Hope and Despair

country, year
Slovenia, 2016

genre
short documentary

running time
29′

directed by
Toni Poljanec, Tina Glavič Novak

language
English

subtitles
Slovene

 

 

synopsis
In August 2015, Slovenian filmmakers Toni Poljanec and Tina Glavič Novak headed to Lesbos where they made the documentary video composed of numerous interviews with refugees who have endured the traumatic ordeal of travelling from Turkey on overcrowded inflatable boats. When the refugees reach the shores of European Union the prospect of hope soon turns into despair. Their new reality becomes an overcrowded and poorly maintained refugee camp. The dreams of a promised land have never been further away.

 about the author
 Tina Glavič Novak and Toni Poljanec are members of Hupa Brajdič Production, a group that  focuses mainly on documentary films. Tina Glavič Novak is a sociologist and a project leader  within Hupa Brajdič production. She is mostly interested in documentary movie making,  especially in its creative approach. Toni Poljanec is working in video and film. He is co-founder  of Hupa Brajdič production. He studied cultural studies and is mostly interested in marginalized  themes such as refugees, prisoners and artists. Some of their works are Grenkoba nasmeha (Biter  Smile), Zaodrje (Backstage), A to je kulturologija (Is this Cultural Studies). The films were  screened at Kinodvor, RTV Slovenia (national TV programme), DOKMA festival of documentary film, Luksuz festival poceni filma, Subart festival and elsewhere.