In heated, often hostile debates about homosexuality, trans and sex work, a young Armenian family tries to assert some kind of queer normality for themselves and others.
Carabina, a gay artist, transvestite, and ex-sex worker, is married to Hasmik, a heterosexual lawyer. They have just become parents and are facing a dilemma: Should they raise their child in Armenia, where 93% of the population is against homosexuality?
Sorbian life in Lusatia, today. Encounters with a population who are reclaiming their identity, language and culture out of the local museums into present-day Federal Germany.
Bei uns heißt sie Hanka / Pla nas gronje jej Hanka / Pola nas rěka wona Hanka
Grit Lemke
German Competition Documentary Film,
MDR Special Screening
Documentary Film
Germany
2023
92 minutes
German
World premiere
Synopsis
What makes us who we are? Origin, mother tongue, nationality? What if we lose them?
In search of her own roots, the director explores an indigenous people in Germany: the Sorbs, the smallest Slavic people. Their language and culture have either disappeared or are severely threatened by centuries of oppression and pressure to assimilate. But a new generation no longer wants to accept this: Anna, a law student, becomes a Sorbian Hanka and joins the family of Ignac, who is committed to Sorbian self-determination. Petra comes to terms with the trauma she suffered when her village, like many other Sorbian villages, had to make way for a lignite mine. The young artist Hella redefines being Sorbian as alternative, anti-fascist and feminist. Former hooligan Měto turned his life around after discovering his Sorbian roots. His grandfather, who was beaten up as a child for speaking Sorbian, is battling dementia. National Sorbian poet Jurij Koch reflects on survival against all odds. Ginter, whose parents had to provide an “Aryan Certificate” in the 1930s and raised him speaking German, wonders about his identity today in old age.
Metaphorical images of nature, poetic reflections of a first-person narrator and archaic but experimental Sorbian music interplay in the first-ever film about Sorbs.
A trip to the beach expands to a family observation over two generations. This captivating minimalist stretching exercise does not need much: black and white and the deep blue of the sea.
Blue is a story in which time stretches. A mother and a daughter are trying to find their place after the father leaves. They spend time idly on a metaphorical empty beach. They fight their uncertainty and longing. The image of the sea comes back rhythmically. It is a promise of freedom but also a scary different world, far from the warm sand.
The operators of the Emergency Call Center 112 take care of and connect with various outside situations whilst setting boundaries and dealing with their own emotions.
The Emergency Call Centre 112 receives numerous phone calls every day. The operators take care of and connect with various situations outside as well as within the office, whilst setting boundaries and dealing with their own emotions.
A man on an e-scooter on the outskirts of the city. Only the rifle over his shoulder irritates. The mood of high alert is deceptive. The disaster has already happened.
Frieda, Viola and Jilou are three of the most successful women in the male-dominated breakdance world. At different points in their careers, each of them faces serious challenges.
Who says that women can't break dance? Frieda, Viola and Jilou are three of the most successful women in the male-dominated breaking world. The movie shows their tough training methods, their dance performances at international battles and their personal backgrounds that drive them to fulfil their dreams. The three friends are at different points in their sports careers and thus face new challenges and decisions that will change their lives.
B-girl Jilou is at the height of her career and counts as one of the best in the world. With her extraordinary determination, she is currently winning one battle after the other, whereas Frieda is still grappling with an injury. As a B-girl ever since the emergence of break dancing, she has to come to terms with the fact that her advancing age means she can no longer rely on her body and has to find a life outside of her professional sports career. B-girl Viola is focused on becoming recognised as a dancer and combines breaking with modern dance. For her, every battle is equally a fight for her identity as an artist.
Dancing Heartbeats is an inspiring portrait of courage, endurance, the power of one's passion, and what it means to be a young woman who is fighting for acknowledgement and equal rights.
A relationship on the rocks, naked under the scorching sun and disoriented on a vast holiday sea. In search of funny dolphins, Aurora and Jeremy are paddling for their lives.
A construction site in the Central African Republic, two career dreams: The double portrait of a native day labourer and a Chinese construction manager becomes a parable of globalisation.
Luan, a Chinese immigrant, is in Bangui, Central African Republic, facing his greatest professional challenge to date: he must oversee the construction of a bank headquarters that is expected to be inaugurated soon by the President of the nation himself. At the opposite end of the same labour chain, Thomas, a local, must dive into the river to get the sand that Luan needs for his building. Both share the same goal: to progress in their careers and give their families a better life. Meanwhile, the erratic and difficult lives of their families manifest themselves at a distance in various ways. Luan receives phone calls from his wife who, living thousands of kilometres away, is feeling abandoned and attempts to commit suicide; while Thomas' wife and girlfriend have both abandoned him, leaving him in charge of all his children. Eat Bitter fluidly and honestly articulates the daily life of both men, revealing the traces of the presence of the large Chinese community in the region, as well as the scars of a country devastated by the experience of a long civil war and poverty for which no one seems to have any answers.
Vasyl is a former ski jumper who now works as a coach at the ski jumping school for children in the Carpathians. He is a loner, and sports is his whole life. Zhenya is Vasyl's favourite trainee. In the last 5 years, he spends a lot of energy making her a champion. With her success, his dreams can come true. When the girl grows up, she decides to try in another area of life not connected to sports. Vasyl's work seems to no longer make sense. But he finds the strength to start all over again.
When she was 16, Agata was told that she would most likely bleed to death within 2 years. On that day, she was born anew. 20 years and over 30 face surgeries later, she lives in London and works as an artist who turned her struggle with a lethal disease into art. Her disease and the pain caused by it continue to accompany her, but more and more promising treatment options are being developed. Nevertheless, the most important form of therapy is her art. Her face becomes even more deformed with recurring angiomas, which is the major theme explored by the protagonist in her art.
Els is in her late forties, divorced and in love again. For her, falling in love was not easy: it meant that she had to accept, that she has a life even if her twenty-year-old daughter wants to die and has already asked for psychiatric euthanasia which her mother can do nothing about. In the storm of her own emotions, mixed with guilt, anger, fear and hope, love is what teaches Els to try stepping forward even if it seems impossible.
Falling is a lyrical, found-footage-based testimony from a mother who faces not only the taboos surrounding motherhood but also the most difficult situation in her life.
After leaving prison, Mariusz and his son attempt to adapt to reality, interweaving the habits of jail with the struggle of everyday life. Contrary to popular opinion, their relationship is filled with reflection and love. The protagonists' sensitivity contrasts with the heartless reality that leaves a scar on former prisoners excluding them from being valuable members of society.
Esteban, a Swiss entrepreneur, dreams of taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A dream he turns into reality, which results in him competing alongside professional drivers.
Esteban, a Swiss entrepreneur, dreams of taking part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A dream he turns into reality, which results in him competing alongside professional drivers. Laps follow each other endlessly among the exhilaration of these exceptional vehicles. Full Tank humorously immerses itself in this testosterone-driven microcosm, subtly highlighting the excesses of motorsport.
Girls' stories, teenage days. Seemingly nothing happens, and so much changes. Jagoda and Zuzia are friends from the neighbourhood. They meet at the local square. Sometimes they go for ice cream or to the playground. And they always have a lot to talk about. Being a girl is a special experience, and they are just entering puberty. Biology, hormones, pimples, first rebellion, first love. The first period – when will it come? Will there be anything else? Adults can't always give support or answers. And the girls see more and more. School absurdities, unwanted rules, and dilemmas to be solved. Jagoda and Zuzia are great commentators: contradictory, ironic, independent, and scared. With a great appetite for life! They introduce us to the “girlish” world that every woman remembers and any boy, who watches the film, will finally be able to discover.
5 Moroccan boys live in a cave at the lighthouse in Melilla and dream of Europe. Away from their mothers, longing for one ship that will transfer them illegally to a better life.
The Moroccan boys Imad (15), Nourdine (17), Walid (18), Hamza (17) and Aziz (20) live in a cave under the lighthouse in Melilla. Every night they break into the harbour trying to climb onto the ships leaving for the Spanish mainland. In the shadow of the rocks, they and a hundred other kids have created their own micro-society: “Lord of the Flies” in reality – with their own hierarchies, chants and rules. To pass the time, they phone their mothers on video or film themselves being chased by the police. The film follows the gang of boys for 5 years. From their life in the caves to their successful escape attempts to Spain. They call themselves: Harragas – those who burn the passports, the borders, their lives.
Jesús arrives at a housing and employment reincorporation centre, after living on the streets for a decade. Now Jesús’ life is full of rules. His struggle doesn't make sense if he is not free to make his own decisions. After years depending on social services he leaves the programme with all of the risks this decision entails. Elena, coordinator of the supervised accommodation, is writing her thesis on the reincorporation of homeless people. When Jesús leaves, her research takes a turn and she focuses her thesis on Jesús’ life story. Elena becomes his only emotional support.
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.