The documentary series 'Europa Transit' participates in the San Sebastián Film and Human Rights Festival

Produced by Media 3.14 and K2000 (Mediapro), the ten-part series is dedicated to European cities that have suffered or are suffering human rights violations.

One of the latest productions from the Mediapro group will have a prominent participation in the XIV San Sebastián Film and Human Rights Festival, which opens this week in the capital of San Sebastián. The contest will host the presentation of two documentaries from Europa Transit, which combine the story from a journalistic point of view with an approach to the cultural legacy of the conflict.

Produced by Media 3.14 and K2000, this series is an initiative of Donostia/San Sebastián European Capital of Culture 2016 (DSS2016). Each of its ten chapters addresses a specific human rights issue in a different city that has been or is witnessing conflict. In this way, the series brings us closer to Ceuta, Belfast (Northern Ireland), Dresden (Germany), Wroclaw (Poland), Kaliningrad (Russia), Sarajevo (Bosnia), Pristina (Kosovo), Plodviv (Bulgaria), Istanbul (Turkey) and Pafos (Cyprus). Currently, it is broadcast on the Euskal Telebista channels: ETB1 (in Basque) and ETB2 (in Spanish).

Ceuta, border messages It will be presented today, April 14, one day before the official opening of the event, within the cycle of cultural centers. In Dialogue It will premiere on April 22 in the official section, out of competition, with a subsequent discussion with some of its protagonists. In addition, its director Xuban Intxausti will also participate in the “Borders, refuge and migration” event on April 15 together with filmmakers and social activists.

The first documentary in the series addresses the difficulties encountered by sub-Saharan immigrants who undertake a journey of thousands of kilometers to seek a better future in Europe.

This chapter narrates the process of creating an exhibition by photojournalist Sergi Cámara, who has been working on the southern border of Europe for more than 10 years. On the walls of the Temporary Immigrant Stay Center (CETI) in Ceuta, he exhibits portraits of people he met and photographed a few years ago, when they jumped over the fence and who he has found again where they are today. These people send a message to those who are now in the CETI, warning them of the obstacles that still await them before they can stabilize their situation in Europe.

In Dialogue

The peace process in Northern Ireland is the thematic focus of the documentary that will premiere at the festival. Philosopher Sira Abenoza believes that most conflicts in society are due to a lack of dialogue. After having put his method of Socratic dialogue into practice in Spain and Central America, he travels to Northern Ireland to gather at a table former members and sympathizers of the IRA, former members and sympathizers of unionist paramilitary groups, a former British soldier and a former police officer. Together they embark on a dialogue exercise that, in the words of its own protagonists, “is a path towards the unknown” and at the same time “is the only way to build peace.”

After the screening, a discussion will be held with the presence of its director Xuban Intxausti; Eibhlin Glenholmes, at the time the republican figure most wanted by the police and who has participated in different initiatives for reconciliation in his country; former British Army soldier Lee Lavin; and the philosopher Sira Abenoza.

Social commitment

Productions linked to social commitment occupy a prominent place within the Mediapro group's activities, both in the television and film fields. On television, one of his latest documentaries is Philosophy behind bars, also with the participation of the philosopher Sira Abenoza, which reflects the dialogue against prejudice between two very different worlds: inmates of a prison and law students from a private center. In cinema, Mediapro has made such emblematic films as Salvador (Puig Antich), Mondays in the sun o Camino and, more recently, A perfect day by Fernando León de Aranoa and The mother-of-pearl button by Patricio Guzmán.