This is a film about a woman’s struggle for independence that requires her to face her past in the machismo culture of Central America. It is a single stand-alone documentary, and the third and concluding film in director Peter Torbiörnsson’s trilogy that started with The Lovers of San Fernando (2001) and was followed by The Last Chapter (2011). Peter has followed Ninosca during 40 years, through marriage and becoming a mother, the decision to leave Nicaragua and her family and move to Spain to be able to put food on the table and for her children to go to school – but also to escape her violent husband. Once in Spain, Ninosca is refused residence permit and she is unable to go back to Nicaragua. Her children are denied entry to Spain and they remain separated for more than seven years. Ninosca becomes one of Europe’s many undocumented immigrants. In the film we follow her intimately in her everyday struggle. Her dream is to return to Nicaragua, to reunite with her children, buy a piece of land and a small coffee plantation. She wants to return to her home village, revisit her brothers and relatives but at the same time she fears meeting her ex- husband, who has threatened to kill her if she ever comes back.

JURY DECLARATION:

An epic film that stretched for, remarkably, 40 years in making. It is a powerful chronicle of a life of a woman, and at the same time, a chronicle of political change in Nicaragua. Another strong point of the film is to see the curious relationship between a filmmaker, who is also a journalist, and Ninosca (and her family). It is a relationship between the one that documents and the one that is documented, but the friendship interferes in certain situations so that it creates dynamics. As such, Ninosca’s life is transformed into a forum to discuss the topic of the relationship between Global North and Global South as well as the topic of a citizen, border and a nation.

The Sherpa family break a taboo and take part in the Himalayan expedition to Kumbhakarna,the holiest of mountains, to earn money for their son's school and cut him from their tradition. They accompany the leading world class alpinists.

Jury Declaration:

The breathtaking human drama offers a cinematic experience as well as all levels of cinéma vérité. The documentation efforts prove there are no boundaries that distinguish fictional and non-fictional. Kubarrska' s (as well as his collaborators) achievements making us believe in authenticity and realistic elements. At the same time the work offers a socio-political criticism, pointing out the contradictions between traditional values and capitalistic interventions and their impact on human beings.

Although after the peace agreements the war between the FARC and the Colombian state seemed to be over, the situation is far from stable. In this complex political climate, my brother and I begin to research about the kidnapping of our mom. When we find the diary she was allowed to write during her captivity, we discover an almost mother/child relationship she had with her captor. Now that most of them have surrendered their weapons and are trying to begin a new life, we set to find him and maybe speak about that dark time in our lives.

The issue of searching one´s own identity and responsibility through prism of Palestinian refugee camp Al Amari, Ramallah. Al Amari was established after their inhabitants were expelled from their original homes with the promise that the situation is just for a week. This “provisional” has become permanent and has lasted for 70 years. The past has transformed into everyday reality and appears in any aspects of the camp environment. Protagonists Hannan, Jaafar and Shams have their own rituals: how to get out from the camp for a moment and how to deal with their “refugee” identity, also written in their ID´s. People's solidarity in this ghetto built from concrete cubes almost transforms into eternal rubbernecking and uptight rules. It questions why the people are there and why they don´t do anything with their life situation on a personal as well as wider level.