The Unknown Famine

IT IS A SOUL: A Portrait of Hailu Mergia(en)

A short film documenting Ethiopian musician Hailu Mergia's life as the leader of the Walias Band in the 1970, his immigration to the United States and his subsequent re-emergence as a performer in 2014.

A Walk to Beautiful(en)

"A Walk to Beautiful" tells the story of five women in Ethiopia suffering from devastating childbirth injuries. Rejected by their husbands and ostracized by their communities, these women are left to spend the rest of their lives in loneliness and shame. The trials they endure and their attempts to rebuild their lives tell a universal story of hope, courage, and transformation.

Into the Inferno(en)

With stunning views of eruptions and lava flows, Werner Herzog captures the raw power of volcanoes and their ties to indigenous spiritual practices.

Leningrad Symphony(de)

August 1942: Amidst the unimaginable suffering inflicted during the blockade of Leningrad by the German Wehrmacht, an orchestra director was given an almost impossible task: to stage the premiere of Dimitri Shostakovitch's "Leningrad Symphony". The performance became a symbol of the brief triumph of culture over the barbarism of war.

Shepherds of the Earth(en)

The region of Lake Turkana, located in Kenya and Ethiopia, is considered to be “the Cradle of Humankind”. Among other finds, primate fossils from millions of years ago have been discovered in the region. But what about the region’s modern inhabitants and their relationship to their environment? Iiris Härmä, whose previous work includes the award-winning Leaving Africa, had the chance of joining Helsinki University’s researchers, Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares and Mar Cabeza, on their pre-pandemic trip to study the Daasanach people’s relationship to their environment through traditional animal tales. The researchers hope that storytelling would help to bridge the gap between people’s everyday lives and conservation efforts.

'Do They Know It's Christmas?' - The Story Of The Official Band Aid Video(en)

A 30-minute video featuring documentary footage shot at the November 1984 recording session of Band Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas?'. It includes interviews with the charity supergroup's recording artists and musicians, as well as the completed promotional video.

Afrique-France : le divorce ?(fr)

Audrey(en)

An unprecedented and intimate look at the life, work and enduring legacy of British actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).

The Great Famine(en)

When a devastating famine descended on Soviet Russia in 1921, it was the worst natural disaster in Europe since the Black Plague in the Middle Ages. Examine Herbert Hoover’s American Relief Administration—an operation hailed for its efficiency, grit and generosity. By the summer of 1922, American kitchens were feeding nearly 11 million Soviet citizens a day.

The Imperial Lullaby(it)

The armies of Fascist Italy conquered Addis Ababa, capital of Abyssinia, in May 1936, thus culminating the African colonial adventure of the ruthless dictator Benito Mussolini, by then lord of Libya, Eritrea and Somalia; a bloody and tragic story told through the naive drawings of Pietro Dall'Igna, an Italian schoolboy born in 1925.

Saving South Sudan(en)

The famous adventurer Robert Young Pelton travels with a former "Lost Boy" child soldier back to the violence of South Sudan to track down the recently deposed Vice President Riek Machar in his secret jungle camp and become the first to film the brutal White Army in combat.

Éthiopie, le mystère des mégalithes(fr)

The Living(uk)

Tells the story of the tragic events in Ukraine in 1932-33, the genocidal Great Famine or the Holodomor, and one Welshman's attempts to tell the world what was happening.

Citizen Xenos(el)

An intimate look into the lives of individuals experiencing displacement and relocation amidst the European migration crisis. A journey of strangers arriving at the shores of Lesbos in Greece, the people who receive them and the struggles they face towards an unknown future.

Adwa(am)

In 1896, Ethiopia, an African nation, largely armed with spears and knives, defeats a well-equipped and organized Italian military bent on colonization.

Do You Remember Me?(en)

Sara from Zurich was circumcised as a little girl in Ethiopia. This event severely traumatized her. To find her inner peace, Sara decides to look for her circumciser.

Walter Mittelholzer - Eine Schweizer Pioniergeschichte(de)

35 Cows and a Kalashnikov(fr)

35 Cows and a Kalashnikov is a joyously made triptych about warrior-farmers, colorful dandies and voodoo wrestlers in Ethiopia, Brazzaville and Kinshasa. It paints a loving and attentive portrait of African pride and beauty.

Ett satans år(sv)

Swedish documentary from 1977. The film is about the last starvation year in Sweden, the emergency year 1867 in Ångermanland. It is a story about people who are hurting, but also about efforts from the outside world to help the developing country Sweden out of the crisis. SVT's documentary filmmaker Olle Häger passed away in November 2014. We remember him by showing some of his appreciated films during the summer.

I Come From Away: An Immigrant in Maine(en)

An intimate look inside the immigrant community in Portland, Maine, as told by Nyamuon Nguany Machar who arrived as refugee in 1995 and David Zwalita Mota who came as an asylum seeker in 2019.