UK

When they emigrated to Europe in the 60’s and 70’s, Moroccans brought with them their culture and their “diseases”,they believed, caused by the spirit of their ansestors. In Europe, most North African families will include someone who is undergoing this kind of disorder. The disease may manifest differently on each person-(asthma,paralysis,epilepsy…etc).If the disease is left untreated, it might result in somehting extremely serious or much more fatal.In the film we follow two Moroccan women: Hind and Fatima who are looking to solve their problems caused by invisible forces. They are visiting healers in Europe and Morocco. The healers “negotiate” with invisible forces by therapeutic rituals.

Right In the heart of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa is a small orphanage called “Little Heaven”. One of the orphans, Lydia, is 13 today. A truly joyful event, because she can now move to the ‘other house‘ where all of the ‘big kids’ live. Unfortunately this special day is overshadowed by the shocking news delivered to her by the head nurse: Lydia is HIV positive.

Salem is an Iraqi fashion designer in Damascus. Botrus lives a remote existence in a hillside monastery. This consistently insightful and unexpected documentary offers a unique perspective on what the dream of freedom means to two very different people in the face of a brutal regime. The result is a vital snapshot of life in the year before Syria’s uprising.