D 2018, R: Jim Kroft, 89 Min, OmeU – Regisseur zu Gast.

Mit einem gelben Bus, Kameras und ohne Budget fahren zwei Freunde im Januar 2016 aus Berlin los, um mehr über die Leben von Fliehenden in Europa zu lernen. Ihre Fahrt bringt sie von Lesbos über Idomeni bis in die Balkanstaaten. Vor dem Hintergrund des EU-Türkei-Migrationspaktes und der Schließung der „Balkanroute“ untersucht der Film die Folgen für das Leben der Menschen auf der Flucht, und berichtet aus einer sehr persönlichen und emotionalen Perspektive von Menschen, die alles verloren haben.

Trailer:

EN:

A yellow van, a camera and no budget. With these unlikely tools, two friends set off from Berlin with the hope of learning about the refugee crisis in Europe. Little did they know that they were leaving during the defining period of modern European politics. As such, the filmmakers found themselves thrust into the heart of events. With a “media fatigue” about refugees, they witnessed hypothermic children met by little international response as they arrived on the beaches of Lesvos. In Idomeni, they saw the camp swell from 3000 to 15000 in a few days after the Balkan borders were suddenly closed. With a futile governmental response they recorded as refugees bore the full front of winter with little more than summer tents. As hunger and sickness spread thousands of refugees departed and, followed by the filmmakers, made their way through the mountains only to be detained by the Macedonian military. “The March of Hope” is a documentary created in the spirit of independence but defined by an experience of the deepest humanity - by a people who had lost everything. The film explores what it means to be a European and challenges the parameters of what a road movie can be. Shot in an environment of fear, hatred and suspicion in Europe, “The March of Hope” is a celebration of everything which makes us human, and a defiant protest in film to the xenophobia growing in modern Europe.