In barely a century, French peasants have seen their world profoundly turned upside down. While they once made up the vast majority of the country, today they are only a tiny minority and are faced with an immense challenge: to continue to feed France. From the figure of the simple tenant farmer described by Emile Guillaumin at the beginning of the 20th century to the heavy toll paid by peasants during the Great War, from the beginnings of mechanization in the inter-war period to the ambivalent figure of the peasant under the Occupation, From the unbridled race to industrialization in post-war France to the realization that it is now necessary to rethink the agricultural model and invent the agriculture of tomorrow, the film looks back at the long march of French peasants.
"...a charming depiction of life as I knew it with my grandparents in my own village..." Clara Caleo Green, Cinema Italia UK "The sum of the individual fates and life choices paints a picture, the validity of which extends far beyond this village." Joachim Manzin, Black Box This documentary records the thoughtful and emotional confrontation with time, change, loss and hope related by the members of a small community in the idyllic Ligurian countryside who are dealing with a rapidly changing agricultural industry, transformed by globalisation and technological advances and an increasing number of foreigners buying the empty houses in their village. Forgoing the use of music and voice over, the film lets Aracà's inhabitants tell their own stories and allows the audience to dive into the rich soundscape of the ligurian alpine countryside.
The American Question examines the insidious roots of American polarization and distrust, in a desperate search for a path forward.
The sawmill in a northern Swedish village close down. Nils becomes unemployed. In order to cope with needs of his family, he is forced to travel south. His wife Karin and the children will stay in the village until further notice. Nils starts working at a factory. In addition to the job, he has been promised a good residence so that the family can move to him.
A young man receiving medical treatment in the hospital reminisces about fishing in the small dory his grandfather owned.
The two best friends, Henny and Elvira, are in their last year of junior high school in the small community Norsjö in northern Sweden. At night they drive around in Hennys’ shiny black rebuilt Volvo, an Epa-tractor with a maximum speed of 30 km/h. Henny feels like she’s stuck in a hole and dreams of going to the dance school in the nearest city, 100 km away. Elvira on the other hand want nothing more than to stay in the safe haven she finally found in Norsjö after her mothers death. She applies to the local high school, however, with very few applicants the whole school is now at risk of shutting down. This is a story about being young, about the endless nights filled with love, despair and friendship. But it's also a story of political blindness and on-going cutbacks in the rural areas of Sweden. This story belongs to two young girls in the middle of an ever decreasing community
Documentary about the Swedish artist Anders Åberg and the depopulation of his childhood countryside. As jobs in industry fade away many houses are left empty for nature to reclaim. Anders makes scale models of these houses so they will be remembered.