Wednesday
21. January 2026 – kleiner Hörsaal HS 1010 (Keksdose)
Program
On Wednesday, all films will have a special focus on the theme of “Ecologies and Futures.”
Film 1 – Minding Sands
Laura van Erp, Sierra Leone
Netherlands, 2024 (30 min.)
In Sierra Leone, sand is an important material not only for the state, but also for the inhabitants. As an indispensable raw material for urban development, it creates numerous jobs in the sand mines. At the same time, the mining of the beaches conflicts with the state’s efforts to attract tourists with these very beaches. The film accompanies people who work in the mines, provides insights into their everyday lives, and lets them talk about the challenges and opportunities of their work.
Laura van Erp is a Dutch filmmaker and anthropologist who completed her master’s degree in visual anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. Minding Sands was her debut film, shot on the beaches of Sierra Leone, where she also lived and worked. Van Erp is concerned with how closely environmental and social issues are intertwined. With her films, she attempts to make the complex reality of the Anthropocene tangible. With Minding Sands, she won the “Best Student Film Award” at the International Festival of Ethnological Film in Belgrade in 2024.
Film 2 – Meeting Point Eliá
Hannah Hertzberg, Nimal Bourloud & Lienke Roos
Greece, 2025, (9 min.)
Ancient yet vibrant, rooted in the Agii Anargyri neighborhood north of the city center, stands Athens’ oldest olive tree – deeply anchored in memory, history, and place. The film follows the lines and surfaces of the tree as well as its everyday relationships with non-human inhabitants, neighbors, and passersby.
Film 3 – Against Forgetting
Azad Azizyan
Kurdistan/United States, 2024 (22 min.)
The film tells the story of four participants in Diyarbakır, a city in northern Kurdistan that is in the midst of political upheaval. In September 2016, the Turkish president appointed trustees there to replace the elected mayors of pro-Kurdish communities, thereby disempowering local self-government. Despite this situation, the participants are committed to keeping Kurdish culture alive through land, body, food, and music. In the course of their narratives, it becomes clear how they cope with the adversities of state repression and cultural perseverance in their everyday lives.
Film 4 – Grave Diggers for Hire
Nguyen Anh
Vietnam, 2025 (33 min.)
Grave Diggers for Hire follows Binh and Ngoc, two men who earn their living by tending graves and performing the Bốc Mộ ritual—a traditional Vietnamese custom in which human remains are exhumed, cleaned, and reburied. Together with their sons, they treat the deceased with care and humor, maintaining a fading connection between the living and their ancestors. As cremations become more common in Vietnam, this practice is slowly disappearing.
The film offers a quiet, observational perspective on a fragile tradition shaped by faith, biology, and cultural change, contributing to visual anthropology by examining ritual and everyday life with equal precision.
Film 5 – Angry Spirits
Iris Pakulla
Mongolia, 2024 (01:34 min.)
The film Angry Spirits follows Ainur, a young dancer from Ulaanbaatar who feels she is being pursued by dark forces. On the advice of shamans, she travels back to the Gobi Desert to make contact with the spirits of nature and the ancestors of her tribe. There she is confronted with the consequences of environmental destruction caused by mining and industrialization. The film mixes documentary scenes with staged dream sequences and shows how Ainur deals with her inner conflicts and seeks healing. At the same time, it becomes clear how closely people’s lives are connected to nature and their traditions.
