Jan van den Berg
2021Silent Snow
Jan van den Berg
Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann
Silent Snow follows a young Greenlandic woman (Pipaluk Knudsen-Ostermann) on her journey all around the world to find the local causes of the contamination that is quietly poisoning her people. In three different continents she meets the people behind the sources of pollution and discovers the heartbreaking dilemmas that lie at the heart of it. For example in Africa, where some people are looking for alternatives for DDT, however its grey poisonous clouds are a cheap way of saving millions of lives in malaria prevention. The disastrous health issues that result on the long term are conveniently put aside. While the Inuit would rather deny the problem at hand, it has become her difficult task to convince them of its severity. And while the expedition members’ wellbeing is subject to the condition of their environment, it becomes increasingly clear that their lives are not the only ones at risk in the delicate entanglement of nature and mankind.
Silent Snow
Deacon of Death
Jan van den Berg
The atrocities Sok Chea witnessed as a child during the rule of Pol Pot continue to haunt to this day, nearly thirty years later. So she is shocked when she suddenly comes across the man who was in charge of her prison and whom she holds responsible for murdering most of her family. Once again he holds a prominent position, this time as Deacon of Death or leader of cremation ceremonies. She decides to collect evidence against him. He must stand trial. But can she succeed in a country still ruled by fear. Besides which, Cambodians believe in karma and forgiveness. Wrongdoers are punished after their death anyway and will suffer for many lives to come. Sok Chea'ss quest leads her to a confrontation with Karoby, in the same pagoda where the atrocities occurred.
Deacon of Death
