Gracie and her Rasta friends, Quaco and Robert, live in eastern Jamaica, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Gracie sells bananas and coconuts and loves to rap. She wants to build a store next to her house to support herself and her daughters. Gracie’s friends are healers. When the moon is waxing, they search for a root that only grows in the dense forest undergrowth.
Tonight on December 1st Ben Lawrence’s Film “Ithaka – A Fight to Free Julian Assange” premieres at the 19th Barcelona Human Rights Festival in Spain.
Everything is connected to everything – one of four basic beliefs held by the Haida, an indigenous group of people native to the west coast of Canada. This is how they live in harmony with their environment. Skil Jaadee and her family struggle to keep up their traditions and bring back their language. This film tells their story.
Lucy and Yulia want to become professional theatre actors. Because of their physical disabilities, they face special challenges. Until recently, no training was available for them. The film takes a sensitive look at their path to professional theatre. They stand up not only for their own rights but also for the fundamental acceptance of difference in theatre and in society.
Fabienne and Kilian Schnydrig and their three children live 1400 metres high up in the village of Mund, in the Swiss canton of Valais. We spend a year filming them and their 50 Blacknose sheep. From the birth of the lambs and their migration to alpine pastures to the annual highlight: the Blacknose Beauty Contest.
Daniel Hope is one of the greatest violinists of our age: an internationally-celebrated star, who is part of the avant-garde of a new, young generation of classical musicians. His biography is a story of an extraordinary career, a story of escape, expulsion and desire for self-discovery.
In the Swiss canton of Zug, a centuries-old craft is cultivated: log rafting. In the mountain forest on the shores of Lake Aegeri, trees are felled every four to five years and then transported across the water. To do this, the massive trunks are tied together and pushed across the lake with the help of motor boats.
In northern Kyrgyzstan, many families are reviving ancestral traditions and bringing herds to graze on mountain pastures during the summer. We find out about the traditional family life of the nomad children and we accompany them to the yurt school, where teacher Jenya introduces them to the modern world and Kyrgyz traditions.
The Mecklenburg Lake Plateau, north of Berlin, is Europe’s largest area of interconnected lakes. Müritz is Germany’s biggest lake located entirely within Germany, the Feldberg lakes are famous for their crystal-clear water, and Tollensesee is considered the region’s most stunning lake. A journey of discovery along Germany’s most beautiful waterways.
The Tatra Mountains in southern Poland are home to the Gorals. A herdsman takes us to his mountain pastures, a folk costume maker offers us an insight into his artistic craft, raftsmen show us an old transport route and Goral women share with us some of their culinary traditions. Will they be the last generation to preserve typical Goral traditions?
Valtellina is one of Italy’s most beautiful but lesser known Alpine regions, characterised by vast granite walls, imposing mountain panoramas and nature reserves, such as the Stelvio glacier. The documentary introduces us to the valley’s natural wonders and the special people who live there.
Much of Venice today is dominated by mass tourism. We discover lesser-known corners of the lagoon city and meet some of “the last Venetians” – long-time residents and craftsmen – an organ tuner, weaver and glassblower – who practice centuries-old trades and thus preserve many of the city’s traditions.
