On the border

Borders have been a hot topic lately; especially in geopolitical terms, considering the increasingly frightening reality that surrounds us. The devastating war in Ukraine, the brutal armed conflict in Israel, the global refugee crisis, and accelerating climate change — these are events that the whole world is living with today, trying to make sense of the underlying factors that brought them about. The status quo has been shaken up and borders have been crossed in many different ways. We’re left with fear and anxiety about what might happen next.

In this year’s themed section of the Mastercard OFF CAMERA festival, we will attempt to reflect on these phenomena. On a macro scale, we will look at borders in a political or religious sense and in the context of increasing human interference in the environment. From a more personal perspective, it’s often the case that escalating tensions are generated by crossing someone else’s moral or cultural boundaries, as well as the fact that we are unable to deal with the limitations we create in our own minds. It generates a gridlock from which it’s difficult to break free.

Although the first step is always the hardest, taking it gives hope for a better future, both individually and globally.