Society & Economy

The March for Hope : Grr... Europe!

How do we live in Europe? What do we really know about our ´fellow countrymen´? With its partners, Franco-German channel ARTE inaugurated an ambitious collection of twenty documentaries which explore the lives of various inhabitants of the European Union. Be they squatters, ministers, farmers or holidaymakers, they were followed by young film-makers from their country equipped only with a basic digital camera. These are entertaining portraits which both arouse our curiosity and encourage reflection, sometimes with a provocative and ironic tone.

In France, going out into the streets to demonstrate is a tradition. Thierry Temine is one of the founders of a lobby for the unemployed. In March, he and his comrades joined a march from Brussels to Cologne, swelling the ranks of the other demonstrators. This film charts their progress as they march on for kilometer after kilometer, but also by train or bus, traveling through Europe to protest in the name of the EU´s forgotten marginals. 30,000 people converged on Cologne; anti-NATO militants, Italian, Danish, French and German communists, Africans demanding a work permit, Kurds who came in support of their imprisoned leader, an Indian rural movement, and countless other pressure groups. For Thierry and his friends, the road to their destination was rich in twists and turns.