Numerous visitors and a positive response

Sophisticated and entertaining film programme highlighted topics from the Global South.

The international film series "Across Borders" in Hanover ended on 25 February 2025 with the touching film "The Empty Grave". Over eight evenings, the organisers presented an ambitious and entertaining programme in various cinemas and a local community centre. The documentary and feature film series presented stories of people from different countries and cultures - from Venezuela, Senegal, Sudan, Kenya, Malawi to Tanzania - and allowed viewers to immerse themselves in diverse realities and contexts.

Loss, grief, violence, persecution, but also hope, fantasy and joy were the defining motifs of the films. The unifying thread was the freedom of movement of the people, the crossing of borders, and also the high topicality and relevance of the themes. This became clear in numerous film discussions and interviews during the series of events.

For example, the film "The Empty Tomb" deals with the reappraisal of the colonial era and accompanies two Tanzanian families in their process to get back the stolen remains of their ancestors. "A radically tender film", says presenter Gabriele Janecki, which portrays strong people in their commitment to coming to terms with the past and justice, while at the same time making emotions and spirituality visible. The guests were director Agnes Lisa Wegner and Dr Claudia Andratschke, coordinator of the Provenance Research Network in Lower Saxony. Around 60 people attended the event at the cinema in the Künstlerhaus.

The Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) enriched the film series with one of its short documentary films about climate displacement in Malawi. This film was made on behalf of the ELM by filmmakers Philipp Seifert and Raphael Schanz (production company panther reh, Berlin) in 2024, screened at several international film festivals and won the Bronze Award at the Handle Climate Change Film Festival in China.

The initiators of the film series are satisfied with the high number of visitors and positive feedback. A new edition would therefore only be logical. The organisers of the international film series "Across Borders" were the Ev.-luth. Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM), Freundeskreis Malawi and Städtepartnerschaft Hannover-Blantyre e.V., Land der zwei Nile. Bildung und Projekte für nachhaltige Entwicklung; Südamerika-Zentrum Hannover e.V., Verband Entwicklungspolitik Niedersachsen e.V. and Verein Niedersächsischer Bildungsinitiativen e.V. The film series was supported by "Engagement Global" with funds from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.