S1.E10 ∙ The Lotters

A travelogue through the wilds and beauty of Norway.

My objective is to inspire with stories of five 4th stage cancer survivors who have far exceeded their dire diagnosis and prognosis; This film is about cancer survivors who have lived exciting and fulfilling lives after a 4th stage diagnosis. I want this to inspire families and friends of cancer survivors and people without illness in their lives and see that they can change their lives also. I want to show how cancer is different today and becoming more of a manageable disease in our lifetime.

A group of 12 people meet at the Community Center of Besos (a neighborhood in Barcelona). All of them work at Femarec, a company devoted to, amongst other things, waste collection, treatment and recycling. Nearly 80 of its staff are mentally disabled people or suffering from mental illness. For the last 14 years, after work, these people meet to prepare a stage play, which is played every year by the end of November at Barcelona's Victoria Theater. Luckily they can count on the eager and helpful Gloria Rognoni, a former actress of Els Joglars theater company. An invaluable witness of their daily work routine, their connection with theater, their doubts, their illusions and, of course, how nervous they get on their day of glory.

Although the controversy surrounding same-sex families raising children has become more prevalent in recent years, laws and views on the topic are rapidly changing. Unbreakable Threads portrays a personal and intimate perspective of same-sex families raising children in a society that is not always accepting. This film is trying to raise awareness of the ever-changing families of today. The film also incorporates experts' views as well as high-profile interviews. The stories presented show hope and acceptance, courage and adversity.

Not Without You is an intimate and heartbreaking portrait of an elderly couple, Ger Lataster and Hermine van Hall, filmed by their son and daughter-in-law. The documentary depicts the last year that photographer Hermine and painter Ger lived together, after 65 years of marriage. Everything in life that Hermine and Ger had taken for granted is falling apart. Due to his deafness and her dementia, daily misunderstandings mount, leading to mutual bewilderment. But in gardening, and especially in art, they continue to find joy and solace. Ger tries to keep on painting, but his muse Hermine slowly loses track of things. The moment of farewell draws inevitably closer. After Hermine's death, a return to painting becomes a matter of survival for Ger.