Suche nach Glücksland. Die Geschichten des Jurij Brězan

Imagery of village life and Lusatian landscapes that depict roadside crucifixes and carts, as well as the local power station and surface mining, interwoven by the author's stories, which encompass a century of local history: Sorbian resistance to National Socialism, and then the conscious decision in favour of one country. For a country and its language. The continued tensions with Germany and the sense of belonging to two cultures. How does a minority writer position himself in the national, and international, literary scene? What prospects does a literature written in a minority language possess? How is one to counter the depletion of this people's living space?

An in-depth portrait that has lost none of its topicality. At the time the complex of issues associated with the Sorbs was such a sensitive issue that permission to screen the film was only granted a year after the film was released, and only then due to the personal intervention of Brězan himself. GL