Documentaries about Effects of the Economic Crisis and Historical Events

The 28 contributions to the documentary film programme at the 53^rd Nordic Film Days Lübeck centre on the effects of the economic crisis on the people of northern Europe and on historical events whose consequences can still be felt today: Eva Mulvad's "The Good Life" mirrors current fears in the times of globalization by portraying the life of a Danish woman, who has slipped from a life of considerable luxury to a bitter state of poverty. Ulla Boje Rasmussen's "Thor's Saga" demonstrates the mechanisms of economic failure and success by example of the history of an entrepreneurial family throughout the course of two centuries. In his film "Submission: In Defence of the Unborn", the masterful Stefan Jarl analyzes the growing industrial trend to work with chemical additives - which experts deem more threatening than the climate change. In the provocative docu-fiction "Empire North" by Jakob Boeskov, a dissident in the guise of an arms dealer wins over unjust states as business associates by offering them a chip gun.

Eva Mulvad's "The Good Life"

By contrast, Peter Gerdehag's "Women With Cows" recounts the life and work of two dairy farmers in provincial Sweden, who live in harmony with the flora and fauna that surrounds them. Anu Kuivalainen's "Aranda", from Finland, presents fantastic images taken on board a research ship on trips across the Atlantic, the Baltic Sea and the Arctic Ocean, while "No Bone No Skin: A Rock Band At Sea" by the Icelandic director Ingvar A. Thórisson portrays a rock band that consists entirely of a fishing trawler's crew. Jeremiah Cullinane's "Book Smugglers", an appraisal of the book smugglers who strengthened Lithuania's national self-confidence under 18^th century Russian rule, is a study of the past, as is Halldór Thorgeirsson's "Anti-American Wins Nobel Prize" about Halldór Laxness, who was awarded the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature. Experts including Günter Grass comment on the hostile stance taken by the USA towards Laxness. The Estonian contribution "Kuku - I Will Survive" by Andres Maimik recounts the life of the alcoholic actor Arvo "Kuku" Kukumägi, who never quite managed to cast off his rebel image - with near-fatal consequences.

Peter Gerdehag's "Women With Cows"