Nobody chooses where they are born. Almost everything else follows from it: the language we say I love you in, what we are ashamed of, whether we can walk home alone at night, whether there is a war at our feet or not.
187 nationalities live in Luxembourg. We pass each other every day on the street and know almost nothing about each other’s inner lives. Sisterhood for Human Rights is a three-day attempt to look straight into that distance. We will screen documentaries that confront realities vastly different from our own, and sometimes unexpectedly close to them. Alongside the films, we are building spaces to process them together: a public lecture, a workshop painting directly onto raw film and a gathering around death. On Friday and Saturday night we clear the floor for music and movement.
This film festival will not erase the distance between us, but we hope it will give us the time and space to sit together, listen to stories we might never otherwise hear, and talk about what could come next.
FRIDAY 13th NOVEMBER (19:00 – 00:30)
19:00 // Opening of the festival
Opening address by Daliah Scholl, Deputy Mayor for Gender Equality, Diversity and Intercultural Living Together
19:30 – 22:00 // The life of Ivanna Yaptune by Renato Borrayo Serra
Movie projection followed by open conversation with Renato Borrayo Serrano, Daria Sidorova & Franziska Peschel
80 min · Russia, Norway, Estonia & Finland · 2021
Russian & Nenets (original language) with English subtitles
16+ // Domestic and verbal abuse, child distress, animal death, child loss
Twenty-six-year-old Ivanna, a Nenets mother of five, is trying to sustain her family on the Arctic tundra as climate change destroys their reindeer herd. When she leaves the nomadic life for the Siberian city of Dudinka, the promise of stability collides with poverty, an absent and violent husband, and the demands of raising her children alone. Filmed over four years, Renato Borrayo Serrano’s intimate documentary follows a woman determined to shape her own future.
21:30 – 00:30 // DJ set @Ratelach with DJ Yoni
SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER (19:00 – 00:30)
14:00 – 16:00 // HOUSE WITH A VOICE by Kristine Nrecaj & Birthe Templin
Movie projection followed by open conversation with Kristine Nrecaj, Birthe Templin & Franziska Peschel
87 min · Germany · 2024
Albanian (original language) with English subtitles
16+
HOUSE WITH A VOICE tells the story of six Burrneshas who, for different reasons, have decided to take on the social role of men. They have done this to circumvent patriarchal structures, to avoid misogynistic attacks, to support the family economically, to avoid compelled marriage and to be free. Our characters communicate with us intimately as they talk about their lives and draw us close to their personal journey. They speak about freedom and oppression, about the promise of sacrificing their lives for the sake of their families’ survival. But also about the breaking of gender barriers and the power of the human mind to decide who we want to be.
The film turns stereotypes and projections of gender discussions upside down. The Burrneshas expand our awareness of human life and its universal conditions but in the end their story shows that the essences of life, which are identified as female, are held as less valuable, even less worth living. And that this remains so, worldwide.
16:00 – 19:00 // Paint Your Film!
Free and open workshop with Alexandre Alagôa
Paint your film! is a cameraless filmmaking workshop lectured by Alexandre Alagôa that invites all participants to create a collective 16mm analogfilm. Instead of using any cameras, screens or digital devices, visitors paint directly on the surface of the film strip with different materials — pens, markers and brushes — with the goal of creating one single film composed by all sorts of abstract and formless shapes. Whetherfamiliar or total strangers, the workshop invites synergetic participation and a collaborative haptic experience between everyone involved, fostering a shared sense of playfulness and curiosity towards the history of experimental film approaches.
16:30 – 18:00 // Love Dilemmas in the Modern Society
Public talk with the sociologist Polina Aronso
Polina Aronson is a sociologist, author, and journalist whose work explores emotions, intimacy, migration, and the ways social change shapes our understanding of relationships and care. She holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Warwick and has conducted research at institutions including Charité in Berlin, the German Institute for Human Rights, and Ben-Gurion University, and is an Einstein Forum Fellow. Alongside her academic work, she is a co-editor at dekoder and has contributed to international publications including The Guardian, AEON, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Colta, and openDemocracy. She is the author of Love: DIY. How We Became Managers of Our Feelings, a book examining how contemporary culture and the language of self-management have transformed the ways we experience and talk about love.
18:30 – 20:30 // Territory without war by Taya Zubova
Movie projection followed by open conversation with Taya Zubova & Olga Kuzmina
60 min · Slovakia · 2024
Russian (original language) with English subtitles
16+ // War topics, psychological trauma, mild strong language
What can stand against war and hatred? Ukrainians, Russians, and Belarusians answer this question in the film Territory Without War. Though separated by much, the tragic stories of Ukrainians, conscientious objectors, and politically persecuted Russians and Belarusians share a common thread: love for their families and the impossibility of returning home. The film brings hope and reminds us that we are not alone—there are always people nearby ready to choose love over hatred.
22:00 – 01:00 // DJ set @Ratelach with K.leo.patra
SUNDAY 15th NOVEMBER (10:00 – 18:00)
10:00 – 12:00 // Causerie Mortelle with Cristina Picco
Death: let’s just talk about it // Based on the format of Death Cafes
A personal story, an anecdote, a meaningful experience, a question you never dared to ask or simply something beautiful to share?
Causerie Mortelle is an invitation to talk freely about death, dying and grief, without judgment and without a set agenda. It is not a grief support group or a counselling session. It is an informal collective conversation, a space to listen, exchange stories, be curious and sometimes laugh.
Because talking about death is a way of honouring life.
Free entry, registration required: hello@causeriemortelle.lu
A cathering will be offered by the city of Esch after the workshop.
14:00 – 16:00 // Smoke Sauna Sisterhood by Anna Hints
Movie projection followed by open conversation with Anna Hints & Franziska Peschel
89 min · Estonia & France · 2023
Estonian (original language) with English subtitles
16+ // Nudity, sexual violence, domestic abuse, illness, abortion, pregnancy loss, discussion of body image
A visually stunning film about femininity and solidarity, exploring the healing power of a sauna ritual. Deep in the Estonian forests lies a sauna where women gather to immerse themselves in rituals, draw closer to one another, laugh together and sweat out their pain. The women share stories and experiences that are both relatable and universal, offering an intimate, personal glimpse into the most profound sense of togetherness, where drops of sweat, water and tears mingle.