A line of workers offering their labour, a food laboratory in Warsaw, a transit village in Ireland, downtown Amsterdam on Sunday: our films are shown at these and other venues and turn them into agents. EUROPOLY has invited directors and artists – actors, musicians, activists, writers – from European countries to feel out the transformations undergone by the old continent since the debt crisis. The resultant short films are radically personal and direct our attention to details: where the changes can be seen and how they affect individuals.

The filmmakers come from the countries in which the films were shot. Their artistic counterparts are at home where statistical surveys locate the extreme other. Together, filmmakers and actors, have carried out research, listened to stories and developed their observations into screenplays. And they have chosen their cinematic form: documentary, fiction, hybrid. One film portrays people living along a London canal where the corpse of an Eastern European woman was washed up. Why are there so many dogs in France? We can draw inferences from the nightmare of a woman – in a film shot in a Paris studio. The north coast of Denmark was turned into a backdrop for a village consisting of paper houses, the homes of castaways. In a photo studio in Vilnius we hear possible responses to the phenomenon that in Lithuania there are many more women in leadership positions than in Denmark. The project participants have chosen different forms of collaboration, before and behind the camera. Yes, there will even be singing: the Eurovision Song Contest with its eternal winners and tragic losers will not be missing.
EUROPOLY would like to extend our cordial thanks to all participants for their cinematic interpretations of Europe in times of transformation.

Dorothee Wenner (curator) und Meike Martens (producer)

EUROPOLY – RE-TELLING EUROPE It was the idea of our project to bring together European countries that have plenty to say to each other but because of their distant geographical positions have too little opportunity to do so. We co-produced nine short films in 15 participating countries and five theatre and dance productions of young performance groups in five countries. The project includes 37 prominent young artists. More than 20 European Goethe-Instituts have taken part in this vast work. Now comes the second step: reaching a global audience. We would already like to thank all the film libraries, film clubs as well as film and theatre festivals that will include the films in their programmes. .

Detlef Gericke (Project Management 2015 / 2016) und Johanna M. Keller (Project Management 2014)


EUROPOLY
Films Exploring Europe in Times of Transformation
Graphic design: kikkerbillen büro für gestaltung
Webdesign: Micz Flor, Laura Oldenbourg
Online editor: Ellen Wesemüller
Project coordination Europoly: Stefanie Heublein, Goethe-Institut e.V.
Project management EUROPOLY: Detlef Gericke, Goethe-Institut Litauen
Concept , Curator EUROPOLY Film: Dorothee Wenner
Production EUROPOLY FILM: Meike Martens, Blinker Filmproduktion

EUROPOLY is a European project for theatre and film by the Goethe-Institut in cooperation with Münchner Kammerspiele, Onassis Cultural Centre Athens, Sirenos – Vilnius International Theatre Festival, Teatro Maria Matos Lisbon and Tiger Dublin Fringe.

Production Year

2016

color

color

Available Media

Blu-ray Disc

Original Version

German (de)

Blu-ray Disc

Subtitles

English (en)