The traditional programme category Searching for Freedom is probably the most diverse as far as locations covered are concerned. The ten films contained within it thematise countries afflicted by various forms of oppression and remnants of colonialism, and they track people who often stand in opposition to the dominant regime.
A typical example is Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law? in which we follow a trio of young activists who personified Hong Kong’s Umbrella Revolution, and who in subsequent years have continued the battle against the Chinese colonialisation of their country. In Democracy Noir, we learn about the form of activism found in Hungary. This analysis of the issues associated with Orbán’s regime is presented through the eyes of three female activists who deconstruct the political situation in a country replete with corruption and a disdain for democracy.
The film The Soul of the Bossales is almost ritualistic in nature. The French director takes the audience to the disturbed land of Haiti. Through watching rituals, protests, and the daily observations of many people, none of whom have given up the battle for a free Haiti, we discover how this country – one of the pioneers of decolonisation – has found itself in a very complex and disunited situation. On Falling represents a fictional contribution in this programme category. The film focuses on the search for freedom in the depersonalised world of migration. The topics of being uprooted and the isolation of being in a foreign land are tracked in the life of a Portuguese immigrant in Edinburgh, who struggles with the everyday routine and the impossibility of establishing natural relationships.
No Other Land takes us to the West Bank and follows the unusual friendship of an Israeli journalist and a Palestinian activist. Both try to document the occupation of Palestinian territory but each of them has a different starting point, rights, and possibilities to do so.
