Bata-Ville (We Are Not Afraid of the Future)

Bata-Ville (We Are Not Afraid of the Future), „ sad film about hope“, is the first feature-length work by artists Nina Pope and Karen Guthrie. It follows a coach trip to Zlín in the Czech Republic. The passengers are from East Tilbury in Essex and Maryport in Cumbria, where the Czech shoe entrepreneur Tomas Bata had created factories and housing. The coach party many of them former employees, travel to Bata's home, to reflect on his history, and their past and future lives in the light of recent regeneration initiatives in their home towns.

The film is a hybrid of feature and documentary that acts both as travelogue and art work. It explores personal and historic realities to uncover the way people, places and ideas converge at certain times and around certain ideals.

The partner of the screening is British Council, screening within NORTHERN IRISH FILM SHOWCASE in cinema AERO