SEAHORSE
Hanan accompanies her brother to classes in the public pool. The first swimming badge is called “Seahorse”, their instructor explains, because it doesn’t drown. When Hanan came to Europe in a rubber dinghy, she couldn’t swim. To overcome this trauma she learned to swim, now it is her little brother’s turn.
Germany 2020 / 16:00 / Director: Nele Dehnenkamp / Producer: Christine Duttlinger, Nele Dehnenkamp
NOVA
When Nova, who is 15, comes along to her little sister’s football practice, the trainer Nadia tells them that the sister cannot take part until her membership fee has been paid. The situation turns into a conflict when their angry mother takes the little sister away. When Nadia puts a comforting hand on Nova’s shoulder, Nova gets overwhelmed with a feeling she has never had before.
Netherlands 2021 / 10:39 / Director: Luca Meisters / Producer: Marc Bary, Nicky Onstenk
LIFEBLOOD
After Europeans arrived in Australia, Aboriginal people in Bourke Shire were taken away, and others were brought to live in missions. Lifeblood is a film about the intersection of place, history, and identity.
Australia 2021 / 20:20 / Director: Nicholas Tory / Producer: Nicholas Tory
REASON TO GET LOST
Janet wears her costume to school on Halloween, only to find that no one else does. The class takes a field trip to an aquarium where she wanders among the tanks as a lonely dinosaur, until she learns that a brief moment of connection with a like-minded child is all she needs to buoy her.
United States 2020 / 3:04 / Director: Alice Nicholas Wood / Producer: Alice Nicholas Wood
ORCHESTRA FROM THE LAND OF SILENCE
Marzia is a violinist playing with the first Afghan all-female orchestra, Zohra. Through her eyes we follow the daily reality of the girls in this orchestra. Although the situation in Afghanistan is improving, playing music is still unacceptable in the eyes of many, especially when it comes to young women. During a tour in Slovakia, they also get to the former borders of the communist bloc – the symbolism of the Iron Curtain puts the Afghan story in a completely different perspective.
Slovakia 2020 / 30:24 / Director: Lucia Kasova / Producer: Michal Kascak