but agencies say they're still not being allowed to reach people they know are in need and that the situation there is critical. last week and behind the scenes of a new film being produced in cameroon the producers say peace is the message. hello i'm kristie wonder it's good to have your company international aid agencies all sounding the alarm over the situation in the northern ethiopian region off to cry they were allowed to deliver some supplies at the start of the week but they say they need full humanitarian access to the region if they are to save lives the fear is that millions of people into did not have enough to eat or drink and that the area is on the brink of a humanitarian disaster following the recent conflict there not since the thousands

have fled the hostilities into gride as we've reported many of them are now in sudan and they are also in dire need. the owner of the refugee camp in sudan one of several camps scattered along sudan's border to ethiopia the feeling out with people fleeing the conflict in the neighboring to region. and. we were in the house have a refugee camp and then we came here we've been here for a week there aren't enough tents or enough water and we're exposed to the sun most of the time. the u.n. says aid groups are struggling to care for the influx of refugees the remoteness of the camps is also a problem. i want to warn in the 1st 2 weeks they took care of us but after that no one came again a truck comes with food twice a day but other than that there's nothing that i haven't even registered as yet.

had some of. the refugees torn between the threat of violence into grime and the grim reality of the camp. thanks be to god i'm with my daughters here who take care of me there's nothing here to make me happy as a refugee and this isn't a life at all but thanks to the lord at least i'm here with my daughters. refugees continue to pour into the camps in sudan despite ethiopia's prime minister ahmed declaring victory in 2 grime more than 2 weeks ago and those at the camp hope they can soon return. meanwhile in 2 grind 80 starting to trickle in the 1st trucks arrive carrying bread cross medical supplies earlier this week you would still order no doubt that. the odds are ready for us but ok.

now did most of them go outward still. 4 days and. every kid. but millions into grime remain out of reach of aid as the conflict leaves hunger in its wake. of the for more i'm now joined by the ethiopian american author and. her new novel the shadow king was shortlisted for the booker prize the books about cities invasion of ethiopia in 1935 welcome to news africa i do want to begin by asking me about the current conflicts in your country of the u.n. said that the world is watching the i'm folding off a full scale humanitarian crisis how does that make you feel when. you know this is spend really it's a distressing. it's been a distressing event to watch this from

a far. to know that. there are entire groups of people that are being left destitute that people's hopes and dreams for their families are being destroyed and people themselves are dying. it's been a horrible month. and you know the fact that the world is watching. it feels like this is also a part of this war a part of everything that has been happening in 2020 year is nation versus nation your latest novel the shadow king said it's more about your using the fiction to tell the story of how ethiopians for the italians during the invasion. you know i have i was interested in looking at what war can tell us about

human beings the human condition what war can reveal about our fears our love our ambitions our dreams the war that took place in 1935 when italy invaded ironically italy invaded and around the region that is being that is at in conflict today's so i have been looking at what's happening in 2020 and thinking very much about the way the war was fought on the same grounds in 1935. now the main protagonist in the shadow king is a woman the other main characters are also women why was this important for you to do i want to think about the fact that when we speak about war and when we speak of conflict we imagine men we imagine soldiers as men and yet women and girls are directly affected by war and in ethiopia in 1935 they

understood that and they went to the front lines in order to have their own say in the way that their country and their future went and i wanted to portray that because we don't talk enough about the active role of women and in in war. the books to release it is city early next year tell us why you're particularly looking forward to that. well. i've done so much research in italy it's this this history is the italian history but it's also history that most of italy either doesn't know about or feels very uncomfortable in addressing and i welcome the conversations that will happen there and i am eager to join the dialogue that has been started by other italians already this is a history that was supposed to be forgotten. violence of that invasion in 1985 is

a strong theme in the mill in the novel do you think that ethiopia has healed from that do you think it will heal from the conflict that's currently raging ethiopia has not healed from 1935 ethiopia had not had a chance to talk about that history italy has never apologized for the human crimes against humanity that they acted on with europeans at that time in 1935 there was a war fought in ethiopia in 1974 there was a revolution that came some of those people who live in 35 had to contend with revolution in 74974 to 2000 you know to 2020 people have those memories too so what we're seeing is a layering of memory and pain and trauma and violence and we haven't dealt with that yet that's many just ethiopian american writer and author of the shadow king thank you. thank you. staying with ethiopia for

a moment to gripe is also the focus of the conflict zone this week we just want to show you what the country's minister of democratisation told us they were killed when she put it to him that the war was not over. mr minister of the international crisis group says the following that this conflict runs the risk of ripping the state asunder the t.p.o. life as a valley into fight on there are reports of clashes continuing on the ground experts say we're seeing the beginning of a drawn out insurgency and yet your government is declaring victory you're saying that you have the situation under control after the offensive on the kelly your prime minister even said that that no citizen was killed is in your declaration of victory premature amid all of those assessments look. the reports will graham

we know what's happening out there we. know there's an. end up him some pretty much. it war is over but you can see more of that interview here on at 930 u.t.c. or watch our b.w. dot com forward slash conflict zone. now the women you see behind me are part of a film crew in cameroon that happens to be the country's only all female production crew the women of gold boss productions have taken their place in the country's male dominated film industry their latest project is a demand for peace in cameroon which is being torn apart by conflict and crisis. plays a young reports from the one day. we one piece a group of all female female has. issues in

a unique film calling for peace. they want to see an end to the separatists conflict region of the country's western regions. the team is that by to. be making films for nearly 5 years. we've been through the very very. the 400. 2020 has been on the specially bloody year in the english speaking regions of cameroon this. piece who. the war in functions. the protagonist in the film. on the streets.

just i'm interested in taking part in this project. the women with. the project is promoting peace in our country. with the. peace still seems far off. in the north and just militias in the west. people have been killed in the conflict which began in 2016. divisions have intensified in the country. is not easy. to create. some. this is very. you have to.

read. the young women the one. big. project she was a kid she didn't piece of video people from different backgrounds in florida volunteered to be part of it maybe the reason i. bring renewed hope. now that's a phone i certainly would love to watch that is it for now be sure to check out our other stories on the d.w. dot com forward slash africa we're also on facebook and on twitter where you can send us your views and comments about the content we have and the content we should the i want twitter eduardo saverin i'll see you next time i buy. children to come to. one giant problem and move nearer to ignore the move to see a preview. divided nation need to be changed into the any fuel economy you need.

how will climate change affect us and our children. were w dot com slash water. used to it as per the nationalist groups who could or. should go to vote. in support. of a. degree of. how does a virus spread. why do we panic and when we'll. just 3 of the topics covered and the weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the coronavirus or any other science topic you should

really check out our podcast you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us and. science. greetings and welcome from the german capital where the city signature berlin international film festival is set to probably go virtual for 2021 we'll find out more and also in the pipeline. controversial swiss director mueller tackles the injustices all of the modern world with a film that asks the question if jesus were alive today what would he preach. and german sculptor software uses trees for his visual ruminations on the veins of temporality transformation and the transience of life and art.

speculation was rife but now it's official berlin's international film festival one of europe's big 3 alongside the venice and cannes film festival will be quite different next year the belly nollywood which just managed to squeeze in its 2020 addition last february just prior to the 1st corona lockdown had been hoping to hold an in person event in february as planned but now the new lockdown measures here in germany have forced them to come up with a plan b. for its 71st edition. so to get the lowdown on just what that plan b. will look like our film experts got roxboro joins me from bon hello scott glad to see you there's been a lot of speculation over how the belly nala will handle the festival next year what can you tell us about the plans for 2021. yeah. there are still

some details to have be officially announced by the badly nala but i think we can give the sort of the general outline of what looks like is going to happen next year basically sort of 2 main parts of the festival the main competition which is where the the big films that premier at the berlin festival and the film market which is where the films are new films are being bought and sold by people in the film industry those will happen but they're going to go online only and they're probably going to happen a bit later so instead of late february as was planned they're going to go into early march. otherwise what's going to look what's going to happen with the belly now is they're going to move the rest of the festival in a sort of stripped down version to the summer and have a in person festival but much much later in the early summer when hopefully the worst of the pandemic will be behind us and people actually be able to go back into the theatres again ok now how just briefly how do you think this will affect the

film industry. the industry itself i don't think will mind at all they've gotten used to doing things virtually there was a film marketing cam it was all virtual there is one last month in los angeles that was all virtual the film industry itself doesn't really have a problem with this they got the custom to it and i think they've adjusted very well to doing things only online doing zoo meetings like like the rest of us and obviously a lot less travel as a result now it's a bit of a late reckoning for berlin scott as the largest public festival in the world you were in cannes and in venice in their very reduced versions with those strict safety measures in place how do you see the future of the film festival circuit itself in the belly nala in particular. yeah bullen is up against a real challenge here because as you said they were lucky earlier this year to come in just before the 1st lockdown in europe berlin lives from its audience its the world's largest public film festival and having

a sort of stripped down version like happened in cannes or like when it happened in venice really isn't the same thing it's only a sort of a temporary fix i i can't see. moving on permanently it would change the festival entirely and change the spirit of the film so i can only see next year is being a temporary fix and everyone is hoping that when the pandemic is over things will go back to normal and will have full theatres in berlin and that we can get back into the cinemas thanks very much scott ross perot in bonn for that update and stay safe there scott. and staying with film another person taking covert restrictions very seriously is hollywood star tom cruise who blasted workers for breaking distancing rules on the set of the mission impossible 7 currently filming around cruz. all his efforts to keep the filming going during the pandemic could be at risk using multiple exclusive and threatening to fire anyone who put other people's

jobs on the line. well he's been called the world's most controversial film and theatre director a man to challenge any taboo and when you know how was invited to italy's european capital of culture mattera in 2019 to stage a production he ran with it in the place where a pair me and mel gibson made their own milestone films on the passion of christ he wondered whose cause would jesus take on in the 21st century the new gospel is a hybrid film project that seeks some answers. to. the new gospel present jesus as a modern day migrant played by even. in real life suddenly moved from cameroon to italy as a student but i did a picking tomatoes organize

a strike that drew international attention to the exploitation of farm workers for director mido how the perfect man to play jesus. jesus for me jesus had to have more than just acting skills i wanted to bring the bible to life in this way with these contradictions that's how i decided on even a black jesus from cameroon an activist who advocates for farm laborers. together we made a movie that's both about jesus and a kind of modern jesus tale that's his campaign against exploitation against the mafia. for years hundreds of thousands of migrants have been systematically exploited on italian farms recruited from refugee camps as illegal harvest workers for pitiful pay the mafia takes

a cut. from the film you've also knew you were to. burns to the farms and finds his disciples in the fight for fair work conditions. filmed in the region around the team began a real life campaign called the revolt for dignity that organized real protests. mimico. did not because they did their thing nothing. to. revolt for dignity is a kind of umbrella organization that we founded together with. together it's about 30 organizations that fight to protect refugees farm workers and sex workers against the mafia and big companies. and try to give them the dignified living and working conditions. but already they've created affordable housing

fair trade production and sell for and distribution businesses for which is still campaigning. the film is a careful mix of reality and professional actors the new gospel is not a history film or a faithful adaptation of the bible but a tale for our times with parallels to the life of jesus is this theme of this film that's also the subject of our film it's not by chance that jesus gets crucified he doesn't end up with a big winner what's crucial is how we transform his weakness through solidarity that's what our movie's about the power of solidarity. brings the bible into the 21st century. topical highly political. humanity and just world. very moving work there from you know how and speaking of humanity it's the intersection of the natural and

the manmade worlds that are. german artist. and in these uncertain times to say the least a look at his often quirky musings on the theme of transience is somehow for i declare relevant. a tree changing colors with the seasons that's what it looks like but there's more than meets the eye it's also a sculpture. this is actually true when impulse the very archetype of a tree and narrow leave ash when the leaves fell i collected them and painted them green again then i reattached them to the tree with cable ties. and think it's basically it's about stopping the passage of time about bypassing audit that's why it's called anti autumn and helps to maintain compares to all the god he hopes. trees as a symbol of impermanence

a motif me as i was taught for keeps returning to 8 years ago he installed these spinning trees in a berlin museum over time the leaves slowly ground to dust. through outside as tough as career the forests of his childhood in southern germany have stayed with him that's where he made some of his 1st artworks. defeated by puts his work is called divide ports or forests sweep i made it in the forest behind my father's farm. i grew up in the countryside so for me nature and the forest are something very familiar and important. it's even more important to me the longer i live in the city. a tree as a rocket. a street light as a shooting star. is tough as artistic happenings have

a certain fleeting humor to. the report says familiar objects here truck tires tied in knots become floating clouds . this isn't this is. this here is a model for the cloud sculpture i'm going to cast in bronze and. it's basically to motorcycle or moped tires now that they're put together they're a sculpture to the northeast a kind of cloud good stands for lightness but also for gravity and avoid. this. as i was taught for and his assistants have kept producing work throughout the pandemic even as exhibition after exhibition has been cancelled. the major theme of his work remains impermanence.

and will finish off with a resounding happy birthday beethoven germany's most famous composer was baptized 250 years ago on thursday the tributes have of course been global but this particular one from wednesday night in his birthplace bon merits a list and so with that choose from us here in berlin stay safe. by. the big.

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draws to a close politicians everywhere are struggling to bring the pandemic under control but so are slipping behind our citizens paying for governments mistakes that's our topic i'm to the point at the bottom to the point the that's the been through the t w. o mole. surely the risk meter just shows numbers but fred shows. the mental. block. of the smart ways to get where you're going to. read.

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play. play. play. this is g.w. news long ago from berlin he admitted to letting down his guard. now he has the virus president emanuel has tested positive for covert 19. isolating but there are concerns about all those he had contact with recently including new words european leaders will have the latest on the tracking and tracing also coming up yet another new coronavirus record here in germany the number of daily infections has topped 30000 for the 1st time we'll take you to a hot.