Generation Africa

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In central Benin, during the dry season, which is becoming increasingly harsh due to climate change, herders migrate en masse with their livestock. As this period approaches, herder Boube, worries about conflicts with farmers over water and space.

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Stories of Migration

<p>In central Benin, during the dry season, which is becoming increasingly harsh due to climate change, herders migrate en masse with their livestock. As this period approaches, herder Boube, worries about conflicts with farmers over water and space.</p>

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As a young man, Ike Nnaebue left his native Nigeria to try to reach Europe. More than two decades later he travels again the route from Lagos to Tangier. On the way he meets people who are making the same desperate and hopeful journey and finds out what motivates them to undertake such a dangerous trip.

No U-Turn

As a young man, Ike Nnaebue left his native Nigeria to try to reach Europe. More than two decades later he travels again the route from Lagos to Tangier. .

In South Sudan, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior is now known as the "mother of the nation" for her political commitment to her people. Independent since 2011, the country has known almost nothing but war in its short existence. Rebecca Nyandeng refuses to accept that her husband John Garang, leader of the Sudan People's Liberation Army and later the country's first vice-president, died in vain. After years of exile in Kenya, and with a fragile peace agreement installed in 2019, she has decided to return to her homeland, where she is preparing to join the government. Her greatest hope is that her children will also return and build a life for themselves, including her daughter Akuol, who directed this film.
Born in Cuba and raised in Kenya before embarking on a career abroad, Akuol de Mabior is dealing with a split identity. What does it mean to be South Sudanese, to feel at home? For her first feature-length documentary, the young woman decided to focus her mother and her sister, taking a very personal look at the recent history of South Sudan.

No Simple Way Home

In South Sudan, Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior is now known as the "mother of the nation" for her political commitment to her people. Independent since 2011, the country has known almost nothing but war in its short existence.

Transactions tells a story of Zimbabwean migration through a family divided by the circumstances of a failed economy. Three siblings, Frank, Miles and Portia, sustain their family through remittances while longing for the country and family they left behind. While the fourth sibling, Chrysthle, who is still in Zimbabwe, is frustrated by her inability to help financially, even though she has a full-time job. Their mother, MaMlilo, is a conduit of all the family’s challenges in hyper-inflationary Zimbabwe. Everyone who needs money comes to her in the hopes that she can help them financially. With each monetary transaction, expectations are raised on both sides.

Transactions

Transactions tells a story of Zimbabwean migration through a family divided by the circumstances of a failed economy.

Katanga is a bustling district of Addis Ababa where many locals dream of making it big in the capital. Enkehone, a street vendor from the countryside, lives in Amele Mamo's makeshift hostel. Both are part of this struggling community on the brink of extinction, as city developers edge ever closer to their derelict neighbourhood.

Katanga Nation

A struggling community on the brink of extinction

Fati didn't want to go to Europe, it was her husband's dream. Unemployed, the TV repairman left their village in Ghana to try to make it to Europe, but didn't make it any further than Libya. He was arrested in Tripoli, and asked Fati to join him. She went, and when she fell pregnant, the couple decided to make one last bid at reaching the West. They made it to Italy and were sent to a migrant camp. It was there that Fati broke. She asked to be repatriated. But she paid a heavy price: her husband divorced her, and her community considers her a failure.

Fati's Choice

After several months in Italy in a migrant camp, a young Ghanaian mother decided to return home

Mary Monday is a journalist for a Ugandan radio station. With only her cell phone and a portable solar-powered charger, she records, edits and reports on the life stories of the refugees in Uganda's largest camp.

Mary works for a Ugandan radio station. She reports on the life of the refugees in the largest camp in Uganda.

Mary Monday's Radio

Manuela is smart and enthusiastic at school, but sad at home. She's eleven years old and preparing her first school certificate. She lives in Edéa, Cameroon, with her grandparents who do not understand why their granddaughter is unhappy when she wants for almost nothing. Except for her parents. They left when she was just four years old, to go work in Italy. Even if she understands it was for the sake of her future, Manuela still keenly feels their abandonment.

Njel and The Separation

Manuela's parents left her behind to find jobs in Europe, and the 11 year old is heartbroken by their absence

"I was 5. I was 13. I was 16." Originally from Fana, Mali, Mariam was sexually abused by a neighbour, then by her brother-in-law, and first cousin. During the last attack she tried to fight off her abuser, and her shoulder was injured. Dancing awakens the old pain in her shoulder and reminds her of the assault: but dancing is also how she reclaims her body for herself. Pregnant with her first child, she takes part in a workshop during which, with the support of the supervising choreographer and the other dancers, she reckons with her painful past.

Stay Upright

How an abuse survivor in Burkina Faso uses dance to heal herself

In Valencia, Spain, Ouloulou, Baldé and Doucouré, three young migrants from West Africa, speak daily to their marabout, who tells them the rituals to follow to obtain legal residency status. Meanwhile, in Mali, Bakary is preparing for the second time to reach Europe, also following the recommendations of his marabout.

In Valencia, Spain, three young migrants from West Africa talk daily to their marabout.

Taamaden

Paabi, 23, returned from Libya after his second attempt to make it to Europe. He's now trying to get 1,000 euros from a local NGO to invest in his own business - but by eschewing the rules. 

Paabi, 23, returned from Libya after trying to make it to Europe for the second time.

The Price to Stay

"People tell stories, but when it comes to theirs, they either lose their memory or decide to shut up." Born in 1994 in the Democratic Republic of Congo,  Akili Nadege had to leave her homeland for Rwanda, and then Burundi. She's suffered prison, torture, a murdered father and a torn homeland, and suffered isolation and loneliness. In this intimate documentary essay, the director Claudine Ndimbira had the young woman tell her testimony through a group of readers. These men and women who know neither Akili nor her past, but they will develop with her, over the course of reading her story, a deep bond of empathy.

Lend Me Your Voice

A choir of strangers tells the difficult testimony of a young Congolese refugee

Every year, over a hundred of the best law students from all over Africa meet in a different capital city to take part in the renowned African human rights competition "Plädoyer". For a week, these young aspiring lawyers play the roles of prosecution and defense in a fictional human rights case, with each hoping to take home the trophy.

Law students from across Africa play the roles of prosecution and defense in a fictional human rights case.

The Mooting Competition

Mahad was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, known for its Little Mogadishu, in the Eastleigh district. This colorful district is actually the second largest Somali city in the world. Mahad and his friends are called “Somali Sijui”, literally “the Somalis who don't know”. They are Somalis who are as much Kenyan as they are Somali, in search of their roots and identity in the cultural melting pot of Nairobi.

Almost Somali

In Nairobi, a popular social media content creator is working on films about the Somali identity

In southeast Nigeria, Mercy hopes to join her fiancé, who lives in Dubai. But the marriage negotiations between the two families over how big her dowry should be create tensions and put her dream future with her fiancé in Dubai on the line. 

In southeast Nigeria, Mercy hopes to join her fiancé, who lives in Dubai.

Ime Ego, The Bride Price

Adama and Awa, twin sisters, are trying to track down their father, a Burkinabè who left them in Senegal when they were children. Their journey takes them to Guinea-Bissau and Burkina Faso, in search of the other families he abandoned along the way.

Twin sisters Adama and Awa are trying to track down their father, who left them when they were small.

Footsteps of a Migrant

Generation Africa - Stories of Migration

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At the "end of life" consultation at the public hospital in Liège (Belgium), patients tell Dr. Damas of their suffering and their wish to end their lives. A compelling and moving documentary on euthanasia.

Closing Words

Women are twenty-seven times more likely than men to be harassed on social media. This shocking finding, published by the European Women's Lobby in 2017, suggests that cyber-violence against women is not a series of isolated acts, but a systemic scourge. Sociological studies have shown that it is mostly committed by men who, contrary to popular belief, belong to more privileged socio-economic groups. Feeling protected by the virtual nature of their actions, the perpetrators are organised and sometimes carry out "digital raids", or harassment in packs, with terrible consequences, both personal and professional, for their victims.
 
This documentary focuses on women’s testimony from all walks of life who have been victim of online abuse and examines the harm this phenomenon does to them and to democratic debate.

Online Abuse Against Women

This documentary focuses on women’s testimony from all walks of life who have been victim of online abuse and examines the harm this phenomenon does to them and to democratic debate.

#FatUglySlut

On the French Caribbean island of Martinique , large-scale use of insecticides caused serious damage. But the earth is being revitalised by several initiatives inspired by age-old agricultural practices. 

A Documentary by Florence Lazar

Revitalising the Earth

The coronavirus pandemic raises big questions about trust in politicians and how to interpret scientific advice. German science youtuber Doktor Whatson asks what would happen if scientists were in power rather than politicians. How would they solve another pressing problem, the climate crisis?

What if Scientists Were in Charge? with Doktor Whatson

Time to Question

In France 173 people were killed by abusive partners in 2019.  84% of these victims were women. In the press and on social media the list of femicides grows longer every week and yet we know little about these women who have become statistics. This documentary focuses on domestic violence and femicide, a crisis going on behind closed doors.

This documentary focuses on domestic violence and femicide, a crisis going on behind closed doors.

To the Bitter End

In August 1961, when the Berlin Wall was built, Karin was on vacation. But when she returned to the University of Leipzig, that's when she realised how harsh the East German regime could be. So she decided to try to find a way out.

Refugees in Their Own Words

Karin wanted to escape East Germany. But her attempt to flee would cost her everything

Escape From East Germany

In 2017, Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev was living and working from the separatist region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine. Critical of the self-proclaimed republic, he used pseudonyms to protect his identity. But one day he was exposed which led to his imprisonment and torture in the notorious Izolyatsia prison

The story of Ukrainian journalist Stanislav Aseyev who was imprisonment and tortured in the separatist region of Donbas.

The Bright Path

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One hundred years ago, on February 2nd 1922, James Joyce’s Ulysses was published by Sylvia Beach in a small bookshop in Paris. The book, which consumed 7 years of Joyce’s life, years in which his family’s circumstances were very difficult, would have a profound and unprecedented impact on the literature and culture of the century to follow. 

Though Ulysses was banned initially in the US and UK, Joyce’s epic was soon celebrated as a masterpiece of modernism.

100 Years of Ulysses

Israeli choreographers Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar present their show Chapter 3: The Brutal Journey of the Heart at Nuits de Fourvière.

Nuits de Fourvière

The Brutal Journey of the Heart by Sharon Eyal & Gai Behar

Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated. This documentary looks at how big names of the genre like Sabrina Salerno and duo Righeira conquered the charts.

The Sparkling Sound of the 1980s

Kitschy trash or misunderstood genius? Italo disco was the euro sound of the 1980s that many loved and many hated

Italo Disco

Young Korean musicians have been taking the world of classical music by storm. A new generation are winning the big prizes and pursuing successful careers in Europe and around the world. What makes these Korean classical artists so good? A documentary following the rising stars of K-Classic

The Korean Musical Mystery

Generation K-Classics

Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong was the most densely populated area on Earth. 33,000 people settled on 2.5 hectares of land that was disputed between Chinese and British - meaning neither country asserted its authority there. This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

Kowloon: The Lawless Super City

This vertical slum was a hotbed of crime, but also full of factories, cheap shops and a strong community.

Crazy Borders

Violence, drugs and prostitution are a fact of life for the many children in the 5th district of Bucharest, considered the most dangerous in the city. From the Roma minority, Valeriu Nicolae grew up in poverty. With his teams, he ensures that these children have a roof, food and above all that they have access to education.

Violence, drugs and prostitution are a fact of life for the many children in the 5th district of Bucharest.

Re: Bucharest’s Lost Children

Yousra and Othman live in France, but both have decided to get married in Fez, the birthplace of the bride. Pulling off a huge traditional Moroccan wedding is no mean feat, and both families are hurriedly preparing for the party of a lifetime.

Weddings in Morocco

 Traditional Moroccan weddings are huge, lavish affairs where the bride becomes princess for a day.

Princess for a Day

The sea absorbs our carbon emissions, gives us plentiful food, and regulates our climate. A healthy sea is a healthy planet. But we can't stop stripping the sea of resources. Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Whether through overfishing or deep sea mining, humanity is destroying an ecosystem it can't live without.

Overexploited Oceans

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be? For France, of course, the baby would be French. But not for Italy! The quarrel has been going on since 1860, when the divison of territory at the top of the mountain was unclearly defined... leaving each country to interpret the boundary more or less as they saw fit. This really is a case for Crazy Borders!

Mont Blanc: A High Altitude Dispute

If a woman gave birth at the top of Mont Blanc, what nationality would the child be?

Planting trees against climate change: Ireland is reforesting its territory by growing spruces. But it's not just about being green, it's about profit. Wood is a big business... much to the displeasure of local environmental activists who want Ireland's forestry policy changed. 

Growing trees to be harvested for wood is big business - but what are the environmental ramifications? 

Re: Money Grows on Trees

How can you misplace 80km2 of territory? In Mexico, the island of Bermeja had been on maps for generations. But when it came to actually finding the island... it seemed as if it had disappeared into thin air. And with the loss of Bermeja, Mexico lost a huge windfall of oil revenue in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a case for Crazy Borders. 

The Lost Island of Bermeja

Peatlands contain more carbon than all the ground vegetation combined.
Melting permafrost peatlands can become a major source of greenhouse gas emissions,
and damaged bogs will speed up global warming. If the carbon in the peatlands is released into the atmosphere, it would be an ecological disaster. But if we harness the power of these carbon sinks, we could slow down climate change.

 If the carbon in the peatlands is released into the atmosphere, it would be an ecological disaster.

The Secrets of Bogs

According to the latest calculations by the OECD, South Korean women could live to be over 92 years old on average in 2070, and men over 89. That would be a world record. What's the secret?

South Korea: An Obsession With Health

South Koreans are on track to be the longest-lived people in the world

ARTE Reportage

Some animals are whats, and others are whos. Cats and dogs have distinct personalities; we couldn't possibly eat them. And then there are the pigs, cows, and sheep: an amorphous mass that end up on our plates. Dirk Nienhaus shows us his pig fattening facility. Meanwhile animal welfare activist Friedrich Mülln secretly checks for animal welfare violations on nightly missions. Cow farmer Anja Hradetzky is looking for a way to combine animal welfare and livestock husbandry - and comes up against the limits of the system.

The Status Quo

Activists, scientists and philosophers expose the consequences of factory farming and reflect on the status of animals in our societies.

Who We Eat

Did you know that the Middle Ages is only a few kilometers off the French coast? A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed. This is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Sark: A Modern Day Feudal Island

A lord and his vassals live peacefully on the island of Sark where cars are not allowed.

Paradise islands synonymous with hell? Welcome to the Spratlys archipelago, at the heart of a regional power struggle with global implications. China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei all lay claim to these islands... but the question is far from settled. If major conflict does break out, this is where it could start. A clear case of Crazy Borders! 

The Spratly Islands: Flashpoint for WWIII?

Paradise islands synonymous with hell? Welcome to the Spratlys archipelago, at the heart of a regional power struggle

The prisoner of a promise made to Neptune, King Idomeneus is faced with a cruel dilemma... From the Théâtre de l’Archevêché, the most romantic of Mozart’s operas, directed by Satoshi Miyagi and conducted by Raphaël Pichon, with soprano Sabine Devieilhe, promises to be the operatic event of the 2022 Aix festival season.

Aix-en-Provence Festival 2022

The most romantic of Mozart’s operas, conducted by Raphaël Pichon, with soprano Sabine Devieilhe.

Mozart: Idomeneus, King of Crete

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s? It was the war of the stop signs in Llívia, a Spanish town - but in France, in the Pyrenees. This bizarre quirk is due to a treaty signed centuries ago. This really is a case for Crazy Borders! 

Llivia, Between France and Spain

Did you know that the last war between France and Spain took place in the 1970s?

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory? In the Monastic Republic of Mount Athos women are not allowed in - even tourists - and any woman who enters could be arrested by police. It's a peninsula from another, bygone world and yet benefits from taxpayer funding (including female taxpayers, presumably...).

Mount Athos: Off Limits for Women

Can a state in the EU prohibit women from accessing its territory?

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland. Once German East Prussia, it is now home to 1 million Russian citizens. What is life like in this small territory now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began?

Kaliningrad: Putin's Enclave

The Russian enclave of Kaliningrad sits between Lithuania and Poland and is now practically cut off from its EU neighbours since the war in Ukraine began.

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Generation Africa - Stories of Migration