The pupils of about fifteen secondary schools in the suburbs of Paris react to the projection of two short films taken from the series "No More Lies ! 12 perspectives on everyday racism". Their comments, questions and reactions are of course focused on the subject of racism, but they also take a stand about what it means to have two cultural identities. Is it enough to be born in France in order to feel French ? What is their vision of a society obsessed with the idea of integration? What do they expect of the future ? With their questions and their protests, they often put their finger on the heart of the issues at stake. Beyond fiction, we discover their reality...
A story about two girls' basketballs teams - Estonian and Russian - merged and having to learn to play together
Aleksandr, a defense officer and mission veteran from a Russian family, decides to leave the service after a successful 15-year career to provide a better life for his children. Having led dozens of men in a dangerous war, Aleksandr quickly discovers that ordinary life is harder for him than the battlefield. To become the best, he must start from scratch. Aleksandr tries his hand at private business several times, but all his ventures – various catering companies in Tapa and Tallinn, a flower shop and a sports club – fail. After several failures and introspection, Aleksandr finally finds a way to apply the valuable knowledge he gained on the battlefield to the civilian sector. He starts offering team and leadership training to Estonian companies, applying the skills and knowledge he gained from the war.
After losing part of her memory in an accident, Leila, a young French woman of Iraqi origin, reconstructs her story by reconnecting with her family and exploring her roots. Through music and cinema, she brings her exiled father's poems to lite, dis-covers the reality of the Middle East, and embarks on a personal quest to understand her identity and find her voice.
Les Autres Chemins
Vacarme
Funk legend Sly Stone disappeared from the limelight for more than 20 years. Musicians and the media tried to find the recluse but failed. In 2005 Willem Alkema started searching for Sly. Sly didn't want to be found or filmed, but Willem didn't give up and finally followed Sly in his first steps on stage in decades.
An exploration of immigration in Britain over the half century since Conservative MP Enoch Powell made his controversial speech. Issues surrounding race, religion, integration and multiculturalism are examined.
Kafia, a young girl on the brink of adulthood, has to leave behind a lot of what defined her Somalian life as she tries to adapt to her new existence in Hungary. As the family’s cultural values and taboos start to fall apart, Kafia tries to explain and make sense of all these changes to her mother left behind.
Unable to return to Colombia, Francisco Godoy searches for belonging in the Netherlands. Alongside fellow newcomers Liu and Aleksandr, he rebuilds his life through friendship and the puppet theatre he once left behind.
Soltanto il mare
This documentary is also part reality show. A dozen volunteers are set a mission to fulfil, but one by one they are captured by interrogators. They are held for a weekend, blindfolded and shackled and subjected to the same interrogation techniques talked about in the documentary. One by one they crack and tell their captors everything they know. They are made to talk!
On October 27, 2005, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré died in an electrical substation while fleeing the police, sparking three weeks of riots across France. A decade later, as the officers involved are acquitted, the film revisits the voices of those who lived through the uprising. Through their stories, it explores what remains of that anger and how their view of society has evolved.
Sortir de l'ombre
Une petite école française
During a two-day period before and after the University of Alabama integration crisis, the film uses five camera crews to follow President John F. Kennedy, attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, Alabama governor George Wallace, deputy attorney general Nicholas Katzenbach and the students Vivian Malone and James Hood. As Wallace has promised to personally block the two black students from enrolling in the university, the JFK administration discusses the best way to react to it, without rousing the crowd or making Wallace a martyr for the segregationist cause. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with The Film Foundation in 1999.
On nous appelait Beurettes
In the small local school of Cheratte, a former mining town, 11-year old students with and immigrant background are coming to the end of their primary school education with Brigitte. She is a dynamic teacher whose particular pedagogical approach aims to give these pupils a firm foundation to build on in this constantly changing world.
In France, more than 10 million people of all ages are believed to rely on food aid. Faced with this reality, mutual aid initiatives are multiplying to feed, comfort, and integrate people. From lunches where everyone pitches in, to one-euro menus, workshops on how to cook healthily and cheaply, and dinners prepared by Michelin-starred chefs, solidarity kitchens are multiplying in France.
2015, the year of the so-called “refugee crisis”: Hundreds of thousands of people sought refuge in Germany from war and persecution. Once there, they faced numerous challenges: They had to settle into and make a life for themselves in a country that was foreign to them. Ten years later, eight refugees meet for the first time—and look back on their shared experiences.