A Handful of Soil - Garść Ziemi

A young Polish immigrant returns to the country of his birth after his father’s death.  Retracing his family’s past he discovers how the fight for freedom in Poland would change their lives forever.  This touching short film was directed by Piotr Skowronski and stars Levan Sonego and Sebastian Naskrent. English subtitles above, Polish ones below.  If you don’t speak both languages you will need one or the other.

Origin

This didn’t make it online in time for the recent St Patrick’s Day celebrations (which would have been the ideal date to share this with you) but here it is nonetheless.  Origin tells the (visually metaphorical) tale of a young man, who due to Ireland’s straightened circumstances, has decided to leave the country in search of pastures new.  Yet when he realizes at the airport that his passport is still in his flat the dash back to retrieve it stirs an ancient spirit within him.

Created under the marvelous Short Shorts scheme funded by the Irish Film Board, Origin was scripted by Matthew Darragh and James Stacey, with an original score by Rónán Ó Snodaigh of Kíla. It was directed by James Stacey and produced by Sean Smith of Souljacker.

What is Migration?

Immigration is a thorny subject pretty much everywhere in the developed world. Everyone has an opinion about it and sometimes normally level headed people can get so fired up about the topic of migration and immigration that they seem to become another person entirely! It has to be said, that the subject does have enormous and far-reaching consequences.

Fear of migration and immigration has helped far right wing political parties gain popularity and moderate governments have changed policies to fit in with this – both Europe and the United States have an increasingly isolationist policy towards migrants.

Yet what exactly is migration? What causes migration – and what precisely are the problems (not to mention the benefits) of migration and immigration? This fascinating animated video in the WissensWerte series deals with this hot topic and offers a measured and pragmatic definition and explanation.