Current Films

Agridulce - Bittersweet

Julia Keller
Cuba, Germany 2008 | 45 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU
Cuba and cream cakes. An old pastry cook, who has to work in an indus­tri­al bakery – despite long having reached retire­ment age. A hobby baker in the menopause with … read more

Aisheen - Still alive in Gaza

Nicolas Wadimoff
Qatar, Switzerland 2010 | 86 Min. | 35 mm, OmeU
A sit­u­a­tion report from the Gaza Strip in Feb­ru­ary 2009, just one month after the end of Israel’s mil­i­tary offen­sive. Destruc­tion every­where. The bombs did not even spare the theme … read more

Dharavi, Slum for Sale

Lutz Konermann
Germany, India, Switzerland 2010 | 80 Min. | 35 mm, OmU
Bombay, Indi­a’s gate­way to the West, has rein­vent­ed itself and emerged as Mumbai, a modern, self­con­fi­dent com­mer­cial metrop­o­lis. A magnet for the hopes of the rich and poor. But with … read more

Familia

Alberto Herskovits, Mikael Wiström
Sweden 2010 | 82 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU
“Do you love me?” Daniel asks his wife Nati, who is busy pack­ing her suit­cas­es. They have lived togeth­er for 34 years. Soon they will be sep­a­rat­ed by a seem­ing­ly … read more

I Wanna Be Boss

Marije Meerman
Netherlands, USA 2008 | 58 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU
I WANNA BE BOSS… reports on how the next gen­er­a­tion of Chi­nese lead­ers is being mould­ed. In this doc­u­men­tary we follow five very smart Chi­nese stu­dents through their final high … read more

Once Upon a Time Proletarian Women
(CENGJING DE WUCHANZE)

Xiaolu Guo
China, Great Britain 2009 | 76 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU
“Don’t worry about what has passed, look towards what is coming.” This far­east­ern proverb works as a mis­sion state­ment for Xiaolu Guo’s filmic kalei­do­scope. This is a mul­ti­fac­eted por­trait of … read more

Pink Saris

Kim Longinotto
England, India 2010 | 96 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU
In the north­ern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Sampat Pal Devi fights against forced mar­riage, vio­lence against women, and the humil­i­a­tion faced by the untouch­ables. The ener­getic Sampat, who con­trary … read more

Sifinja - The Iron Bride

Valerie Hänsch
Germany, Sudan 2009 | 70 Min. | miniDV, OmU
Great tech­ni­cal abil­i­ty, craftsman’s pride, and cre­ative energy are the dri­ving forces behind the Sudanese mechan­ics respon­si­ble for cus­tomiz­ing Bed­ford Trucks orig­i­nal­ly from Eng­land to meet the local needs in … read more

The Arrivals
(LES ARRIVANTS)

Claudine Bories, Patrice Chagnard
France 2010 | 113 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU

The first shot of the film estab­lish­es its agenda: the arrival of the Indian ele­phant god in the streets of Paris. The ele­phant god – a symbol of power and wisdom – is a well­cho­sen metaphor for the clash of for­eign cul­tures that is part of the daily life of the CAFDA, a munic­i­pal recep­tion centre for asylum seek­ing fam­i­lies. For both sides must show power and wisdom – the social work­ers who are con­stant­ly at risk of col­laps­ing under the sheer number of new arrivals, and the asylum seek­ers who are forced to comply with an admin­is­tra­tive logic that must seem as alien and incom­pre­hen­si­ble to them as life on the moon. They come from the Congo, Chech­nya, Sri Lanka or Ethiopia. They come with or with­out doc­u­ments or lug­gage, brought in by immi­grant smug­gler gangs or have entered the Schen­gen area with a tourist visa. Observ­ing both sides’ predica­ments with sym­pa­thy and under­stand­ing, the film accom­pa­nies the CAFDA’s Sisy­phus work. “You will feel good in France”, an employ­ee calms an excit­ed Chechen mother, “there is no war here.” 

The Hillside Crowd
(CEUX DE LA COLLINE )

Berni Goldblat
Switzerland 2009 | 72 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU
“One day, I climbed Diosso Hill… After dig­ging, I came upon a big rock and I saw some gold. I called for help… On the sev­enth day, the hill had … read more

The New South of Italy
(IL NUOVO SUD DELL'ITALIA )

Pino Espito
Italy 2010 | 74 Min. | DigiBeta, OmeU
This is a filmic reflec­tion on South­ern Italy as it changes from a place of emi­gra­tion to a des­ti­na­tion for immi­gra­tion. The film begins in a grave­yard of refugee ships … read more