Strange Homeland

Thirty years ago, the old town of Most disappeared from the face of the earth. It had to make way for lignite mining and it was moved elsewhere. Around 150 communities were similarly displaced in north Bohemia. This is not something unusual. 300 towns and villages met with the same fate in neighbouring Germany. Documentary–maker Jens Schanze, who won the best director award at One World two years ago, records one of these resettlements in his own distinctive poetic style. He makes two visits several years apart to the Rhineland village of Otzenrath. On the first occasion, it is still an old community and its inhabitants are preparing to leave their homes and farms. The second time, it is now a new, more modern but seemingly colder village. Interviews with the local people are imbued with nostalgia and bitterness but also with enthusiasm and a determination to establish as warm a relationship as possible with their new home.