Sara Mardini, once a competitive swimmer in Syria, became Europe’s most celebrated refugee after saving 18 people’s lives. After working as a rescue volunteer in the Mediterranean, she is accused of people smuggling and faces a 25-year prison sentence. We follow her fight for justice and journey of self-discovery against the backdrop of Europe’s refugee ‘crisis’.
An artist couple from Tehran has made it their mission to revitalise the traditional Iranian art of weaving to save Persian patterns from being forgotten. A journey through the history and art of silk production in Iran, from silkworm cocoon to finished woven fabric – a living testimony to Iran’s cultural diversity.
Switzerland at night is fascinating and anything but dark. And lots of people are still awake. On our journey from dusk to dawn, we take viewers on helicopter and drone flights from the Engadin to Lake Geneva, and we visit people still out and about deep into the night.
His mother blames communism, his uncle an inheritance dispute, the others remain silent. Film director Dieu Hao Do examines his fragmented family, which has scattered across three continents since the Vietnam War. Is communism to blame for their estrangement?
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.
In 2013, the young journalist Eric Lembembe was tortured and beaten to death in Cameroon. He fought for the recognition of the rights of homosexuals. Shocked by the brutal murder, the film-maker returns to his home country. While he examines his own homophobic upbringing, the film reveals that Lembembe’s murder as no isolated case.
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.
