Film Without Borders festival explores human rights

"Our clientele hasn't been dispatched here from the Human Rights Watch," says Susanne Suermondt, director of Film Without Borders. "The 850 to 1,000 visitors are normal people from the region."

Taking place from September 15-18, the international film festival is located in a community roughly 60 kilometers southeast of Berlin with a population of under 5,000. Bad Saarow is hosting the event for the fourth time, screening films revolving around human rights, human dignity and cross-cultural solidarity in an "Arts Barn."

Most of the showings are followed by panels in which the filmmakers - who have usually based their creations on personal experiences - explain their motivation and creative process.

Homelands new and old

Two of the presentations focus on the refugee crisis in Germany: "Café Waldluft" (Cafe Forest Air) und "Friedland" - the latter a DW production - document refugees in their efforts to find a new homeland in Germany.

Prior to its movie theater debut, "Eine Geschichte von Liebe und Finsternis" (A Tale of Love and Darkness) will be shown in Bad Saarow on Saturday evening. The film version of the eponymous autobiographical novel by Israeli author Amos Oz marks the directing debut of Israeli-American actress Natalie Portman.

The festival concludes on Sunday with a documentary which shows just how far a love of homeland can go: "The Babushkas of Chernobyl" portrays the difficult life of three old ladies who return to their homeland 30 years it was radioactively contaminated by an explosion in a nuclear power plant.

Dubbed "a haunting and strangely uplifting documentary" by The Hollywood Reporter, the film has already won prizes at film festivals in Woodstock, Los Angeles and Santa Fe.

Already-known productions are the exception, however, explained festival director Susanne Suermondt to DW: "As a small festival open to the public, we're proud that nearly all of the films here are pre-debut screenings."

"In Deutsche Welle, Film Without Borders has found the ideal media partner," added Suermondt. "DW is also concerned with human rights issues, racism and hostility to foreigners. It's a media enterprise which puts its efforts into integration. For us, that fits."