In Eastern Serbia, in a town with a dual identity divided between magic and industry, a family whose destiny is intrinsically linked with both does their best to ensure the survival of their traditions and their future generations. Lifelong miner Dragan Markovic is the last in a line of dragon hunters, while his sister Desa is the widow of the union leader who is trying to continue his legacy by ensuring the rights of fellow mine-worker families.
In Burkina Faso, in the gold-digging site of Bantara, 16-year-old Rasmané descends more than 100 meters deep in artisanal mines to extract gold. Anxious about accidents, Rasmané makes his way in this world of fierce adults in the hope of one day becoming emancipated…
Rosl’s Suitcase is the story of my Jewish grandmother, who left Vienna for New York with my father in 1939 and of my own fact-finding quest about truth and what I had been told.
Rosl’s Suitcase is the story of my Viennese and Jewish grandmother, who emigrated to New York with my teenage father in 1939. The contents of the suitcase reveal discrepancies in what I had been told. With this discovery, I begin my quest to find out what really happened and what had been hidden.
Rosl’s Suitcase interweaves current-day Vienna with home movies and recordings by three generations of women: great aunt Ada's 1947 movies after her arrival in the U.S.; Aunt Helen's audio descriptions of her youth in Vienna and immigration to New York; my own 1960's Northern California coming-of-age 8mm films and light show movies.
French-American singer of Viennese origin, Adah Dylan Jungk, reads/performs Rosl's letters against backdrops and front projections of the Vienna High Court, the University courtyard and wartime films of the city. We follow Adah to “locations of memory”, crosscutting between places today and the same places shown in historical film archives. The city's landmarks are recharged through the prism of the pre-and post-war Vienna of my grandmother, father and my own lens.
Who, If Not Us? The Fight for Democracy in Belarus
Juliane Tutein
The political climate in Belarus is growing more restrictive every day, activists are constantly facing imprisonment. This film is dedicated to three courageous rebels.
Who, If Not Us? The Fight for Democracy in Belarus
Wer, wenn nicht wir? Der Kampf für Demokratie in Belarus
Juliane Tutein
Panorama: Central and Eastern Europe
Documentary Film
Germany
2023
77 minutes
,
Belarusian,
Russian,
Ukrainian
World premiere
Trailer
Synopsis
The documentary Who, If Not Us? chronicles the fight for democracy in Belarus through the experiences of three women from different generations. The film captures the spirit and determination of the Belarusian opposition as they struggle against Lukashenko's authoritarian regime that has held power for decades.
The film follows three women: Nina Baginskaya, who lived through the Soviet era and was already active in the fight for independence in the 1980s, becoming an icon of the Belarusian opposition protests; Tanya Hatsura-Yavorskaya, a human rights activist and founder of the human rights film festival “Watch Docs Belarus”; and Darya Rublevskaya, a young activist who works for Viasna, the NGO founded by Ales Bialiatski, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022.
The film offers a singular glimpse into the daily lives of three women in the aftermath of the 2020 protests, which were the largest in Belarusian history and brutally repressed by the Lukashenko regime. By concluding amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine, the film powerfully illustrates the intertwined destiny of Belarus and Ukraine. Many Belarusians share the belief that without a free Ukraine, there will be no democratic future for Belarus.
DOK Industry is realised with the support of Creative Europe MEDIA Programme of the European Union, the Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media upon a Decision of the German Bundestag.