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| - From the persecution of homosexuals in Chechnya to pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, movies at this year's Berlin film festival portray flight and resistance in the face of political oppression across the globe. With films depicting torture, escape and political protest in Russia, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Hong Kong, the Berlinale lives up to its reputation as one of the more politically engaged events on the film festival calendar. "In times where the screen dictates our social life, demonstrating is a powerful way to express discontent," Brazilian-Algerian director Karim Ainouz told AFP. "It is a social enterprise which demands contact, sweat, presence and all those things that make us human." Ainouz' film "Nardjes A." depicts a day in the life of its eponymous protagonist, a militant from the "Hirak" protest movement which has shaken Algeria in the last year and forced ailing president Abdelaziz Bouteflika from power. Such direct confrontation with the state is also depicted in "Comrades", a short film by Hong Kong director Kanas Liu. From the heart of protests which for months have hit the semi-autonomous city's streets to decry Beijing's growing influence, the 33-year-old director captures the fierce solidarity among members of the movement. "Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our time!" the demonstrators chant, armed with only dust masks and umbrellas as they face up to squads of riot police. Many have paid a high price, with 7,000 people arrested since the movement began last summer. In "Welcome to Chechnya", by contrast, American director David France presents flight as the only viable option in the face of potentially bloody acts of repression. France, an Oscar winner for his 2013 documentary "How to Survive a Plague", bluntly tackles the brutal punishments inflicted on homosexuals in Chechnya, which range from electrocution to public beatings. The Russian region tightly controlled by strongman Ramzan Kadyrov has led "a government-led, brutal campaign" against the LGBT community since 2017, France said. "It is the first time since Hitler that members of the LGBT community are being rounded up for extermination," he said. France's documentary traces attempts by a Moscow-based LGBT association to exfiltrate Chechen homosexuals. After being hidden in secret refuges, more than 150 people have been able to apply for political asylum abroad in this way. Yet in the absence of international solidarity, some are left to rely only on their own courage. They include Muna, a Saudi Arabian who secretly filmed her escape from the country using her mobile phone -- sometimes from inside her niqab. "Saudi Runaway" showcases the unprecedented images of the internal struggle of women who are victims of one of the most repressive patriarchal societies in the world. "Did Allah really want us women to live like second degree humans who should have no opinion?" asks the courageous 26-year-old, who is prevented by her father from leaving the house, going shopping or learning to drive, despite recent relaxations from the regime. Not wanting to accept an arranged marriage and pre-ordained destiny, she conspires to escape on her honeymoon trip to the United Arab Emirates. In Nader Saeivar's "The Alien", meanwhile, the sclerosis and repression of Iranian society pushes Bakhtiar, a Kurdish teacher, to a symbolic flight, as he ceases to fight against everyday injustices. "In a society where it is impossible to fight, flight represents the only solution," Saievar tells AFP. "It's like Sisyphus! What happens if he decides one day not to roll the stone up the mountain. Standing and doing nothing is the only way of fighting!" dac-kih/mfp/txw
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