The European Program of Hot Docs Examines Work Conditions, Right-Wing Rise, and Personal Autonomy in the EU

The sixth iteration of Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival’s The Changing Face of Europe segment delves at the political, economic, and cultural factors influencing modern-day Europe.

This year’s selection covers a range of urgent and often highly sensitive sociopolitical topics at the forefront of European society, from an investigation of a right-wing group in Fabien Greenberg and Bård Kjøge Rønning’s “Norwegian Democrazy” to the fight for bodily freedom in Elina Psykou’s “Stray Bodies.” These films are from filmmakers who may not always get the support they need within the international festival landscape.

According to Hot Docs festival programming director Heather Haynes, “the section is very important because it allows us to get films from filmmakers who we wouldn’t normally get films from.” Haynes makes this statement to Variety. “It fosters dialogue and interaction between our work at Hot Docs and events taking place in Europe.”

In collaboration with European Film Promotion, The Changing Face of Europe will present Helen Lõhmus and Leana Jalukse’s global premiere of “Kelly – Someone Else’s Dream.” The documentary reveals the abuse that Estonian freestyle skier Kelly Sildary, who at the age of 13 became the youngest gold medallist at a Winter X Games, endured from her parents. This tale set off a snowball effect in Estonia. Lõhmus said, “As a culture, we need to decide whether a 13-year-old deserves win an Olympic medal.

“We no longer utilize gladiators like we did in the past. We need to ask ourselves questions as a culture,” she goes on. Is this the direction we want to take young sports in? The stakes are obviously high since the young sports sector is expanding rapidly, but weren’t we just meant to have fun and play?

In “Such a Resounding Silence,” Emmanuelle Béart and Anastasia Mikova explore a different kind of family violence by exploring the incest that the “Mission: Impossible” actress and three other survivors endured. “Emmanuelle felt that co-directing was crucial because it is her story,” Mikova adds. She also notes that the film’s release coincides with a public discussion over incest in France after the release of Camille Kouchner’s “The Familia Grande.”

Maja Prettner broke taboo boundaries with “Woman of God,” following a pastor from a Slovenian town who spoke out about having been sexually abused. “It’s astonishing to learn that a lady in the movie felt wonderful throughout the torture, but I think that other traumatized women felt the same way, and they felt even more guilty because they couldn’t explain their sentiments. Prettner states, “This is a story about forgiveness.”

Despite criticism over the provocative poster for her first documentary feature, “Stray Bodies,” which had its global premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Film Festival, acclaimed Greek director Psykou says she is nonetheless excited to share her film about physical autonomy with viewers. “The reaction received a lot of media attention, and to be honest, I still don’t know what went wrong. I wanted to start a conversation about the European Union and our right to bodily freedom when I filmed the movie. This movie initiates a conversation rather than providing answers.

Pskou continues, “Governments have gotten more and more conservative in both Europe and North America.” Though there are numerous distinctions across the continents, conservatism is spreading around the globe. This is what binds us together.

In “Norwegian Democrazy,” Greenberg and Kjøge Rønning examine the boundaries of free speech by carefully observing the head of Stop the Islamization of Norway (SIAN). “Kjøge Rønning says, ‘We had ethical concerns about the film becoming a platform for this right-wing leader to spread his message, but we are firm in our belief that we can give the audience a deeper understanding of how not to follow their prejudice by unraveling the extremist movement.'”

“The movie explores the boundaries of free speech,” says Greenberg. “Observe how a man like Trump is pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable in the United States.”

Speaking about boundaries, Czech filmmaker Apolena Rychlíková explores the realities of late-stage capitalism via the undercover work of a highly regarded journalist who travels around Europe in search of cheap labor. Her film, “Limits of Europe,” delves into this world. In addition to work, this movie explores human dignity and the ease with which one might assume the identity of someone without a face or past. Since we’re all human, I think everyone should be able to live a normal life,” emphasizes Rychlíková.

The three last films in the strand, albeit still overtly political and topical, address broader social concerns, whereas the majority of The Changing Face of Europe videos deal with very delicate themes of abuse and a serious denial of human rights from a first-person viewpoint. In “Echo of You,” by Zara Zerny, old people are shown speaking beautifully about love and loss; in “The Outpost,” by Edoardo Morabito, a Scottish eco-warrior tries to organize a Pink Floyd concert to raise awareness about Amazon rainforest conservation; and in Hungary’s first animated documentary, “Pelikan Blue,” directed by László Csáki, a group of young people are followed in the years following the fall of the Iron Curtain.

“I believe falling in love as an 80-year-old is just as powerful, if not stronger, than when you’re 18,” Zerny adds, noting that “even if older people can’t work anymore, they still have so much to contribute.” She also notes that “Hollywood is preoccupied with the young. It is important to maintain their dignity. We must comprehend how to make use of the aged in our culture.

“Pelikan Blue” producer Adam Felszeghy wants the movie to appeal to younger audiences. “The movie tells the story of young people who were full of hope because, all of a sudden, they had MTV and all these new colorful things that were in stark contrast to the previous socialist regime.” Younger audiences should be exposed to this viewpoint, in my opinion, since, while we have moved beyond the 1990s and are aware of capitalism’s problems, at the time, not everyone did.

The boundaries between now and then, as well as the effects of colonization and conflict, are also discussed in “The Outpost.” The ramifications of the Amazon forest’s demise will also affect Sicily. Because we Europeans have conquered half of the planet and have upset social and political realities even across the ocean, the movie tackles European issues, according to Morabito. Numerous contemporary issues stem from our actions and the mess we have made of the earth. Film has to consider how we could see the world in various ways.