Aurélie Jourdan

Thierno Souleymane Diallo sets out with his camera in search of the birth of filmmaking in Guinea. Charming and determined, he traces his country’s film heritage and history and reveals the importance of film archives.

For six years, Melati, 18, has been fighting the plastic pollution that is ravaging her country, Indonesia. Like her, a generation is rising up to fix the world. Everywhere, teenagers and young adults are fighting for human rights, the climate, freedom of expression, social justice, access to education or food. Dignity. Alone against all odds, sometimes risking their lives and safety, they protect, denounce and care for others. The earth. And they change everything. Melati goes to meet them across the globe. At a time when everything seems to be or has been falling apart, these young people show us how to live. And what it means to be in the world today.

There is certainly some pressure to procreate in Western societies, but in some countries, it’s not even a question of choice. Married but childless, director Aicha Macky’s circumstance is judged unacceptable in her native Niger. Doctors haven’t been able to determine why she can’t conceive, but in her conservative Muslim society, women are always getting blamed for infertility, while men are rarely diagnosed. Speaking to her departed mother who died in childbirth, she expresses her deep sadness: “By giving life, you lost yours, whereas I’m dying a slow death by not being able to give life.” Drawing from her personal experience, Macky bravely addresses the taboo of childlessness and the stigma Nigerien women like her must endure. Through delicate, exquisitely shot portraits, and sensitive observation of other women’s secret suffering, she finds a way to affirm herself as a fulfilled individual among mothers.

Moscow, Russia, December 2016. Edward Snowden, Larry Lessig and Birgitta Jónsdóttir meet for the first time in a secret place. Apparently, Russia is interfering in the US presidential elections while it mourns the death of its ambassador to Turkey. Snowden carefully chooses his interviews, so nobody really knows something about him. As the world prepares for Christmas, they gather to discuss the only issue that matters, their common struggle: how to save democracy.

A group of young people on the eve of adult life: the boys experiment all solutions to avoid doing their military service, but one of them decides to go for it, with the hope of making an easier life; the girls think about studying, meeting up with their boyfriends abroad, marrying soon.

At the beginning of 2012, the northern Malian city of Gao was occupied by jihadist groups. By the force of arms, they demanded the introduction of Sharia law and that the country be divided. While part of the population in Gao joined forces with the separatists, others set up a fierce resistance force to fight the occupation. They formed vigilante groups and night watches to protect their families, organised demonstrations and clandestine gatherings, and eventually managed to drive the jihadists out of Gao. To find out more about the details of the resistance movement, filmmaker Kassim Sanogo traveled to Gao and collected mobile phone videos from the time and interviewed some of the people involved. We hear not only from resistance fighters and members of the city’s council of elders, but also from residents who collaborated with the jihadists before they were ousted.