Society & Economy

Summer holiday

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.

By following various people employed in the tourism industry throughout the European Union, the characteristics of holidaymakers become apparent. For example, did you know that in Greece there are 5,000 bars named ´Zorba´, that one Finnish person in ten goes on holiday to Spain, or that every year, tourists buy 100 kilograms of elk-shaped souvenirs in Sweden?