Film "I am Europe" (working title)

To follow the journey of the documentary team, click here.

In 2010, the Evens Foundation started with the creation of a European documentary. With this film (of around 50 minutes), to be released in 2011, we seek to call attention to 'Europe as a space of encounter', a space where European citizens can get closer to each other and do not perceive 'the other' as a threat.

Over recent months, filmmaker Jef Vingerhoedt has gathered, in various European cities, personal stories and impressions that illustrate this Europe of encounter and unity within diversity. Large European cities and their inhabitants can provide insights into the soul of Europe. Living together in an urban context is a challenge, just as is living together in a shared Europe. Cities are also the obvious crossroads of the past, the present and the future. In short, cities are places containing tensions and conflicts that invite or even force us to reflect on the challenges they present.

To reveal the various faces of Europe and, through them, the face of Europe, we chose six cities (Almería, Malmö, Timisoara, Warsaw, Berlin, Antwerp) based on several criteria, but the essence is to confirm these cities as European cities, thus reinforcing the idea of a European space and revealing Europe's unity within diversity. In the search for stories, the filmmaker is guided by what have been defined as 'European values.' We selected six values mentioned in the Treaty on European Union: democracy, human rights, freedom, equality, the rule of law, and solidarity.

Through gathering stories and impressions, we hope to discover and illustrate, in a concrete and vivid way, how Europeans in all their diversity are ultimately the same - to show that we are not as different as it might seem at first sight.

For any further information, please contact the Evens Foundation staff.