health

This observational, documentary-comedy study presents a surreal encounter between leading global climatologists, climate scientists, and scientific authorities who are subjected to a facilitated meeting in a godforsaken hotel in New Jersey. This inverted team-building exercise aims to present academics as feeling human beings who, like millions of other people, experience climate grief and fear for planet Earth. The initially awkward emotional encounters lead to enriching conversations that focus not on disasters and numbers, but on experiences and emotional responses. The trajectory of helplessness, denial, hope, and acceptance is accompanied by humorous moments of human interaction. “This film shows that even those who are supposed to be doing something about climate change are allowed to share their feelings and uncertainty about the future.” — Sean Patrick Kelly

In January 2009, viewers witnessed the most dramatic live broadcast in the history of Israeli television. In a phone call from Gaza, Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish could be heard crying after the Israeli army had just killed his three daughters in a bombing raid on his home. The father's despair moved history, and immediately after the tragedy was publicized, the Israeli prime minister declared a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine. However, this did not last long, so Abuelaish, known as the Nelson Mandela of the Middle East and nominated five times for the Nobel Peace Prize, set himself the goal of ending the conflict between the two countries. Only then would the deaths of his daughters have meaning, says the doctor, who rejects hatred and treats both Palestinians and Israelis. This straightforward and emotional portrait, whose title refers to Abuelaish's book I Shall Not Hate, shows how to heal an entire society. “We need courageous leaders with moral courage. Risktakers who think of the human goal and future, not of staying in power. Because history will never forget them.” — quote from the movie

The breathtaking panoramas of the Chilean deserts are the setting for a hidden battle for the survival of humanity. The local salt flats offer two highly sought-after commodities: lithium, used in the manufacture of batteries, and bacteria, essential in the fight against growing antibiotic resistance. It is these that the film’s protagonist is trying to discover. “The planet is currently experiencing a global antibiotic resistance crisis. This is contributing to the deaths of five million people a year.”

An unexplained epidemic of chronic fatigue, malaise, and limb paralysis is crippling the lives of dozens of Norwegian teenage girls. Two specialists from the University Hospital in Tromsø are offering an unusual treatment. Experienced paediatrician Hans Petter Fundingsrud and child psychiatrist Elin Drivenes are bucking the dominant trend of instant medication. They offer girls liberation from the captivity of social expectations and the web of social networks in the form of a holistic approach, sincere interest, and trust. The paths to recovery are underpinned by shots of the contemplative Norwegian landscape and the doctors' search for their own mental balance in their mentally demanding clinical practice. “It's not enough to tell these young people: we've examined you and found nothing wrong. That's like saying: you're not in any pain. You need to say: we've examined you and found nothing that can be operated on or treated, but we understand that you're in pain and we'll look into it.” — Hans Petter Fundingsrud