Esther van Messel

Polish Prayers

The tenth edition of Polish Pride parades a colorful trail of rainbow flags through the streets of Warsaw. Along the route, Antek and his friends line up to warn of the “pink threat” in prayer and edifying hymns. As traditional Catholics, he and his Brotherhood hold deeply conservative views: sex before marriage is out of the question, homosexuality can be cured, abortion is a great evil and Poland is for the Poles. His sister thinks his homophobic ranting is pointless, because in a few years the planet will be destroyed anyway as nobody is doing anything about climate change.

Dreams from the Outback

The Kimberley in West Australia is home to various Aboriginal communities, where today most is in transition causing limbo and distress. Some have given up; others choose to fight both past and present demons to bring a change for the better to their people. In 'Dreams from the Outback' best friends Gabriel and Peter try to keep the ancient cultural traditions alive, with almost no support from the rest of their community. Felicity struggles to keep her family together after years of drinking and neglect and teenagers Billy and Jordan are brothers who meet for the first time. The boys spend the days getting to know each other, exploring the outback and their culture.

Beyond Boobs

A hilarious and at times provocative film about a middle-aged American single-mother living in Switzerland and her quest to find out if she'll be invisible when she's no longer the woman with the biggest breasts in the room.

Kalari

Kalari is enthralling young women in India. As the world’s oldest martial art, it is becoming increasingly significant in a society where violence against women is both historical and a daily reality. The film follows four young Indian women on their journey towards self-empowerment.

Life Is Beautiful

Palestinian filmmaker Mohamed Jabalay is on a month long work trip to Norway when the Egypt/Gaza border closes and he is unable to return home. He details his seven year fight to get back to his family, during which time he made his award-winning film, Ambulance.

Call Me Dancer

Manish is a talented and athletic street dancer from Mumbai who dreams of becoming professional against the wishes of his struggling parents. He meets a curmudgeonly Israeli ballet master who gives him the determination to keep going. But when he is pitted against another boy who’s got the attention of the top school in the world, Manish realizes he must push himself to his physical limits if he has any chance to succeed.

The Good Death

Janette is terminally ill and wants to die in a dignified way but this is not permitted under British law. She refuses to wait for death in unbearable pain so she opts for a physician-assisted suicide in Switzerland. Before departing on the final journey she has to explain her intention to the family members and close friends.

A Thousand Girls Like Me

When Khatera, a 23-year-old Afghan woman, forces her father to stand trial after a lifetime of sexual abuse, she risks her family, freedom, and personal safety to expose a judicial system that incriminates the very women who seek protection.

Sound of Torture

Swedish-Eritrean radio host Meron Estefanos produces her weekly program at home in Stockholm where she broadcast, devoted entirely to the hundreds of Eritrean refugees held hostage in the Egyptian Sinai Desert. The Bedouins kidnap Eritreans making their way to Israel and demand large ransoms from their families. We follow Meron in her attempts to turn the tide by calling the hostages and kidnappers alike during her radio show. The film focuses on the stories of two hostages: A) Hiriyti was pregnant when she got kidnapped. We hear the young woman talking with her husband Amaniel in Tel Aviv, who is doing everything he can to free his wife and their baby from the torture camp. B) The ransom for 20-year-old Timnit has been paid, but her brother haven't heard anything from her since her flight to the Egyptian-Israeli border. The battle for Hiriyti's release and the search for Timnit takes Meron to Sinai. There, she stumbles on the marks left by the many atrocities.

Trespassing Bergman

In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, and left Stockholm to live there. When he died, the house was preserved. A group of very special film buffs, came from all over the world, travel to Fårö in search of the genius and his legacy. (An abridged version of Bergman's Video, 2012.)

Jerusalem Cuts

One war, ten days, three stories: the Old City of Jerusalem, at the dawn of a new Middle East. For the Brits, it’s the shameful end of 30 years Mandate. For the Jews, it’s the birthday of their State. And for the Palestinians, it’s a catastrophe. Only now, 60 years later, images can be shown from three opposing points of view, telling a whole new story.