There's something wrong with the human race, as from time to time, it decides to hate one of its variety. Some think themselves better, others perceiving as monsters. But hatred between nations and religions is based on stereotypes and these stereotypes are easy to repeat. But what if during World War II a German, Hitler-obsessed boy was forced to accept a Jewish girl hiding in his house? What if another boy happened to be so close to the Concentration Camp and befriended one of its prisoners? How close can you be to the consequences of blind ideology and admit that you were wrong? A different perception of war, one funny in its bittersweetness, another heartbreakingly realistic and two moving pictures of how cruel was our history and our mistakes. Both based on books, Jojo Rabbit and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
For a lot of men, the fact that women can derive pleasure from sex is unthinkable. This is why, due to the fear of humiliation, insecurity, and loss of their face and possessions, they closed the beautiful sex in the box of child-rearing, meals-preparing, and thoughtless. Throughout the continents, cultures, and traditions, we, women, have been mistreated and discriminated. Let's pose some questions. Why millions of girls are circumcised each year without their consent and left with a life-long trauma while men enjoy the life of privilege and can have many wives? Why in India women are raped on an everyday basis and blamed for someone else's sins? Why the Church represents something deeply unholy, not helping thousands of nuns abused by thousands of priests? Why in Japan, enjoying the tradition of penis celebration, the sculpture of a female vagina raises so much controversy and can put you in a prison? And why so many girls are thrown into the trap of marriage and child-bearing by their orthodox families, having to choose between being rejected by their community and their own happiness? What does it mean to be a woman nowadays and why years of injustice are not so easy to erase? #Female Pleasure.
You cannot disregard female power. Some men throughout the history of the world wanted to diminish women's significance, close them in the kitchen, limit their ambitions to cooking and child-bearing. Women, however, resisted, spreading their wings and proving that no area of human accomplishments is for them too difficult or unreachable. They survived. But intelligence raises fear. For their beliefs, many women were considered possessed, for their desires they were punished, for the expression of their thoughts they were imprisoned. Some of them needed shelter. Imagine a place which survived the political turmoils of changing governments, a place which valued art and female independence. A place, which could offer a hideout for the lost souls that strove for self-expression. What if it was run by witches? Rhythm, dance, and the horror of female liberation, which required bigger sacrifices, taking sides, and a whole lot of gore, Suspiria.
We quickly realized that school education gives you a limited outlook on life. It provides theoretical knowledge, which has little to do with practice. For the latter, we should spread our wings, learn something about the world, and travel. Among hundreds of traveling vlogs and National Geographic highly awarded documentaries, giving you little tips of where to go, what to eat, and how to behave, you can rarely find the most interesting bits and pieces put into your repertoire for the nasty. A hilarious comedy, providing exaggerated stereotypes, awkward situations, the American perception of Europe, and something which still makes you willing to explore the unknown. Plus, some songs to hum, for whatever reason. Pure fun for the open-minded, Euro Trip.
In today's world of racial and religious discrimination, growing nationalistic tendencies, and heartbreaking attacks in which die the innocent, it's difficult to deal with grief. You cannot rationalize the fact that someone for ideological reasons and hatred is willing to deprive you of what you love the most. There are people who can in the blink of an eye destroy your whole life, your work, and your purpose. They value numbers over individuals. They respect uncertain promises of religion over a human being. They play God. In the Fade. A story about a woman who lost her whole life and tried to make sense of it all it the hostile world of German multi-racial contemporary reality. The epitome of our worst fears and increasingly frequent tragedy among our friends.
War isn't the best time for love. Instead of cheerful days by the river, bouquets of flowers, hearts cut from red pieces of paper and exchanges of goodnight kisses by the moonlight, you have pain, dirt, hatred, sickness, and death. But can you really stop loving under hostile and life-threatening circumstances, can you wait for better days if you have no certainty that these days are yours to enjoy? Can you cope with the situation once you are on a different side of the barricade and you are in love with the same woman? Three hearts, one love story. Zgoda.
There is a strange belief among human beings that we, as species, are better than animals. We think that our inferiors have no feelings, attachment, and emotions whatsoever. They can be used for milk, meat, skin, fur, and jewelry, bred in disastrous conditions to multiply the profit. Some people like killing on their own terms, be the trigger to the bullet. They want to hunt and put down what belongs to the wilderness. And they don't see anything bad in their actions, quite the reverse, they praise their entertainment and see themselves as heroes. With a realistic eye and a dose of cynicism, Ulrich Seidl's sin Safari. Doesn't killing in the blink of an eye with entertainment and collective reasons in mind put us a little bit lower on the scale of human development? Food for thought. Enjoy.
Imagine that there is a stranger, walking unexpectedly into your life, opening old wounds but also helping them to heal. Imagine that your heart can once again find a purpose after a tragic loss and there is a feeling budding like a flower, growing on the water of your blood, willing to stay afloat. Imagine times in silence after a huge storm of pain, loss, and rain of weapons, decimating your friends, lovers, and neighbors. Imagine fathers mourning their sons on both sides of the barricade, blaming each other equally for the same exact patriotism. Imagine a lie which also becomes your lie. And imagine what it is like to live as a woman in the middle of it all. War, loss, love, and a secret in a subtle game of colors. Franz.
Civilization is an artificial concept which makes everything run clockwork. We sleep on a bed, having for centuries slept on the floor of sticks and grass. We eat portioned and available food, having been used to hunting and gathering for millennia. We switched caves for flats, fires for central heating, furs for nylon and synthetic materials. We turned work at the farm into work in a corporation in front of the computer. We replaced the sun with antidepressants, physical exercise with box diet and sex with porn. Are you happy, then, with the state of affairs? Don't you feel that there's something missing? There was one woman who turned her thoughts into action and broke the bonds with ordered and reasonable life. Wild.
When the tragedy happens, you are always there to give good advice, you know better, it will be all fine in the end. Unwanted pregnancy? Of course, you will manage, a child is such a blessing, even though good pieces of advice tend to disappear at 3 am. when you're alone with a crying alarm clock. Disability? You will deal with it, there are institutions which will help you, social services that will teach you how to live, avoiding depression and euthanasia. Cancer? You cannot give up, you have people to live for.
Good motivational pieces of advice are usually from those who had never experienced the trauma you're dealing with. They are from those who will abandon you sooner or later in their busy world of loud opinions and quiet actions. Having a child is a decision for a lifetime. Not having a child is also something which will stay with you for ever. What would you do if you were pregnant with a child diagnosed with a Down syndrome and a serious heart disease? Would you be brave and give it a go, taking into account your religion, upbringing or hopeful wishes for the future? Would you have an abortion? Would you be strong enough to agree on the life burdened by someone's disability? A very important film about the complexity of making a decision. Don't judge. Such a dilemma might at some point concern you. 24 Weeks.
Your family life might be fucked up. We don't choose our families. We cannot be blamed if our parents don't understand us, if they want to disinherit us, if they don't approve our life choices. But what to do when you have real problems with which you cannot deal with on your own? Where to seek help? How to find support? And even if you feel like the weirdest freaks of all, there are always those who are a little bit madder. A positive inspiration for those who feel insecure and lost. You are not alone. And you always need a good laugh.
European society is still divided into classes, even though the 21st century was welcomed by us over a decade ago. Rural vs urban. Blue-collar workers and white-collar workers. Simple and intellectual. Popular vs high-brow. I wish everyone would be classless since it makes all human interactions unprejudiced and devoid of financial status expectations. This is a fantastic film about a relationship between two girls, who are divided by everything but end up in the circumstances unlikely for any class and education. A totally girl's film, showing how strong as a woman you may be if your life requires you to act accordingly. Even if it might prove shocking for some.










