Films by Susan Gluth

Germany 2018, 75 min
by Susan Gluth

They come to die, but leave it having lived! In Sun City, a retirement community in the Arizona desert, a compelling cast of senior citizens share their many truths about the process of aging, their excitement, fear, joy and pain. Shimmering like a verdant mirage, the custom-built municipality offers residents a unique design for living but they are all facing the same reality: time is running out. How do you deal with daily life and still manage to enjoy it when death is just around the corner? With attitude! A light-hearted reminder that being happy is a decision we can take.

Germany 2016, 87 min
by Susan Gluth

Urmila’s dream is to end child slavery in Nepal. The human rights activist was sold by her parentswhen she was 6 years old. 12 years later she became free. The film portraits her quest for justice andher personal fight against the inner demons of her own past. First she must break through the controlof those around her to begin to make her own life choices."In Nepal, Kamalari is a custom of selling girls, who are forced to slave labor and do not have access to education. One of them was Urmila, who, having regained her freedom after 12 years, decided to devote herself to saving other children. The film allows you to get to know Urmila very closely. The director, with a great sense of intuition and consistency, introduces us into the world of Urmila’s inner struggles, helps us to understand her extraordinary determination, but also the loneliness of a person who has been deprived of childhood." (The Prize of the Mayor of Zakopane/Poland for the film which best pictures human, cultural and artistic aspects of mountain population)"We have chosen Urmila – My Memory is My Power as this year’s Main Competition First Prize because of its brilliantly executed and clearly structured documentary journey through the eyes of one young woman’s personal, brave and tireless fight for justice.For what is a very poignant, very real and distressing subject matter about an extremely remarkable young woman and her tireless efforts to save young female children from the fate that she suffered herself in Nepal society, the documentary is executed clearly in its facts through rhythmic editing and pacing but what makes it unique is not just for being beautifully shot, but also for the original, and at times almost lyrical way that it avoids being drawn into sentimentality and judgement so therefore consistently remaining impartial to the problems thereby letting the audience draw their own interpretations and conclusions from what they see and hear“ (First Prize at KIMFF / Kathmandu / Nepal)

Germany 2008, 75 min
by Ina Borrmann

"Recollection is the only paradise from which we cannot be turned out." Jean Paul When I was 16 and the holidays were just beginning, something without comparison happened to me. MY FIRST LOVE. This love was so great, for I had never experienced anything comparable before. It was unique and existed just for its own sake. I went back to the places of my memory. I called him. His voices sounded so young on the phone. I wanted to find out what remained and suddenly there he stood in font of me as a impersonator of Westernhagen. The old city pool, where he first kissed me, has been turned into a water park with slides and whirlpools. What used to be youth centers are now shopping centers, the green fields are now home to drug stores and gas stations. Is the past traceable at all?

Germany 2008, 85 min
by Susan Gluth

3 women are slaving away in a laundry in Hamburg which has seen better days. Their wages are low and the consequences of globalization make the viewer doubt whether things are likely to improve much in the immediate future. And yet they still cope with their arduous everyday existence with dignity: the silent heroines of hope who even manage to find a quantum of happiness from time to time. Contact: Susan Gluth, Milcherstr. 2, 22607 Hamburg, Germany, tel.: 49 (0) 177 7171014, post@susangluth.de www.soapandwater.de