24h Europe: The Next Generation

In Moscow, a metropolis of 12 million people, doctor Nikolay Luchenkov begins his second shift. He is an infectious disease specialist. After his regular work, he volunteers as an advisor for HIV-positive Muscovites. Nikolay lives openly gay, which is a risky decision. In Russian society, so-called non-traditional lifestyles are massively discriminated against. A law that prohibits any form of "advertisement" for gay relationships, which makes it easy for the state to criminalize LGBTQ* activists. In Poland, the LGBTQ* community is also under pressure both from general society and the state. So are women's rights. Natalia and Martha from Wroclaw lobby tirelessly to change the mood. In many other European countries, the situation for gay community has improved greatly. But not everybody likes that. Almerigo Esposito, a law student from Trieste, is a volunteer for the extreme right-wing party Forza Nuova. He strongly believes that relationships should be reserved for just men and women. Christian Strobel is an entrepreneur who develops software to help make production processes radically more efficient without reducing jobs. Global competition is fierce. Christian is firmly convinced that only those who win the race for the greatest possible efficiency have a future. Today he has an appointment with a screw manufacturer. Rity (27), a single mother, lives on the Estonian island of Saaremaa and works in a furniture store. She is happy about every customer who does not shop on the internet, because that also secures her job as a customer advisor. However, she is often bored; the work is monotonous. Ukrainian radioecologist Katya is driving in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear plant. The area is still radioactively contaminated. Katya can only stay here for a maximum of 4 days in a row. But about 150 people permanently returned to their homes soon after the 1986 accident. This is officially illegal, but the Ukrainian state tolerates these few so-called "samosely", who mainly feed themselves with the fruit of their gardens and small fields. They may not sell their products, though, because it is not fit for consumption for reasons of radiation protection.