04/09/2020 - We will be devoting the next four weeks to films exploring the ways our understanding of freedom has changed during these momentous times

With the US elections fast approaching, the waves of social unrest over race and police brutality spreading across the globe, and the new restrictions the pandemic has wrought on us all, our “Watch on Cineuropa” series will be devoting the next four weeks to films exploring the ways our understanding of freedom has changed during these momentous times. “How free we are? Movement, borders and freedom explored in cinema” is a series that will help us showcase some of the most thought-provoking movies on cultural shocks, migration, and our ongoing strife to make the world a fairer and better place for all. For the first instalment, here’s some outstanding titles zooming in on race for you to watch on our pages. Enjoy your screenings, and make sure to have some friends around for the debates these movies will surely stir up.

These titles are brought to you in partnership with eyelet (read the news), a streaming platform designed to give cinephiles around the world access to the very best in independent cinema. In conjunction with eyelet, we are now able to showcase films we’ve been reviewing over the years - titles you can stream and read about on Cineuropa. Stay tuned for the new movies coming your way soon!

Cahier Africain [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

Unveiled at the 2016 Critics Week of the Locarno Film Festival, Cahier African is a haunting and stomach-churning look at the plight of 300 Central African women, girls and men in the hands of Congolese mercenaries. An unmissable testimony casting a much-needed beam of light onto an unspeakable tragedy.

Centro Histórico [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Four tales directed by four of our foremost auteurs (Víctor Erice, Pedro Costa, Manoel de Oliveira, Aki Kaurismaki) to celebrate the city of Guimarães, in the North of Portugal. An intimate look at a city and its residents, and a phenomenal showcase of the quartet’s cinematic craft.

Soul Boy [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

When 14-year-old Abila discovers his father has gambled his soul away with a woman, he starts roaming the streets of Kibera, one of the largest slums in East Africa, to beg the mysterious lady to save his father’s lost soul. She gives Abila seven challenging tasks - will the boy manage to rescue his dad?

La Eterna Noche de las Doce Lunas

Once they hit menarche age, girls of the Wayuu tribe in Northern Colombia are forced to spend a year in a mud hut, isolated from the world around them. Padilla’s documentary conjures an intimate look at the ritual as seen and experienced through the eyes of a 12-year-old girl who’ll have to learn how to leave her childhood behind.

Mediterranea [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jonas Carpignano
film profile]

Two African migrants embark on an odyssey to reach Italy and start a new life, but the adoptive country has no room for them, and in this incendiary take on the life-and-death battles of refugees, a global crisis becomes a strikingly intimate fight.

The Intruder

William Shatner plays a terrifying gentleman-turned-devil in this piercing drama set in the US South, where a cocky merchant of hate incites the white residents to strike back against the law of integration.

I Am Not Your Negro [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]

A fulminating look at James Baldwin’s observations on race relations in America, Raoul Peck’s extraordinary I Am Not Your Negro offers a powerful reminder of how far we still have to go in addressing decades-old social wounds.

The State Against Mandela and the Others [+see also:
trailer
film profile]

Released on the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, Nicolas Champeaux and Gilles Porte’s must-see documentary exhumes archival recordings of the eight other activists who, like Mandela, faced the death sentence in their fight to overthrow South Africa’s apartheid regime.

Gook

Once the Rodney King verdict ignites the 1992 LA riots, the friendship between two Korean American brothers and their black friend Kamila is put to the test. Touching and soul-crushing, “Gook” is an indelible excursion into the long history of continuities in US race relations.

I Am Not a Witch [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Rungano Nyoni
film profile]

In a remote Zambian village, a girl is banished from her community for alleged witchcraft, and sentenced to humiliations of all sorts. A startling and stirring experience, I Am Not a Witch straddles tragedy and comedy to conjure a parable of magic, misogyny and patriarchy. A bold and daring film that will linger with you long after the end credits.