Portfolio activity: Movies that Matter

By Julia Vissers,

Dear HHP Students, On Monday, March 23, we attended the Shorts: The Present & A Lien program at the Movies That Matter festival in The Hague. We went as a group of five, which made it more intimate to reflect on the films together afterward.

The program featured two short films about how systems and borders affect everyday life. The Present shows a Palestinian father and daughter facing checkpoints in the West Bank, while A Lien follows a couple in the United States dealing with an unexpected immigration raid during a legal process.

After the screenings, there was a group discussion with other scholars on themes like freedom, safety, and the impact of systems on individuals. Overall, it was a brief but thought-provoking experience.