Films by Mirjam Leuze

Germany, Canada 2019, 101 min
by Mirjam Leuze

A remote island in the Pacific, populated by wolves, ravens and two whale researchers. A small town with the promise of a second industrial boom. A First Nation village, torn between the wish to protect its territory and the pressure to cope with big investors. How are the people in the Canadian Great Bear Rainforest handling the arrival of the LNG industry? And what voice do whales have in the debate, when just the sound of tanker engines might be enough to drive them away? THE WHALE AND THE RAVEN is a story of humans and non-humans, united bya deep sea, seperated by conflicting plans for its future.with: Janie Wray, Hermann Meuter, Helen Clifton, Patricia Lange, Roy Henry Vickers, La'goot Spencer Greening, Nicole Robinson, Archie Dundas, Marven Robinson, Philip Germuth, Katie WelshGitga'at Advisory Committee: Chris Bolton, La'goot Spencer Greening, Kyle Clifton

Germany 2014, 92 min
by Mirjam Leuze

When ERKINGUL and her friends meet for tea they talk about toxic cyanide, about bride kidnapping and where to buy the fattest sheep. The women of the NGO KAREK are mothers and wives but first and foremost they are activists, who challenge after a toxic spill in their village not only the nearby goldmine but also the Kyrgyz government. What begins in 2005 as a protest against the mine gradually expands for the women into political resistance. On April 7, 2010 revolution breaks out in Kyrgyzstan. ERKINGUL, the boss oft he group, makes a leap into the Kyrgyz parliament and continues her struggle against the gold mine now as a politician. Her friends stay back in the village. SAKISH slogs through in the goat wooltrade, TAMARA is now responsible for the management of the NGO and ASEL leaves for Siberia in order to earn money. Based on the story of ERKINGUL and her fellow activists, the film shows how these women take a stand for themselves and their way of life.