Monika Grassl

The Green Deal, Europe’s new growth strategy, is Brussels' recipe to save the planet from climate collapse. With electric cars and renewables, the EU believes it can promote economic growth while protecting the planet. Is that possible? Green technologies require many critical metals that are supplied mainly by China. To reduce dependencies, politicians are in favor of reopening “green” mines in Europe. But people living in the areas are worried that their lives will be sacrificed for the energy transition. This is the case of Hector, a Spanish farmer, and Matti and Karin Niia, two Swedish reindeer herders. They are determined to fight against these projects that threaten their way of life. While the industry is lobbying for the adoption of an EU law on critical raw materials to facilitate the opening of new mines, Diego, from an environmental NGO, travels across Europe to investigate whether mining can ever be truly sustainable.

An airstrip, a hangar and a classroom somewhere in rural Ghana: This is the place where 18-year-old Lydia and 20-year-old Esther hope to achieve their dream: learning how to fly. They have joined the first aviation school for girls in West Africa. There, an ambitious Englishman wants to train young women from rural areas to become pilots. Yet, during training and everyday life at the Aviation Academy Western ideals collide with African values, and the girls gradually realize, that their dream of flying comes at a price.