Non-competitive 2021
Meduse Afro Hair and Other Myths
Director: Johanna Makabi, Adèle Albrespy
Country: Senegal
From London to Paris, Marseille to finish in Dakar, we start looking for various african neighborhood in order to film various types and techniques of hairdressing: braided braids, flat braids, plaited braids, weaving, straightening, afro... Throught Meetings and conversations with people and hairdressers, we question the importance of treatment and maintenance of hair in African cultures. Through the stories of Romy, Cyn, Kami and Louise we follow the evolution of their hair which finally turns out to be more political than aesthetic.
Talking Dreams
Director: Bruno Rocchi
Country: Italy
Someone, somewhere, they say that if you dream a white man, you will be lucky. In a village there is a radio that broadcasts the listener’s dreams. Samuel has a dream about Bruno, a white man. They send a tractor to the village, in order to feed everyone by cultivating the land. The tractor’s journey meets with the dreams told in the radio, while blending with the memories of Samuel, yet departed years before towards Europe. Everything is going good but, given that “dreaming” is a language, that language sometimes makes a mess when it talks about the relationship between women and men.
So Kou – The Horse's Tail and his Master Player Zoumana Téréta
Director: Marco Romano
Country: Mali
So Kou - The Horse's Tail and his Master Player Zoumana Téréta, gives an insight into the history of an ancient instrument and a master player who contributed at making it better known to the world. The sensation of a strong symbiosis between the master and the So Kou emerges, casting a feeling of purity and sincerity.
Miss Curvy
Director: Ghada Eldemellawy
Country: UK
When Uganda announces its first-ever beauty pageant for plus-size women, schoolteacher and single mother Namukasa Mariam seizes the opportunity. Hoping to gain strength by confronting past traumas (and her abusive ex-husband), she soon finds herself surrounded by national controversy, fierce rivalry and extravagant characters. Exploring timeless yet contemporary issues within a uniquely African context, Miss Curvy takes viewers on Mariam’s unforgettable journey through the extraordinary world of East African plus-size beauty pageantry.
Gushegu Exile
Director: Emil Nørgaard Munk
Country: Denmark and Ghana
In the shadow of a tree Salamatu separates pebbles from the beans she has found at the local market square. Nighttime is coming and her children are hungry. Gmanun is packing 14 years of life in bags and preparing to go home and Maate is controlling the local water pump with an iron fist. In Gushegu 100 women live in exile. They have been expelled from their villages because of witchcraft accusations. As years go by, the women become old and weak, and some are allowed to return home. However, years of separations from their families makes the repatriation challenging.
Rajaa, that means hope
Director: Marielle Duclos
Country: France
Men who have come to France, separated from their children who stayed in their country, are living in a center for immigrant workers. A musician invites them to sing lullabies. Within the intimate setting of these workshops, they reconnect with buried emotions and memories. These lullabies resonate with their testimony on the complexity of paternity from a great distance and life between two countries. From far away, the voice of a child tells us the father's lack and the wound of separation.
Invisible Truth
Director: Olena Kryvenko
Country: Ukraine
Ukraine unites the representatives of more than 130 nationalities (according to the census survey of 2001 y.), so here the tolerance must exist as an inalienable human value. But the reality is different. This is especially true for sensitive communities, such as the Roma national community. The level of discrimination against the Roma population in Ukraine is not decreasing. Roma people continue to face difficulties in drafting documents, in employment, and so on. They also come across discrimination during education and other everyday activities. One possible way to change preconceived opinion into understanding is to create documentaries that show the ordinary life of the Roma people, tell about their successes and failures, help to see the abstract minority of ordinary people, and see what we have in common. Such stories are important in order to change narratives in society. The documentary "Invisible Truth" tells three different life stories of Roma youth aspirations with different social statuses.
Anton, his friend and the Russian revolution
Director: Zaza Urushadze
Country: Ukraine, Georgia, Lithuania, USA, Canada
South of Ukraine, 1920. The beginning of the expropriation and great terror of Ukraine by the Bolsheviks before the first wave of the Holodomor. Two little boys, Anton and Yasha, involuntarily witness great historical events - the armed uprising of the peasants against the Bolsheviks. They perceive the events around them as an interesting game. And neither the red chimera of the Russian Revolution nor all the bloody twentieth century will be able to destroy their friendship…
Відтінки України / Shades of Ukraine
Director: Olena Kryvenko
Country: Ukraine
This story is about an enterprising and talented woman – Inna Korsunska from Odesa, who enjoys her life in her favorite city. She is 70 years old, and despite her age, she circles in the dance of events. Inna is a sociable person and a real soul of the company. She was born into a Jewish family and still remembers the difficult times of her relatives in the ghetto and the postwar years. All her relatives now live in other countries, but she has a work that she lives for – she lovingly embroiders beads and teaches others to do this. Now she glorifies the Jewish people, creating a real masterpiece – the embroidered Temple of Solomon, with the hands of hundreds of people. Despite all the difficulties and longing for family, she remains positive and open to everything new.

SAZ - The Key of Trust
Director: Stephan Talneau
Country: Germany
"Saz" is a film about the power of music and the scope of the world, simultaneously a road movie and a quest for meaning, a breathtaking trip in the border region between Europe and Asia, which shows that despite conflict and crisis, there is a human everyday life out there, as well as something special that holds us together.
Mother
Director: Stephan Talneau
Country: Moldova
An 88-year-old blind woman, her family and four generations. The family is going through a difficult socio-economic historical period, when the younger generation is forced to leave the country in search of a piece of bread. This leads to the disintegration of relations between generations, the disappearance of the national language and culture.
An old blind woman who lives in the world of sounds is provided with everything necessary for existence. Her son and daughter-in-law take care of her with all their love. Separation from her granddaughter and great-grandchildren, the fact that she does not hear their voices and can be close to them, makes her very upset. At the same time, her soul hurts from the realization of the fact that she can’t pass on (to those who left) the richness of the language, numerous traditions and customs of her ancestors.
The story of this old woman is a clear example of our reality, which shows the feelings and spiritual qualities of people, revealed by the fate of a blind woman who treats with care and love those to whom she once gave the warmth of her heart.
The basic idea: the film reveals the idea that, regardless of the events in the country, economic and other kinds of cataclysms, people have preserved the most important thing: the ability to empathize and the duty to support and care for future generations, what we call people and love.
