBA (16) have a dream of one day becoming professional skiers and maybe even represent Afghanistan at the Olympic Games. When their European ski trainer ANA (30) announces they will go to Europe for extensive ski practice and get ski instructor license, they seem a step closer to their dreams.


MY PAPER LIFE

My Paper Life

by Vida Dena
Clin d’oeil films BVBA, Les Films du Bilboquet
| 77' - 55' | Belgium, France | 2022 | |
In Brussels, the Iranian artist and film director Vida Dena meets Naseem, the father of a Syrian family from Homs who fled from the war. Within the pink walls of their provisional home, she talks with Hala and Rima, his two eldest daughters, through drawings. Sitting on the carpet, the two teenage girls talk about their memories of back home, of the war and then exile, but also of their dreams for this new life. The little bits of coloured paper come to life on the screen, in a suspended time located neither here nor there, to recount the fragility of these destinies. This war and exile resonate with the life of the director, herself an immigrant in Belgium. In this dazzling first film, Vida Dena successfully enhances the fantasy of the world dreamed by these children on the threshold of a new life, through animation. This rare achievement brings together her talents as an artist, storyteller and director, put to music by Noma Omran, the illustrious exiled Syrian singer and composer.


NICE LADIES


Nice Ladies

by Marija Ponomarova
Labyrint Film, Tabor Production
| 90’&52’ | The Netherlands, Ukraine | 2024 | 2K |
A team of aging Ukrainian cheerleaders hold on to their friendship as each navigates the trauma of war in her own way.





Nowhere to Call Home: A Tibetan in Beijing

by Jocelyn Ford
Stories that Matter LTD
| 52’&76’ | China / USA | 2014 | HD & HDV |
A Tibetan farmer is torn between her traditional way of life and her desire for her son to have a better future in the city. Shot in the slums of Beijing and a remote village near the epicenter of Tibetan self-immolations, this epic family story puts a human face on the political strife that fractures China and Tibet.

# formatage et information pour categorie # insertion poster colonne de gauche # information colonne de droite




Only the Devil Lives Without Hope

by Magnus Gertten
Auto Images AB, Upnorth Film
| 95’&58’ | Sweden, Norway | 2020 | |
Her Muslim brother is imprisoned on false charges of terrorism, but in an unforeseen twist, Dilya's fight for his freedom takes on an entirely new and greater significance.





Stranger in Paradise

by Guido Hendrikx
Zeppers Film &TV
| 72’ | The Netherlands | 2016 | HD |
Being unwanted is a reality that the thousands of refugees flowing into Europe have to face. Three different scenarios of welcoming are presented to three groups of refugees: a dismissive, an empathetic and the actual European migration policy. Is it human to categorize someone else’s life?





European Film Awards Shortlist

The Good Postman

by Tonislav Hristov
Making Movies Oy
| 80' | Finland | 2016 | HD |
A small Bulgarian village just by the Turkish border has found itself in the middle of a European crisis, as at nights asylum seekers sneak passing the border. The forgotten village has become the most important secret loophole of Europe.Ivan, the local postman, has a vision. He decides to run for mayor and turn the dying village alive by welcoming refugees. His opponents want to close their eyes, close down the border and reintroduce communism. As the campaign goes on, Ivan soon learns that while good intentions are not enough, even the smallest deeds matter.


The New Gospel

The New Gospel

by Milo Rau
Fruitmarket Arts & Media GmbH, Langfilm / Bernard Lang AG
| 107' | Germany / Switzerland | 2020 | 4K |

An authentically political, theatrical and cinematic New Gospel for the 21st century. What would Jesus preach in the 21st century? Who would his disciples be?




The Pawn

by Jean-Cosme Delaloye
TIPI'MAGES Productions
| 78’ - 52’ | Switzerland | 2015 | HD |
Karin Gramajo’s life drastically changed when her teenage cousin Kelly was brutally kidnapped and murdered.  Despite death threats, the single mother then decided to study to become a lawyer to make sure her cousin’s death wouldn’t remain unpunished, thus also helping other victims fight for justice.  Astrid Elias was kidnapped and raped at the age of 14.  She fled to the U.S. where she is facing deportation. LA PRENDA is a feature length documentary film about two women fighting to end the climate of impunity in Guatemala, one of the world’s most violent countries.





The Shelter

by Fernand Melgar
Climage
| 101’ & 52' | Suisse | 2014 | 16/9 | DCP |
Every night dozens of people are forced to sleep on the streets of my town. As the population of the excluded grows each day, silence and ignorance of their condition continues to reign. In our current climate of xenophobia I would like my film to help lift the veil on their existence and plight.





Special Flight

by Fernand Melgar
Climage
| 103' - 52' | Switzerland | 2011 | HDCAM-35mm |
For the first time in Europe, a film crew gained authorisations to a detention centre for illegal migrants. Behind the closed prison doors, tension builds day by day awaiting for their deportation.





Wake up on Mars

by Dea Gjinovci
Mélisande Films , Alva Film, Amok Films
| 74’ | France, Switzerland | 2020 | 4K |
A 10-year-old Roma boy living in Sweden attempts to come to terms with the mysterious Resignation Syndrome that has put his two sisters in a coma. The tight-knit family is trying to rebuild a normal life far from their native Kosovo where they were victims of persecution. While their entire future hangs in the balance of a pending asylum request, the little boy dreams of building a spaceship to leave it all behind.


WHEN THE WAR COMES - POSTER

WHEN THE WAR COMES

by Jan Gebert
PINK, HulaHop
| 78’ | Czech Republic | 2018 | |
Hundreds of teenagers join the Slovak Recruits paramilitary group to get ready for the final clash of civilizations and to fight whoever invades their country.





WICH WAY HOME

by Rebecca Cammisa
Reason Pictures - Mr Mudd - White Buffalo Films - Cactus Three
An HBO Documentary Films
| USA | 2009 | 82' | Color | HD |
As the United States continues to build a wall between itself and Mexico, Which Way Home shows the personal side of immigration through the eyes of children who face harrowing dangers with enormous courage and resourcefulness as they endeavor to make it to the United States.