November 29, 2012

This 30-minute film traces the history of Esperanto, an artificial language that was created in the late 1800s by a Polish eye doctor who believed that if everyone in the world spoke a common tongue, humanity could overcome racism and war. Fittingly, the word esperanto means “one who hopes.” During the early 20th century, hundreds of thousands of people around the world spoke Esperanto and believed in its ideals. Today, surprisingly, a vibrant Esperanto movement still exists. In this first-ever documentary about Esperanto, Green creates a portrait of the language and those who speak it today that is at once humorous, poignant, stirring, and ultimately hopeful.

Subtitles in 19 different languages! Bulgarian, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Maltese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Plus several extra features: “Leo Sakaguchi – Native Speaker,” “Yokohama Portraits – extended mix,” and “Summer Night by Kalman Kalocsay.”

A portion of the proceeds of each DVD sale go to Esperanto projects: Filmoj Sen Limoj and Partoprenu IJK fonduso.