A fixture of Crossing Europe’s program for the 22nd time this year, the program section Working Worlds and its four documentaries once again focus on real working conditions in present-day Europe. Titled Guides on the Path, the series in 2025 deals with people starting their adult or professional lives from a more difficult position than the majority of society – and with those who lend them professional support through care, assistance or education, respectively. At the same time, it also takes a look at European countries where this professional field is not to be taken for granted.
When starting one’s career or even adult life in the first place, every person is faced with a different amount of challenges. Some encounter no obstacles at all, while for others, the path to self-sufficiency and independence is no matter of course. In their case, the goal of eventually maybe even taking up a profession becomes a distant prospect. This year’s Working Worlds deals with people starting from a more difficult position than the majority of society – and with those who lend them professional support in order to take care of, assist or educate, to guide them on the path, who provide a substitute family and celebrate the small and major achievements with them.
In some countries, the framework conditions for said occupational profile are precarious or barely existent. The program also begins with such a void indicative of the social relevance that jobs in care, education, and social services possess.
AZ ÉLETED NÉLKÜLEM / YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ME portrays mothers doing everything in their power to enable their severely disabled children to have a good life. In Hungary, there is only a small number of professional institutions for support and care. The ones carrying the responsibility are generally the relatives and, therefore, the mothers. They fight for a change in this situation, bringing their cause before all available institutions in Budapest.
Others who have already arrived at the right place for them are the kids from IM PRINZIP FAMILIE / THE FAMILY APPROACH, for the moment, at least. Educators and a handful of boys live together almost picturesquely in a small living group in a rural area. Different kinds of reasons have made the parents incapable of looking after them. The youth welfare employees support them in their everyday lives and in taking their next steps.
Meanwhile, an integrative pre-vocational school in Berlin is where together all are working on making that one major step: diving into a career. This institution represents all but the last chance for the youths to achieve this. Moreover, they are struggling with various difficulties and sometimes give both themselves and their educators a hard time. But between classes, animal care and horticulture, the parties involved are not devoid of humor, either, when we get to hear: EIN OKTOPUS HAT DEN MOND ZERSTÖRT / AN OCTOPUS DESTROYED THE MOON.
At the final station in this year’s program, a different kind of excitement is in the air. 29-year-old Loxandra, nicknamed LOXY, and her parents are moving to Athens, which is where she is starting her contract at the National Theatre of Greece – as the first actress with Down syndrome. Nevertheless, she assumes no special status among the ensemble. The intense and diverse rehearsal life has to be coped with by all the theater’s actors together. Here, Loxy can feel like she has finally arrived.
Katharina Franck and Lina Dinkla
In some countries, the framework conditions for said occupational profile are precarious or barely existent. The program also begins with such a void indicative of the social relevance that jobs in care, education, and social services possess.
AZ ÉLETED NÉLKÜLEM / YOUR LIFE WITHOUT ME portrays mothers doing everything in their power to enable their severely disabled children to have a good life. In Hungary, there is only a small number of professional institutions for support and care. The ones carrying the responsibility are generally the relatives and, therefore, the mothers. They fight for a change in this situation, bringing their cause before all available institutions in Budapest.
Others who have already arrived at the right place for them are the kids from IM PRINZIP FAMILIE / THE FAMILY APPROACH, for the moment, at least. Educators and a handful of boys live together almost picturesquely in a small living group in a rural area. Different kinds of reasons have made the parents incapable of looking after them. The youth welfare employees support them in their everyday lives and in taking their next steps.
Meanwhile, an integrative pre-vocational school in Berlin is where together all are working on making that one major step: diving into a career. This institution represents all but the last chance for the youths to achieve this. Moreover, they are struggling with various difficulties and sometimes give both themselves and their educators a hard time. But between classes, animal care and horticulture, the parties involved are not devoid of humor, either, when we get to hear: EIN OKTOPUS HAT DEN MOND ZERSTÖRT / AN OCTOPUS DESTROYED THE MOON.
At the final station in this year’s program, a different kind of excitement is in the air. 29-year-old Loxandra, nicknamed LOXY, and her parents are moving to Athens, which is where she is starting her contract at the National Theatre of Greece – as the first actress with Down syndrome. Nevertheless, she assumes no special status among the ensemble. The intense and diverse rehearsal life has to be coped with by all the theater’s actors together. Here, Loxy can feel like she has finally arrived.
Katharina Franck and Lina Dinkla
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