Porta d’Europa

Route 4

The memory of Piero Portaluppi, a Milanese architect who reached the peak of his fame during the 20 years of the Fascist regime, comes back to life, both through the rediscovery of his work today and in a previously unpublished film diary in 16 mm, shot and edited throughout his lifetime. A man of great charm and power, Portaluppi lived through a grandiose but tragic era with ironic detachment, as if dancing across things as he created beauty. History marches on implacably, radically transforming the arena in which the eclectic artist and his large family lived and worked.

A look at the refugee crisis, with testimony from the refugees themselves.

In Italy, in the mid-seventies, Adriana, Barbara, Nadia and Susanna were 20 years old when they decided to join the armed struggle and leave behind their social life and their families in order to make the revolution the center and the aim of their existence. Today they have returned after many years in prison, and they try, each one of them, to recount their own experiences. They speak about the political reasons which initially sustained them, the conflicts, the doubts, and the moments of being torn apart which market out their lives as women caught up in the vortex of war. A course of events which ended in the condemnation of the armed struggle and the pain of the lives that were destroyed – their victims’ lives and their own.

A first-hand account of the perilous journey made by a group of Syrian refugees. Traversing land and sea on an old fishing boat manned by smugglers, the nail-biting journey leads to Europe where the refugees disperse. Each must battle to stay sane and create an identity among the maze of regulations and refugee hostels. The Crossing shows us the lengths to which people go to find safety and forge their own destiny.

Documentary focusing on the thrash metal band Kreator but also exploring the economic and social situation of Essen at the time.

A documentary of the German national soccer team’s 2006 World Cup experience that changed the face of modern Germany.

Three generations of the Nabi family flee their home in Aleppo and try to make it to safety in Germany where some members of the family have already settled. Along the way they suffer countless setbacks and heartache.

Wann wird es endlich wieder Sommer

Pélagos, voyage au large de la Méditerranée

The stories of four Iranian families who emigrate to Canada and the city they leave behind. As departure time approaches, social spaces become places of memory, fading into the distance.

A courageous pastor uses his underground network to rescue and aid North Korean families as they risk their lives to embrace freedom.

Brussels, Béguinage church. Migrants organize a hunger strike to obtain papers. A man dies. Tunisia, Libya. A border camp of Choucha refugees tell the horror of crossing the Sahara to the north. Liège. In a refugee center, a man narrates his Mediterranean crossing in a chamber of air. Three moments of a battle for survival.

Since 24 February 2022, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, several million refugees have already been taken in by Poles. In the Lublin region, near the Bug River, which marks the border with Ukraine and Belarus, farmers, shopkeepers, a photographer, and a teacher tell how their daily lives have been transformed by the outbreak of this war.

In autumn 2016, demonstrations sprang up all over Europe against the CETA free-trade agreement between the European Union and Canada. The reason? An obscure clause which allows multinationals to sue nation states if they feel their profits may be damaged by government decisions. An investigation into the hidden world of international arbitration.

The remarkable story of Jelena Dokic – an elite tennis star who beat the best in the world with a mental toughness few could match. Jelena survived the turmoil of being a refugee, the pressure of centre court, and the burden of a volatile father.

Draussen bleiben

The film explores the reasons for emigrating from Italy and describes the feeling of being a stranger in one's own country after many years in Switzerland. It is the sequel to Emigrazione.

Leaving internment camps to defend their country in Europe, Japanese-American Nisei soldiers of WWII became the most decorated unit in American history.

This gripping, atmospheric documentary recounts the infamous trial, conviction and eventual acquittal of Seattle native Amanda Knox for the 2007 murder of a British exchange student in Italy.