Veronika Janatková

The cooperation of Central Asian countries such as Kyrgyzstan helps Russia resist Western economic sanctions. Due to the country’s strategic location, all Chinese goods bound for Central Asia and Russia must cross its borders, and it serves as a transshipment point for goods from countries with which Putin is not officially allowed to trade. Investigative journalist Ali Toktakunov, a long-time staff member of Radio Free Europe’s Kyrgyz section, helped to uncover the deeper implications.

A lighthouse keeper prepares his earthly funeral while trying to reconnect with his inner elf. Hulda and Trausti have shared a roof on the Icelandic coast for over seventy years. Her love of books is matched by his love of stones. When he tells her he wants to change his name to Elf she warns him that the family will reject him. Now, as his one hundredth birthday nears and Trausti senses the hand of death upon him, he is searching for an elf’s coffin…

A few years before the first manned flight to the moon, Pan Am began selling tickets there. 100,000 people joined the club of the first space travelers. Why did they want to leave Earth and what did they hope to find on the moon?

The vibration of machines echoes across the desert. Ever since Jordanian nomads settled in the spectacular landscape of Wadi Rum, they grew dependent on complex water infrastructure. The source is right below their feet, yet they struggle to meet basic needs. In the meantime, deep water extraction feeds private large-scale farms, animates visionary development and secures growing urban population. Bedouins, farmers and city dwellers: they all expect to have a fair share, but digging for “blue gold” unleashes environmental time-bomb. The story of power, exploitation and changing ecological circumstances in one of the most water-poor countries in the world.

“God Is Not Working On Sunday!” follows the life of Godeliève and Florida. Despite their divided histories, these women are struggling for a common goal: Breaking the silence, reconciliation, and political empowerment for women. We follow Godeliève and Florida organizing self-empowerment trainings for women to confront patriarchal structures; to the rural area, where the new generation of children born out of rape are redefining their identities, facing a life shoulder to shoulder with the murderers of their families, their fathers. And where more and more women decide to break the silence and speak out.