Nowa Amerika (2016)

The German-polish border region along the river Oder has been a blood land for centuries. People were expelled, discriminated, or even killed, when the land was taken by different governments. Terrible wars left their traces in the families. Nowadays it is a relatively open border in the European Union, but still it exists in many minds. German artist Michael Kurzwelly, who spent years of his life in France and Poland, invented the state of Nowa Amerika in this region: he erased the border, gave new names to the villages and cities... But it is not only a mind game. About 300 confessing Nowa Americans take part in a network of refugee work, historical education and art projects. Filmmaker Kristof Kannegiesser travels through Nowa Amerika and discovers a Utopia which more and more becomes reality. How powerful can such a piece of art effect on the society?