europe! on demand showcasing european documentaries with transatlantic appeal

"Are women’s rights and religion incompatible? The leader of feminist activist group FEMEN, Inna Shevchenko, has been fighting for years to abolish religion with her provocative demonstrations. But in ‘Girls & Gods’ she opts a new strategy: Conversation. From Copenhagen to New York, she meets female activists, priests, rabbis, imams, theologians and atheists. Inna remains critical of all religious institutions, but opens a deep and honest dialog with her religious counterparts and confronts the dilemma of what it means to be a religious feminist. Directors Verena Soltiz and Arash T. Riahi illustrate the conversations by juxtaposing traditional sacred iconography with a feminist take on art historical motifs, and to a heavy score by trap artist Baby Volcano. Together with the fearless Inna Shevchenko, they have created a film that confronts one of today’s most difficult and sensitive topics – and does so with intelligence and confidence in the conversation." – CPH

"Hundreds of hours of archival footage from a historic Cold War summit is rolled out with ironic wit and a sharp political eye for the human drama on the grand, diplomatic stage. The Cold War was frozen solid when world leaders from East and West met in Helsinki in the summer of 1975 to discuss security and cooperation. A political chess game with world peace at stake, and a historic event that no one could really agree on the meaning of. But at least everyone was there. Ford, Brezhnev, Wilson, Honecker, Trudeau, Palme, Ceaușescu and Tito. And the three-day conference was documented in great detail." – CPH:DOX

"On the outskirts of a small town, a figure rides calmly through the forest on a horse that lights up in the twilight like a dream vision from another world. A motif that, in its quietly poetic power, says a lot about this warm, wise and deeply moving film. We are in Calais on the north coast of France. 39-year-old Amandine lives here with her husband and two young sons. A family like so many others – if only Amandine wasn’t terminally ill and had only a few months left to live. Now she is preparing herself and her family for what is to come. Still, Amandine is full of life and gratitude. Both for the time that has passed and the time she still has left. Scenes from her life in the hospital and at home paint a sensual and unsentimental picture of a singular human being. And the horse? It is actually employed at the hospital where it creates calm and presence, and where it can supposedly sense when a life is coming to an end. But as one of the hospital’s other patients says: ‘À demain sur la lune!’ – see you tomorrow on the moon." – CPH:DOX

"Every summer, people of all ages arrive in their thousands at a huge ex-Soviet treatment center in Odessa on the southern coast of Ukraine. A time capsule from the 70s, built in the brutalist style of the era, it still offers therapeutic treatments from the glory days of the Soviet Union. The main attraction is the mysterious mud which is believed to cure infertility, chronic ailments and a myriad of other health problems. But it soon turns out that the many guests are really searching for happiness and love above all else. ‘Sanatorium’ follows the stories of the guests and staff during a summer season like no other where war is echoing through the pink and lime green corridors of the sanatorium. With an incredible cast of characters, a brilliant sense of tragicomic timing and a warm eye for human quirks, ‘Sanatorium’ is above all a profound declaration of love for the Ukrainian people and their indomitable resilience." – CPH:DOX

"Out on the street, chaos reigns. But in an abandoned building in the middle of Palermo, Angelo, Mery and Rosy have found a sanctuary where they can let their imaginations run wild without the interference of adults. The building may be falling apart, but you get the impression that the rest of the adult world is not doing too well either. And amidst the rubble, the three children have created a universe of their own, a dream castle in the middle of a chaotic reality. ‘The Castle’ is a film with a formidable ability to immerse itself in the parallel fantasy world of children – and to do so on their own terms. If you’ve ever been a child yourself, you recognize the magical feeling that together you can enchant the world just by the power of thought. And if you’ve grown up in the meantime, the feeling will return all the stronger. But nothing lasts forever, and when the municipality announces its plans to renovate the place, the castle is suddenly at risk." – CPH:DOX

"You never really know if it’s day or night in ‘Flophouse America’. Here we meet 12-year-old Mikal, a bright boy in a difficult situation. He lives with his mom and dad in a cheap hotel – a ‘flophouse’ – which, in a time of radical inequality, is both a home and a state of being for vulnerable people on the margins of American society. His parents drink, and although they love their son, they live in a chaos of drinking and desperate poverty. A heartbreaking tragedy becomes a final turning point for Mikal and his father. Director Monica Strømdahl is a photographer by profession, and she captures the pain and the fragile hope in the family’s life with formidable precision. Strømdahl had been traveling around the US for 15 years as a photographer documenting life on the margins when she met Mikal and his parents, and replaced her camera with a film camera. Three years of footage has turned into an unflinching and unforgettable film, which – now that Mikal has turned 18 and has approved it – is ready to create change for the vulnerable children around the world to whom it is dedicated." – CPH:DOX

"Bangladesh is one of the places in the world most vulnerable to climate change. The coasts are low-lying and the areas near the river delta are vulnerable to rising sea levels, cyclones and storm surges. The government forecasts monsoons, tropical cyclones, heavy rain and flooding. With the risk of a natural disaster hanging over their heads, Lokhi and her family are preparing to leave their home before everything washes away. They are migrating to Dhaka, and they are far from alone. Thousands of climate refugees arrive every day in the capital, the fastest growing city in the world. But how long will Dhaka be able to accommodate so many people? By 2050, nearly 20 percent of the southern coastline will be uninhabitable and 30 million people will be displaced. The largest mass migration in human history is no longer a distant prophecy, it is an inevitable reality. Bangladeshis are fighting for climate justice and compensation before it is too late." – CPH:DOX