Everybody in the city of Havana knows that it’s better to walk in the middle of the street and not on the sidewalk, where you may be hit by a crumbling balcony. Still: the balcony is a loyal friend, connecting people with their neighbours, the hawkers, the noise and smell of the street. Ceci has spent his whole life here. Now he is old and blind, but not alone. He has his balcony, from which he shops, hears important news and calls for Edilia, a young woman from the opposite side of the street who takes care of him like a daughter. This warm-hearted, unspectacular relationship forms the framework for a filmic declaration of love to the balconies of Havana. Each of them has their own story, their own soul and magic. It’s a bitter thing for anyone not to have one, for then you are cut off from life, which displays the full panorama of human diversity only to the viewer from above.
Matthias Heeder

How does it look and feel when the status quo of history is challenged? Like a sinister poker game or more like a brightly lit meeting? Will there be casual affability or will the sparks fly? And what about tactics? Had you better sit with your back to the wall or to the window? And how careful must one be about the choice of one’s tie? Danish filmmaker Karen Stokkendal Poulsen wants to know: with immense curiosity and equal reserve she keeps watching the several week long final round of the long negotiations between Serbia and Kosovo in 2012. The goal is to delicately settle a smouldering conflict, or rather: to pave a long-term path towards peaceful coexistence that both sides can take. The complicated dialogue is moderated and hosted by EU facilitator Robert Cooper. The opponents are Edita Tahiri, deputy Minister President of Kosovo, and Borko Stefanović, chief negotiator for Serbia. Each of the three main protagonists acts as the representative of a cause and an individual personality – two sides that do not always merge seamlessly. Precisely speaking, these agents are the key characters of a drama that may rarely leave its main stage, the conference room – but is still more exciting than many a global thriller. Instructive and moving. Direct Cinema at its best!
Ralph Eue